Keep On Kicking Through The School Year

The time of the year is upon us. The time of new school supplies, backpacks, teachers, classes and if you’re like me, new goals. Besides New Years back to school is the second time of year where people make goals to better themselves. When it comes to school, especially college, balancing every thing can be exceptionally hard. Between work, school, a social life and rodeo I feel like I barely have time to breath.

Last year my barrel-racing career really suffered. Let’s just say I lost track of my priorities. I wasn’t taking the time out of my day that I needed to ride horses. This year my goal is to really focus on my horses and barrel racing and be successful in college rodeo. With that though comes a lot of work. I also have bills to pay and grades to keep up. With that being said I’ve put together some tips for me and all the other people out there that have goals like mine but also have other responsibilities to attend to.

Tips for balancing work, school, rodeo, and just life in general:

• PLAN! PLAN! PLAN! Plan everything! I’ve always been really good about keeping a planner and keeping up with my school things like tests and projects but I was never good about planning with my horses. With my job I have to give about a months advance notice if I want off. With every job one of the first things I do is give them my college rodeo schedule, but what about the times you need to make runs in between college rodeos? So one thing new I’m going to do for my self is sitting down every month and planning the next month in advance so I can request off for any jackpot that I want to attend. That way I have no excuse not to be making at least one competitive run every week.

 The early bird gets the worm! If you’re like me (or the majority of all college kids) mornings are not your thing. Something I have noticed though is that no successful person sleeps till noon every day. So my goal this year is to wake up early enough to get my three horses rode before class every Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Monday and Wednesday I’ll ride in the evenings.

• Prioritize. You’ve heard it before and you’re going to hear it again; learn to prioritize! What is more important going out with your friends on a Saturday night or getting that paper done ahead of time so you can make it to that jackpot on Tuesday? The decision is yours.

• Write your goals down and keep them where you can see them. I have a gold, round magnetic board I keep hanging up in my closet. The board it’s self represents a gold belt buckle. I write down my goals and hang them up on my board that way I see them everyday and it keeps me focused on reaching my goals. All goals big and small go on the board. It’s proven that people that practice this tend to reach their goals more often than not.

I hope these tips help you have a successful school year and rodeo season! Keep on kicking and it will all pay off in the end!

With love,

Colby ‘Jane

August 21, 2017