A NOTE FROM MARTHA

          When I’m around a really negative person, I do my best to turn around anything negative they say.
          If my traveling partner, or my husband, or close friend was real negative, I would say to them, “I need you to be positive so I can be positive. Let’s work together on having a winning attitude.”
          If you are with negative people, you have to work harder to be positive. Right before you barrel race you need to focus on positive things. Get away from them and off by yourself right before the barrel race at least. Think to yourself, “This is a barrel race and I’m lucky to be here!” Don’t worry about them or about what they are doing or thinking. You are there to barrel race and that takes all your concentration.
          After Tom Landry was fired as Dallas Cowboy coach, they interviewed him and tried to get him to say something negative. The interviewer kept asking him if he was depressed. Landry was not a negative person, though, and he just kept coming back with positive things throughout the interview.
          That’s what we barrel racers have to do. If you can, you will feel better. If you hit a barrel, just think, “I learned from that and I will be better next time!” Josey Ranch and Team Josey work hard to create a positive environment. They all love to win but also love to see our students win- WHEN YOU WIN, WE WIN!

          Martha’s suggestions for keeping your wits about you, and having a great time at the event.
RELY ON THE BASICS
          If you have done your work at home; conditioning your horse, testing your tack, learning the maneuvers, you can be confident in your and your horse’s abilities at the show.

 HAVE A GAME PLAN
         Create a strategy for traveling, feeding, and exercising before you leave home Then stick to your plan.

 SURROUND YOURSELF WITH POSITIVE PEOPLE
          Nothing is worse than someone who runs you down, while nothing is better than someone who builds you up. Find a traveling partner or friend at the the event with a positive, upbeat attitude, and let her help motivate you to do your best.

FOCUS ON YOU AND YOUR HORSE
           Don’t fixate on the problems other competitors are having. Concentrate on the strengths of you and your horse, and imagine your perfect run.

KEEP BUSY
          If you feel yourself getting nervous at the event, keep yourself occupied. Walk your horse, clean his stall, browse the trade show. When it’s time to warm up your horse for the competition, you’ll know it’s time to get yourself mentally focused, as well.

HAVE FUN
         That’s what is all about, right?

DON’T LET ‘EM DRAG YOU DOWN
          Everyone knows them. They’re all over the place; at the office, at home, at church –everywhere. They’re family members, friends, casual acquaintances, customers, people you work with, even horses! They are the barrel racers you travel with or compete against. They gripe, complain, discount, and always play the devil’s advocate.
          If they win the lottery, they complain about having to drive somewhere to collect the money. If they get a day off, it’s not the right day. When something good happens, they react by saying that something bad is sure to follow. If they win a barrel race, they tell you how it’s just a real shocker they did because the ground was so bad, or the electric timer wasn't properly adjusted, or the barrels weren’t set right, or the secretary doesn’t like them!
          They’re everywhere. We must either learn to live with them or get rid of them. Since they are our friends, traveling partners, fellow barrel racers and relatives, we can’t get rid of them. We really have no choice but to make the best of them.
          These negative people are a fact of life, and they can be distracting, discouraging, and deadly to your confidence.
We absolutely have to minimize the damage they cause us and maximize the positive effects we have on them.          Just how can you do that? One way to deal with these people would be to accept their philosophy. Consider the impact their negative way of life could have on you. You could be negative, too. Do you want that? Of course, not! You want to be a winner! If we accept someone’s negative attitude, we become like them. We learn to think like them and feel like them. You wouldn’t let someone back a load of garbage up and dump it at your front doorstep, than why would you even think of allowing someone to do this to you, mentally or emotionally? If you let someone trash your attitude, how can you be ready to compete?

              Surround yourself with positive, motivated people

          By allowing someone else to ruin your day, you’re letting them take control of your thought processes. Do you really want to give up that right?  Remind yourself that you control your attitude, not the other person. You, alone, get to decide whether you want to be a negative or a positive person. Think about these negative people. Imagine how miserable they must be to be that cynical. What must have happened in their lives to make them so negative? Understanding some of their motivation will help you to empathize with them, or put yourself in their place. Then you can look beyond their negativism.
          Reframe what the cynic is saying. Search for a trace of something positive. Think about the benefit side of whatever this person complains about. Every time that person says something negative, say something positive. If the person likes to cut down the other barrel racers, say something nice about each one. If the person likes to cut you down, respond with positive comments about your performance.
          Review your goals. Remind yourself of your own priorities and your commitment to achieving your desires. Does it make sense to let any negative person draw you off course?
          Remember, if you do go off course, you use time and effort you could have directed toward getting you closer to your goals. It’s important to realize you can minimize the impact of the negative people in your life by controlling your reaction to them. Each of us has the power to fight that negative influence. Don’t let ‘em drag you down. We have had several e-mails lately from people wanting to know how to deal with negative people, so, we have included DON’T LET ‘EM DRAG YOU DOWN in this section, but there is another angle we probably should talk about, too. We’ve gotten several e-mails from people who are barrel racers who also put on barrel racing events. Even though they are barrel racers themselves, and love the sport, they say they don’t want to put on any more barrel races because the barrel racers just gripe and complain too much. OUCH!  I have to admit we are all probably guilty to some extent. You work your horse, try to do everything right, then, POW, you get to a jackpot and ground is TERRIBLE! You make it a point to go up and tell those people what cruddy ground it is. After all, SOME ONE has to tell them, right? Or maybe you get to the event, and they didn’t draw for positions, and you run dead last, just because you entered last. And besides, when it was time for your run, you had to wait five minutes because the runner before you knocked over a barrel and no one was out there to pick it up. You make it a point to tell them that it is not the FAIR or the RIGHT way to run an event. They need to KNOW BETTER, don’t they? You might have gotten to a rodeo late, had trouble getting in, THEN A ROUNDUP CLUB MEMBER MAKES YOU PARK WAY OUT IN NOWHERE! You give that guy a piece of your mind. But let’s look at it from their point of view. They are putting on the event,, and trying to have a good one. Maybe there are areas where the committee people are weak, and they may or may not be aware of them, but they probably won’t appreciate being told off by you, in either case. Instead, concentrate on a better way. Why not compliment them on what the DID do right? Something along the lines of, “Boy, we barrel racers really appreciate your providing such a good warm-up area.” Then you might ask about the ground, but never in an argumentative way. How about if you offer to HELP them in some way? By the way, when nothing is wrong at a rodeo or jackpot, do you make a point of looking up the management or stock contractor after the rodeo and saying something like, “This was a great rodeo; I really enjoyed it. Thanks for having those guys in the alley to keep it clear.” Remember, if the only time the person who puts on the show sees you is when you want to complain, he’s going to be less likely to want to work with you on any problem. When you are at a rodeo or jackpot barrel race, you represent ALL barrel racers. You can either make a good impression or a bad one, but it affects us all.
          Taking time to compliment these people takes a little extra effort, but it is something we all should do. And if you have made it a point, all along, to compliment these people on what they do right, they will be more prone to work with you when you feel they are doing something wrong.
          Finally, if the event really is bad, with management not trying to work with the contestants at all (thank goodness this seldom really happens) remember this:
          Have a really laid-back attitude about competition. Instead of getting upset and beating yourself by worrying about little irritations, you need to look at it this way:
          “You don’t have to be there. That’s the great thing about America. If you don’t like it, you don’t have to go. If you do choose to go, remember you’re playing in someone else’s playground and they make the rules! You can either play by those rules or go home.”