You spend loads of money, you invest lots of time, your horse is awesome… but you just can’t quite put your finger on it… you’ve lost your mojo.
There are many reasons for a loss of mojo, it might be things going on at work, with your family, or relationship, maybe financial stresses, periods of change, or your mental or physical health which are requiring additional energy.
It’s also incredibly common to experience a lack of motivation when you don’t have the right horse. If you’re edging towards this, then our ‘Right Horse – Wrong Time’ blog might be worth a read.
But sometimes your mojo just packs its bags and leaves the building.
Whatever the reason for your loss of mojo it’s incredibly common to feel guilty – you have one part of your brain telling you how lucky you are to have a horse and that you ‘should’ be doing things, and the other part that is quite happy to pat your horse and then curl up on the sofa with a glass of something.
But please know that you are not on your own. Everyone goes through stages where their mojo has taken a hike, or their attention has turned to other things and this is totally OK.
Secondly remember that this is your hobby. It’s supposed to be down time and fun. Quite often when we take the pressure off, even for a short time, it becomes more fun again.
Thirdly, your horse has absolutely zero aspirations to be ridden six times a week and compete each weekend. As long as they have their basic needs met and are loved as required, then I guarantee they are not complaining to their field mates about your lack of mojo!
Understanding why
Having said all this if your mojo is missing to the point where you think it has been given to a new owner then it’s important to understand why so that you can make some changes to welcome it back.
Sometimes just writing things down helps you to understand how you are feeling – I particularly like this exercise from the Life Coach Directory:
“Spending 10 minutes with a pen and paper to make two lists could help; the first list is a brain dump of everything that feels heavy for you right now, the second is a list of what inner challenges and beliefs you’re facing (doubt, not feeling good enough, procrastinating, fear of failure and so on).”
Just get it all out on some paper. That in itself can feel like a positive and cathartic action.
With the first list, cross out all of the things that are outside of your control, leaving a list of things you have control over. For each item remaining on the list write down one thing you could do this week that would improve it by 5%, just choose a really tiny action.
With your second list, take each of those thoughts to ‘court’ and ask them in turn:
- ‘How is this belief serving me?’
- ‘What evidence do I have to support this belief?’
- ‘How old is that evidence?’
- ‘What would I like to believe instead?’
Again, do this activity with self-compassion, even just getting a better grip on a few things to focus on and being a bit kinder to yourself will help to pick up your energy and bring some momentum.’
Once you start to understand why, it is then important to remind yourself what you really love about your passion.
If you still have that piece of paper to hand, write down all of the things you love about your horse, what you enjoy doing with your horse and how that makes you feel.
Next choose something from your list with your horse that makes you smile from the inside. This might be grooming your horse, meeting friends for a hack, organising a lesson, booking a clinic – whatever is at the top of your list make some time in your diary to do it.
Yes that’s right – book a slot with your horse and make it happen!
The feeling that you get when you enjoy something is quite often enough to inspire you to repeat it, so book another slot, and repeat. This then gives you a platform to build from and soon enough you won’t need a diary slot to make it happen.
I’m told that relocating your mojo is not a switch – it’s a process – but I really believe that if you love it then it will come back.
I find my mojo is often linked to my personal goals, competitions that I’ve entered, or lessons that I have booked. These give me the drive to want to improve and not let my horse down. Personal circumstances have meant that competitions have been sparse this year – but if I’m honest I’ve not been in the least bit bothered (cue missing mojo)… until two days ago when I bit the bullet and entered the Scottish Champs.
For the first time in months I feel inspired and excited and guess what… as I clicked that enter button a large part of my mojo returned. Since entering I feel inspired to do flatwork and not just hack, inspired to help my horses build their fitness again and motivated to perform.
Of course, that isn’t for everyone but finding something you love and something that inspires you might be a great place to start.
Liz x
