Hooligan Teaches Proactivity

Habit 1 - Be Proactive - is all about discovering that you always have a choice.

Hooligan’s disposition made him the perfect Horse Hero for a rider who was feeling quite discouraged in her life. She felt like nothing she did really made a difference, that she ‘wasn’t going anywhere,’ wasn’t really able to change anything, and felt as if it wasn’t really worth trying. She was, however, excited to be at Bridle Up Hope and to be with horses, and of course, to ride!

Habit 1 - Be Proactive - is all about discovering that you always have a choice. All other Habits build on this magical, empowering, hopeful mindset! Hooligan helped his rider realize that it is one thing to talk about being proactive, to imagine doing things, to want to do them, to hope to do them—but it is another thing to actually BE proactive! To act on that realization, to be responsible for what we choose, to initiate change, to see what we can do to create something new, to make something happen!

This sweet rider mounted Hooligan and quickly wondered why he wasn’t ‘doing anything.’ She couldn’t understand why he ‘wasn’t going anywhere.’ She started to cry, obviously letting the reactive language of her heart and mind take over. She believed it was too hard to ride and that he wasn’t listening. He stood still. He was listening. He was patiently waiting for her to ask him to do something. He was allowing her to be the leader, to take charge of her horse and—ultimately take charge of her life.

Hooligan stood still until she discovered that if she wanted to go somewhere, she would have to take the initiative. She would have to be proactive. In this discouraging moment, she realized that she had a choice and she changed her internal dialog from the reactive language of  “I can’t…he won’t…it doesn’t…I’m not…” to the PROACTIVE language of “I can!” These words are the mental creation and then comes the physical creation—to think, then to do!

You could almost see hope come to her as this rider realized that she could choose to ‘go somewhere.’ Not doing anything is a choice that has an influence, and she knew that. This hope quickly turned into confidence and then the rider took action. Hooligan quickly listened to her voice and responded to the encouraging movement of her seat, legs, and heel. As her hands took the reins to indicate a specific direction, Hooligan moved forward according to her command.