Motivation and drive - sometimes you have them, sometimes you don't. Your personal motivation could come from your inner voice or could be from a feeling that spurs you on. However, drive is subtly different. It's the energy that propels you. It's what keep you going when the chips are down. Without drive, motivation is more down to will-power and that can drop off easily. Imagine now, though, that drive keeps you going - with or without motivation - drive is the powerhouse - want to know how to get it? Tune in! 

Many riders do not like being watched or having the feeling that someone is watching them. Now I could tell you that most observers aren't actually watching you and that even if they were, they'd be in your corner, but that wouldn't cut it for you, would it? So we need to tackle this with a totally different approach. And here it is! Get your brain in gear and you'll no longer care about those watchers!

You remember Darth Vader saying, 'Luke, I am your father', don't you? Do you really remember that? Really? 

Did you know that our memories are almost always inaccurate, distorted, generalised and possibly the last thing you'd want to rely on?!! What happens if your self-doubt, self-limiting beliefs and anxieties are based on those memories? 

Dr. Susan Krause Whitburn said, 'Narcissism is a distinct belief in one's own exceptionalism', which I think is brilliant. It really sums it all up. People who show certain traits or come show certain narcissistic behaviours are usually obsessed with an idealised version of themselves and often this is embellished, it's a grandiose image of themselves and they feel a need to sustain that image.

So anything that feeds into that image and glorifies it a bit more, that's what they love. And anything that diminishes that image, that's what they hate. If you can help them to sustain the image, they'll use you!

Now what can we do about these people on our yard who display this type of behaviour?

The cause and effect equation is a simple concept, yet ever so powerful once you start to use it. Want better results? Want to feel more resilient? Want to feel less swayed by others? Then this is for you.

Being at cause means taking back control, being in the driver's seat and being less influenced by other people and events happening around you. The opposite is being at effect. This is giving up all your control to other people, things and events around you. This is disempowering and gives you lots of reasons and excuses, but few results.

Chantelle Jennison, founder and owner of Double Clear NLP, works with equestrians to remove mindset blocks and enhance riders' communication and connection with their horses. She uses a blended approach - from NLP to Time Line work and Reiki. 

After finding that her relationship with her own horse improved vastly after learning Reiki techniques, Chantelle was delighted to find that her ridden work also improved massively. Her bond with her horse deepened significantly and she wants to help others to have the same bond with their horses and enhance their riding.

Visit her website at 

https://www.doubleclearnlp.co.uk/

Hakalau is a technique borrowed from Ancient Hawaii. It's perfect for riders, as it only requires that you are in peripheral vision. Whether you're looking for 

• calmness,

Hakalau pretty much does it all! Here's how to do it.

On my last podcast, I talked about focus and why it's important that we're aware of where we place our focus, since we need to make that focus narrow, broad and external or internal. 

This episode is all about how to get focus, maintain it and re-focus after a break.

Equestrian sports require that we focus on what we're doing(!), however, is that focus better when it's more internal (in your head) or external (your outside environment)? Is it best to have a narrowed-down attention or a broader one? This is the first of two podcasts about focus - the next one will look at refocusing and how to stop focusing on things we don't control or shouldn't affect us.