[Check out my new podcast—The Kathy Keats Show, where I talk about high performance principles and mindset applied to dog sport and life! You can listen on Apple, Spotify and (soon) Google. If you want to be notified of new episodes, click here.]

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away...oops, wrong story, it just feels like it was that long ago... 

I was coaching at Clean Run Camp (at that time, the largest dog agility camps on the east coast) and during a break I stopped to watch the legendary Nancy Gyes do a bit of weave pole training with her amazing teammate Riot. (Yes, this was a long time ago.)

I only had to watch for a few seconds to understand why she was (and is) one of the dog agility greats.

Nancy practiced like a high performance athlete.

She was using the same principles I had used in my career as an elite competitor and coach in basketball.

Although I already had a modest amount of success in agility, it was like a lightbulb went off in my head. I...

Ugh.

It’s happened again.

Your motivation has crashed in the face of overwhelming odds. You want to crawl under the covers and curl into fetal position.

What were you thinking? What made you think you could write the next Game of Thrones epic fantasy or win a world championship in dog agility?

This dream is paralyzing, out of your league.

It feels hopeless, doesn’t it?

Don’t give up.

Your dream matters.

You can get through to the other side. But you have to avoid one simple mistake.

A mistake I made recently.

Step through the barn door with me and I’ll show you…

Shearing Day

We’re ready to catch, trim the hooves, and take the wool off of 150 sheep. We fidget like thoroughbreds impatient for the start of a race.

The rusty clock on the wall strikes 7:30 a.m. sharp and the shearer plunges into the work like a man possessed.

I catch a sheep. Flip it onto its butt. Trim its hooves.

Each sheep tips the scale at around 150 pounds. It’s a full...