Eyes on your own paper.

Last weekend, I competed in a 3-day, 6-trial rally weekend — and I got schooled.

Not by the judges or the scoresheets but by the voice in my own head. You know the one: it gets chatty when you start looking around, comparing your dogs, your results, your journey, to everyone else’s. The big lesson I had to relearn? Eyes on your own paper.

There were so many moments where I found myself narrating stories in my head — about what others must be thinking, how far behind I am, or why my dogs aren’t performing like [insert handler’s name here]. It’s not just comparison. It’s defense. It’s pressure. It’s mental gymnastics. And it’s exhausting.

If I were just posting the highlight reel, I could tell you it was a great weekend: the baby dog earned two titles, and Moxie finished a title and grabbed her final triple-Q. On paper, not bad!

But if you peeked inside my brain? You’d have seen the self-doubt, frustration, and disappointment bubbling up.

The baby dog was overwhelmed. Kelsea stressed way up — to the point that spectators were giggling (which, for the record, did not help). Even Moxie gave me a bit of sass (not surprising). It was a whole spectrum of emotions, and somewhere in between “we’re amazing” and “we’re a disaster” lies the truth.

And that’s what I tried to access Monday morning during my journaling.

Because that’s where the growth lives — not in the emotions, but in what we do with them.

I pulled out what I call “data points”: How did Reef handle the pressure compared to Kelsea? What patterns showed up in our performances? What could I take back to training?

When we skip this step — the intentional processing — we risk spiraling. We let emotions become the only lens we see the weekend through.

We tell ourselves stories like:

“People must think I don’t train.”

“She’ll never get it.”

“Why do I even try?”

And suddenly, we’re not just disappointed — we’re stuck.

Don’t get me wrong: you’re allowed to feel how you feel. That part is always valid. But when the emotions start blocking the feedback, that’s when we have a problem.

Because trialing is a test. A neutral one. It shows us whether we can do under pressure what we’ve practiced at home. That’s it.

And when it doesn’t go as planned? That’s not failure. That’s information.

My disappointment? It’s fuel. Not my demise.

So, if you had a weekend that made you question everything — I get it. But try this instead:

👉 Let the emotions move through.

👉 Then go find the data.

👉 Then make a plan.

Eyes on your own paper, friend. The feedback is waiting for you.

Want help separating facts from frustration? That’s what we do inside coaching — where the mindset work starts after the weekend ends.