Page 10 - 18 January 2013

RESOLUTIONS
Of those who do make New Year’s Resolutions, only 8% are successful in achieving their resolution.
Looking forward to 2013.
by Stacy Pigott
Iread some interesting statistics the other day from the University of Scranton Journal of Clinical Psychology. Nearly half of all Americans—45%—
usually make New Year’s Resolutions. On the
flip side of the coin, more than one-third of Americans—38%—absolutely never make New Year’s Resolutions. Of those who do make New Year’s Resolutions, only 8% are successful in achieving their resolution. Another 49% have infrequent success, while almost one-quarter of people—24% to be exact—never succeed and, in fact, fail, on their reso- lution each year. A full three-quarters of people were able to keep their resolution through the first week, while only 46% were able to keep their resolution for six months. People in their 20s were more than twice as likely to keep their resolution as those over the age of 50. The most common New Year’s Resolution? Lose weight.
The study goes on to say that New Year’s Resolutions most commonly fall into one of four categories: Self Improvement or Education Related; Weight Related; Money Related; and Relationship Related. As I looked back over the events of 2012, chronicled in this issue’s “2012: A Year In Review” on page 96, I started to think about what it would look like if the Quarter Horse racing industry made a few New Year’s Resolutions of its own. Based on those four categories, they might look something like this:
1) Self Improvement or Education Related: I would make the first New Year’s Resolution for the Quarter Horse racing industry an Education Related Resolution. Many of the problems facing our indus- try are complex, and solving them requires a solid understanding of the issues from both sides. One of the first things they teach would-be journalists is the “Six Ws” of information gathering: Who is involved? What happened? When did it take place? Where did it take place? Why did it happen? How did it happen? If you can answer all of those questions, then you have the information needed to pass your knowledge on to others—the lawmakers, executives, politicians and officials who make the decisions that affect the Quarter Horse racing industry.
2) Weight Related. While there are probably more than a few of us who would like to lose a few pounds, my weight-related resolution for the Quarter Horse racing industry would be to “cut the fat.” The familiar expression means to get rid of anything unnecessary. I don’t know about you, but the biggest
unnecessary thing I can think of in Quarter Horse racing is illegal drugs. I would like nothing better than for every state that races Quarter Horses to band together and agree upon—and enforce—one national set of drug rules that effectively deals with the abuse of illegal drugs in Quarter Horse racing.
3) Money Related. I am sure there are several New Year’s Resolutions we’d all like to see enacted with regards to money—higher purses and lower expenses, to name just two. But the one single money issue I’d like to see the Quarter Horse racing industry resolve is casino subsidies. I wish we could find a way to grow and thrive without the ever-growing reliance
on casino money. It would be nice if every state—not just those with purse funds supplemented from gam- ing revenues—could offer purses high enough for horsemen to make a good living and for owners to have fun and make money at the same time.
4) Relationship Related. Our world revolves around relationships—between trainers and owners; between horsemen and track management; between buyers and sellers; between fans and gamblers; between stallion owners and mare owners. It would be impossible for me to isolate one relationship that our industry needs to work on in 2013, because honestly, we should always be working on all of them. Inc Magazine writes: “All successful small businesses– regardless of what they do or sell–have one thing
in common: their owners know how to build and maintain relationships.” The Quarter Horse racing industry is collectively our business. Sure, you have your own personal business that supports your family. But on a broader scope, we should all be working to create healthier relationships within our industry to keep it strong and successful.
If you were among the 45% of Americans who made New Year’s Resolutions, I hope you were bold with your intent. Because sometimes, just having a lofty goal drives us to achieve more on a smaller scale. As New Thought author W. Clement Stone wrote: “Always aim for the Moon, even if you miss, you’ll land among the stars.”
The likelihood of all four of those resolutions get- ting fulfilled is slim—probably even less than 8%— because the resolutions themselves are big, audacious goals. That’s what resolutions should be. As the British philosophical writer James Allen said, “Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be.”
8 SPEEDHORSE, January 18, 2013
UNDER WRAPS