Over the years, people have asked me about the connection between our experiential leadership development with horses and our digital neuro-decision-making platform. I’m always delighted to provide an answer.
There is nothing like interacting with horses to develop ourselves into great humans. Horses teach us self-awareness, the power of presence, and how to be present. They teach us how to connect from a place of truth and feel safe. They teach us how to be in a relationship with ourselves and a completely different species. From there, we can learn to be in a relationship with our own species from that place of truth. If you know there’s something more inside of you and want to be the best human you can be and have the best life experience possible, there is nothing better than a horse to show you the way. Working with horses is for people who want to show up differently for themselves. It’s for people who are done with the self-constructed identity, the story, that has gotten them to where they are but will not lead them to a life of fulfillment.
I take people through the same experience of interacting with horses that saved my life. Literally. 20 years ago, I was diagnosed with a terminal disease. At that moment, I realized that while I had accomplished a lot in my life, it was at the expense of living. I decided I wanted to experience the time I had left without achievement driving me. The problem was I no longer knew who ‘me’ was. I did not realize that achievement without self-development leads to imbalance. The type of imbalance that no amount of time management or micro-management can restore. The first thing I had to do was figure out who I was so I could meet this moment full-on, with all of me present. The prayer I didn’t even realize I had said was answered: Go to the horses. (You can read more about this moment in my book Crossing The Silly Bridge.) The horses brought me home to myself. As I started living, I stopped dying. And I was not going to take this second chance lightly. I would help others transform their lives through the lessons of horses. So I sold what I had and headed west.
Once we step onto the path, everything we need is provided. Thank goodness my now husband, Jess Arie, was on my path. We opened Vista Caballo to share this transformative work with horses with leaders from many different countries, cultures, and industries. They all shift their presence and perspective, allowing them to see themselves and their lives entirely differently. They envision a new trajectory for themselves, the path that they have always wanted to be on. They are able to not only step onto that path but gallop down it.
One day I said to Jess, “ Everybody in the world needs this experience. How can we provide it to them?” That started a 10-year journey to discover how this transformation takes place. What is happening inside us that sparks that epiphany that we are so much more than we have known ourselves to be, that all we need to do to reach fulfillment is to take the reins? We hired and worked with some scientists to discover what gives us the ability to get present, to change our perspective, and thereby, our interaction with life, to make better decisions for our companies, yielding better results. We transposed what we learned onto a digital platform, The Stillpoint Experience. Now, leaders everywhere, at any time, can benefit from our program. And it all started with horses.
Vista Caballo’s goal is to help you change the world. What’s yours?
Somewhere between the beginning and the end is a journey. Somewhere in the journey is a revelation. Somewhere in the revelation, you take the reins.
Hailed as “The CEO Whisperer” by Fast Company, Lisa Arie converts hesitancy into action for those ready to take the reins.