Horse racing is all about perseverance, sustained effort, the thrill of competition, and—maybe more than anything else—acceptance of the idea that anything is possible. Take a look at this 2025 Breeders’ Cup betting guide as an example.
The animals you’ll find all have their odds, and yet year after year, high-profile races are frequently full of disruptions and surprises. Long shot horses come through. Photo finishes undermine everyone’s expectations. Fortunes are won and lost in a matter of seconds.
Why is horse racing one of the best sports in the world for underdogs? Because the short format rewards grit and determination in a way not easily replicated by any other sport.
If you’re working on a home renovation project, it may help to consider the perspective of a racehorse. Get yourself to the finish line.
Prepare Relentlessly
Racehorses spend hundreds, even thousands of hours getting ready for racing events that last for two minutes or less. Everything they do needs to be perfect on game day.
You, as a do-it-yourselfer, are not held to quite such a high standard. Nevertheless, ample preparation is going to save you a lot of time, a lot of frustration, and quite possibly a lot of money.
Before you begin your project, start by learning as much as you possibly can about all of the potential variables, setbacks, and frustrations.
No matter how much prep work you do, there will inevitably be surprises. But you can at least reduce your frustration by putting the work in beforehand. It’s a measure twice, cut once sort of mentality that gets projects done on budget and in a reasonable timeline.
Setbacks Are Inevitable
We know, as do-it-yourselfers, that problems are constant and inevitable. Just when you’re figuring out how to troubleshoot one issue, another unexpected problem crops up.
This is the nature of do-it-yourself work. It’s also inherent to horse racing. Thoroughbreds work through injuries. Illness. The inherent challenges of sustained effort.
Even when things go well, the road to success is long and winding.
So too with DIY. When it feels like you’re being stifled at every turn, you can put more gas in your tank by focusing on small wins. Celebrating incremental progress is an effective way to improve your mindset and ensure that you’re able to see even big jobs through to completion.
Accept the Potential for Defeat
Even the best horses lose from time to time. Any reasonable equine management team understands this. They don’t set out looking for a perfect record, but knowledge of the inevitability of defeat does not keep them from training, nor from participating in the race.
In difficult contests, you too can be ambitious with the projects you take on. Accept projects that involve the potential for frustration or setbacks.
In fact, it’s in this uncomfortable territory that most do-it-yourselfers find the most pleasure and excitement in their hobby.
So often, a person will approach a project sure that it’s beyond their reach, only to find that, actually, yes, you can put up drywall or replace the flooring in your home without relying on a professional.
Are there projects that shouldn’t be attempted by amateurs? Sure. The reality, though, is that they’re fewer and more far between than many people realize. A lot of do-it-yourself work starts with the belief that project completion is possible, even if you lack the certainty of how something will be done. Once you accept that you’re going to do a project, you start working on figuring out how to make it happen.
Again, your do-it-yourself projects may not go as planned. They may take a long time or even require a little bit of extra help. Once you get all of those limiting beliefs out of the way, you’ll be ready to go. And, if you’re like most DIY people, you’ll find that despite your fears, the project was actually much more possible than you’d previously believed.
Sprint
Finally, put as much juice into the job as you can. Horses, approaching the finish line, tap into their innate energy reserves. They just keep going, even though they’ve never been more tired or more ready to be done.
Project completion often requires a similar mindset. By the time you’re nearing the end of a job, you’ll have probably long since grown tired of it.
This is particularly true with large renovation jobs. You wanted to be done six weeks ago, and yet here you are with a hammer in hand and a YouTube video pulled up on your phone.
You can bide your time and procrastinate, but in doing so, you’re only delaying project completion and not doing the job its justice. Give yourself a final push, work hard, and be comforted by the fact that the finish line is in sight. You can do this.
Former airline pilot Marco Giannini has explored 80-plus countries and now designs immersive, budget-savvy itineraries. He joined us in 2024 to share packing lists, cultural etiquette, and eco-friendly lodging picks that turn dream trips into doable plans. Between flights, Marco mentors student aviators, maps coastal cycling routes, and brews Italian espresso for fellow travelers at community hostels during layovers worldwide.
