What is a winner?
A winner is someone who recognizes his God-given talents, works his tail off to develop them into skills, and uses these skills to accomplish his goals. Self-praise is for losers. Be a winner. Stand for something. Always have class, and be humble. When we fish, we always want to win, and recognizing what your strengths and weaknesses are is very important. When we fish, being a winner takes on various forms. For example, I may set out to catch the twenty five inch monster from a section of river I intend to fish, or I may choose to catch ten fish on my outing. If I go out and accomplish my goals, then I can come home from the river a winner.
A winner never quits, doesn’t take success to his head & most importantly stays humble. I believe it is important to realize that there “is always someone better” and in that thinking, I can always continue to learn. When I feel that “I am the best” I forget to watch other people and learn from more advanced anglers that can teach me something. There are so many great ways to learn about fishing now days, from the internet to books, to videos, to blogs, to becoming a member of a Facebook group, or simply asking other anglers on the bank for advice. If we stay humble, I believe we will continue to learn and grow as anglers!
A winner is a person who sets out to do something and does it. Setting goals each day we fish is important. Whether it’s to test a new lure, or catching a specific species of fish never caught before, having a purpose before heading out there will make you work harder, or smarter. If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride – and never quit, you’ll be a winner. The price of victory is high but so are the rewards. You were born to win, but to be a winner, you must plan to win, prepare to win, and expect to win. Vision gets the dreams started. Dreaming employs your God-given imagination to reinforce the vision. Both are part of something I believe is absolutely necessary to building the life of a champion, a winner, and a person of high character who is consistently at the top of whatever game he or she is in.
What do winners do to be successful?
People who win consistently don’t do it by chance. There is often method and determination to the way they approach contests and life itself. Sitting on the sidelines won’t likely bring success to your door. To win, you have to aggressively engage in activity. Winners step up and ask, “How can I add value and excitement to the game?” If they get an invitation to play, they don’t hesitate to join in. And they bring their A-game.
Winners gratefully leverage the strengths of others.
A winner knows his or her gifts and how to take advantage of them. Winners also have an ability to see the strengths and contributions of others around them. Winners know a shared win has greater glory than a solo effort. They inspire and recruit other talented people to participate and share the fun and accolades of a major win. They make sure that everyone who participates feels accomplishment and appreciation for their efforts.
Winners relentlessly self-promote.
It’s a noisy world with many competing demands for attention. Projects worthy of time and attention require awareness to rise above the clamor. Studies show that successful people tirelessly promote themselves and their businesses. Winners don’t waste time with shyness or self-doubt. They believe with conviction that their success will positively impact society around them and constantly let the world know why their objectives are important. Without creating a false sense of self-importance, they are willing and able to talk about how they add value to others’ lives.
What makes a winning attitude?
1. Think positive. Former Health Secretary Dr. Juan Flavier said it best: “Just do it!” Think positive.
2. Passion. We should love our work, whatever our vocation. We should be the best and throw away the “It’s already okay” mindset. We should use the best products to achieve success. Products such as Rapala, Live Target Lures, Pflueger Reels, products that have been on the market for many years and have been proven successful.
3. Do not have a feeling of entitlement. Never whine and think the world or even our family and friends owe us anything. As a kid, I already knew that life in general is unfair, and that I have to depend on myself to achieve my goals. Remember to share the river with others as no one person “owns” the river.
4. Choose your friends or fishing partners wisely. Avoid or lessen interactions with people with envy in their hearts, negative mindsets, vices, or those who just complain or gossip. Pessimism, like optimism, can be contagious! Fish with positive people and choose you’re fishing friends wisely!
5. Perseverance. Never, ever give up! Do not be discouraged by rejections and setbacks. As long as we are alive, we still have hope to win. Failures are not insurmountable obstacles, but actually the requisite steppingstones to success.
6. Believe in yourself. Nobody is perfect and we should continuously improve our shortcomings, but let us think more on our strengths and reinforce them through non-stop learning and efforts. Have faith in yourself, love yourself.
7. Faith of others. People, family, teachers or friends expressing faith in a person can endow that person with the magic of inspiration. I believe that was my late grandmother’s priceless gift to me; her faith in me gave me an indestructible self-belief. We ourselves, either as parents or bosses or friends to others, let us be a source of hope and encouragement to other people. I do this in the boat with my clients be saying “awesome fish” or “great cast”.
8. Good health generates positive energy. Take care of our basic physical health not only because it is true wealth, but because we can gain positive energy. Also, our bodies produce feel-good chemicals called “endorphins” from exercise, which is effective to offset any stress, anger, fear or despair.
9. Try to control our emotions. Let us try to be cool, always. Even when we lose a big fish or get snapped off, or when things happen on the river beyond our control, we need to breathe and stay calm while working through the issue. Pull off the river if you are in a boat or sit down if you are shore fishing and take a time out will regain our positive attitude.
10. Preparation. Often, preparation is half of the battle won. Preparation is crucial for sales talks, competitions or any undertaking, because it contributes to strengthening our positive winning attitude. I think humans, like dogs, can smell or sense emotions such as confidence or fear, so a well-prepared angler can exude self-confidence and a winning attitude which can help increase your catch ratio.
