Four ways to make 2020 a special year

Maybe you’re like me at the start of each year, pondering what’s ahead while also evaluating the past 12 months. It can be overwhelming! Consider focusing on these four points:

Stay positive! Looking ahead to a year of fishing trips is an oasis of hope and excitement for a lot of anglers, the very reason they keep on keeping on. It feeds us and keeps us mentally healthy, the breath of fresh air we need so badly to stay steady.

Count your blessings! I can get so busy looking at all the seemingly incredible lives of some folks and what they have that in comparison my life begins to look pretty mundane. But consider this: we tend to compare our worst to other folk’s best and we lose our perspective on what we have. It’s the “He catches big fish and I never do” syndrome. It’s probable that your most valuable assets in life are the relationships you have built. Many of my treasured relationships have come from fishing. Fishing’s bad? Still got my buddies and family. We need to stop and take inventory of our true riches. Bet you were important to someone this year, too. Each time I hit the water I try to take the time to count myself as the luckiest guy in the world, getting to experience the outdoors, friends, family and the fish.

Do your best! Are you trying not to fail? Or are you all-in? Be the best you rather than worrying about whether you won or lost to someone else. If you had the brakes off and you were trying to optimize your own life/results, you can be excited you did all you could. Counting wins and losses can sour something good. Doing your best doesn’t mean you kinda tried; it means complete focus. Is your fishing just a means to try to beat someone else? Or is it something joyful you’re doing that lifts up everyone? The attitude you have will determine how you feel and how you approach what you’re doing. Some days I’ve had to decide that I needed to forget about how anyone else was doing and just do my best. It changes my internal paradigm from worrying about losing to one of freedom and focus.

Never give up! You knew I would include this! If anything, my years training as a decathlete taught me how important the mental battle is to success – and how vulnerable we all are to quitting. Just when you’re ready to throw in the towel is usually the very point where the battle for success begins. I’ve heard the “little voices” telling me it’s OK to justify just “walking off the track” and coming back another day, but I’ve found that this is the same point where everyone else is tempted to quit, too. We think we’re unique, but we’re not. Not giving up by itself puts you in another category. It’s a decision. Yes, like everyone, I’ve had my failures, but I know what to do when I hit the wall … most of the time!

It’s a new year, shiny, untouched and special – make it a good one! Oh, yeah, in 2020: Never give up!

This story was originally published December 30, 2019 at 1:58 PM with the headline "Four ways to make 2020 a special year."