At the end of every year I like to review what’s going on with my life as well as my career and see what I can do to improve them. Here’s what I’m going to try to do in 2015…
Remain thankful for what I (we) have
This one’s first because it’s the most important. Sometimes I get too caught up in the moment and fail to take stock of the big things in our lives. This year, 2015, will be when I ditch the “win, win, win” mentality.
I’m not saying that winning a tournament isn’t important. It is. It’s how I feed my family. But there’s a lot more to our lives than just winning a fishing tournament. Becky and I have a wonderful family, a strong marriage and, generally speaking, a really good life. Why get all caught up in things that won’t matter a few days, a few weeks or a few months later?
We’re going back to the Sabine River this year. Some of you may remember that I had a life-altering experience the last time we were there when I darn near killed myself and my Marshal. I haven’t written about that for a while, but don’t think that means I’ve forgotten about it. In a matter of seconds I learned a hard lesson about what really matters.
Try to live a little healthier
I suppose this is on everybody’s list. Becky and I are going to make a serious effort to eat better, get more rest and reduce the stress in our lives. We’re not kids anymore, you know.
Manage bad situations better
This one’s the most important as far as my career is concerned. Sometimes, when things go bad, I get too upset and say and do things I shouldn’t say and do. (Did you really need me to tell you that?) I only hurt myself in the end.
You have to walk a fine line with this, though. Some of the passion and the extreme emotion is what makes me the competitor that I am. If I lose that, I’ll end up with nothing. That’s just me. I’ll never accept defeat or a poor performance.
The trick for me this year will be to balance those two things so that the result is a positive. I’ve worked on this before with varying degrees of success. I’m going to make a really serious effort this year to temper things down. We’ll see how it goes.
Get off to a better start
The last couple of years I’ve really struggled in the early part of the schedule. If I’d fished the first three or four events like I fished the last three or four, I’d have been right in the hunt for the Toyota Bassmaster Angler of the Year (AOY) title.
In truth, I’d like to win another one. I know the fans like to look at Bassmaster Classic titles, but most of us (anglers) think the AOY is more prestigious. It’s a season-long thing under all sorts of different conditions as opposed to one tournament.
Mike Iaconelli’s column appears weekly on Bassmaster.com. You can also find him on Facebook and Twitter or visit his website, mikeiaconelli.com.
