It Feels Great To Win, But the Journey to Get there is so much better

Let’s face it. We all love to win in life. However, it’s the journey to that win that is most important.

In this blog post today, I’m going to share with you why winning isn’t everything and why the journey toward that win is what you should focus on.

A little more than 9 months ago after starting this company we began competing in local kayak bass fishing tournaments with the Tri-Cities Kayak Anglers and Northeast Tennessee Kayak Anglers Bass Fishing clubs.

My first ever event was quickly thwarted off due to a family conflict that caused me to not be able to compete in a tournament on Douglas Lake.

I was embarrassed and frustrated to say the least. But beyond that, it was a learning experience for both my oldest son and I.

In that moment of embarrassment, I had a decision to make. Should I stop competing altogether or realize that this is something that I would continue even if it meant my son would no longer be part of the process?

I chose to continue on and that is why I’m able to share this information with you today, over 9 months later.

Why you must appreciate the process over the individual wins.

Over the years I’ve heard people promote the idea that “winning is everything.”

I strongly disagree.

If you only focus on your wins, the “how” you got them won’t be appreciated as much as if you focus on the process of getting them in the first place.

Also, keep in mind, you are not going to win every event and therefore, if that is your sole focus and purpose, you are going to get frustrated and end up bowing out when things don’t always go as you had planned.

When you learn to appreciate the process over those wins, you will then begin to grow as a competitor and that makes you unstoppable.

I say that because your competition will begin to get frustrated when they see you stand tall under pressure. When you become resilient and stay focused, you will do one of two things.

Number one, you might just piss some people off and number two, you’ll foster a stronger spirit within yourself and encourage others. We hope you do the latter.

Trust the process, stay focused on your goals and the wins will start happening.

And, when you finally get those wins, dig your heels in and keep growing as a competitor and keep growing in your sport.

When growth comes, the act of winning will validate the process.

If you are not growing, you are losing.

One of the most frustrating areas of life is when you show up at every event but do not keep improving.

I believe one reason for that is due to the idea that you were only showing up for one reason, just to get a trophy or the recognition that will come from winning.

Again, winning is not everything. It’s the process. Don’t get it confused or you’ll stay frustrated.

Every time you show up to compete, your goal should be to accomplish the art of growth.

Growing is and should always be your primary focus.

I’ve had the pleasure of fishing amongst some really good kayak bass anglers over the past year.

Out of the several events that I’ve competed in, I won Big smallmouth in one tournament, finished third in another, and just recently finished first in a River Tournament.

For each event that I fished in, I focused on improving my fishing game.

I did that by reading, studying, and replaying the events in my mind asking myself, “what could I have done better?” What could I improve on for the next tournament?

Throughout my first year of kayak bass fishing, I changed kayaks 7 or more times until I finally became comfortable on the water.

That was always my biggest frustration. I can fish with the best of them. I know I can. I grew up fishing, I had done it for over 30 years, but I had never gotten on a kayak until late 2019 and then had only been on one for just a few times, put it away, and went without it until we birthed Champions Fishing in late 2020.

So, even though I knew how to fish, what I did not know is how to do it from a kayak. More on that later in another post.

The overall point is that if you don’t focus on your weaknesses and use them to move you forward, you will never win.

You’ll stagnate and then eventually drop out and ultimately lose.

Don’t make what you do about a single event, focus on the bigger picture, make adjustments along the way and you’ll then begin to realize that winning is not about an event, it’s about the process of getting there.