Lessons From Fishing Applied To Business
Casting Success
I had the opportunity to go fishing with my good buddy, John. John is one of my closest friends from elementary school, and it’s always great to connect with him. This is the second time we went fishing, but the first time I actually caught a fish. It’s always great to explore and try new things. Not to make everything about business, but I couldn't help but come up with the similarities between fishing and business. There's a lot you can take away from fishing that applies to life and business.
Here are four things I learned from fishing that I apply to life and business:
Patience
You have to have extreme patience in both fishing and business. Delayed gratification is the name of the game. In business, they say an overnight success is 10 years. Fishing took me half a day to catch one fish. The ones that understand it's a long game and you have to trust the process, both with fishing and business, are the ones that are full at the end of the day.
Bait
You need to hook your fish just like you need to hook your potential client. Without bait, you won’t attract any fish. On the water, there are different types of baits and hooks depending on the size of the fish. In business, there are different strategies, funnels, CTAs, and content you can use to find a client that's hooked to your offerings.
Right Location
If you are in the wrong location, the chances of you catching fish are very minimal. You can have the best rod, bait, skills, etc., but it won’t matter. My buddy John had a scanner to help him find out where the fish were in the water to give us the best chance to succeed. (Some might call that cheating, but he really wanted me to catch a fish, lol)
The lesson is that there is power in proximity. When you go fishing, you have to be in the right location just like in business. If I'm trying to connect with real estate agents, then the best place to fish would be a real estate networking event. Building your business by understanding where you need to be in the market will make all the difference.
Reel It In
Close the deal.
When it comes to business, nothing is final until the contract is signed. You have to close the deal, whatever it takes. When I was fishing, there were a couple of times where I didn’t reel the fish in and left having to reapply bait to my hook. If you are not proactive about closing the deal, you will leave yourself wanting at the end of the day.
The great thing about life is that there are analogies everywhere. Whether it's sports or fishing, you can apply things you learn from anything and apply them to something else. It was a great time fishing with a good buddy.
P.S… Don't make fun of the size of the fish; it’s the accomplishment that counts!
I did not eat the fish….
