All week I waited, watching the weather report for Friday with anxious anticipation of getting out for a morning of my favorite form of self-care: fishing. Unfortunately, Mother Nature had other plans and sent a nor'easter directly into the area I was heading. Not one to back down from a challenge, I geared up and went out anyway.
After grabbing a strong cup of coffee to help weather the storm, I stopped at the tackle shop for some bait. Unsurprisingly, the lot was empty, and the only people inside were the owner and an employee. I picked out what I needed, went to pay, and the owner said, "Let me guess. You're bored and really needed to get out."
Well, the first part was wrong. Between running a business, being a parent to three kids, and a number of hobbies, I am rarely bored. But the second part could not have been more true. At the start of summer I tore my Achilles, and summer fishing went on the back burner while I rehabbed and spent what little free time I had in PT. My main self-care activity was gone. Not being able to walk or put weight on my ankle didn't allow for much fishing (or much of any activity, really). So the tackle shop owner was right: I did need to get out, and I wasn't going to let some wind and rain stop me.
Pack It In or Go for It?
As I pulled up to the spot I wanted to try, I started having second thoughts. My fishing partner couldn't make it and had warned me the spot might be flooded, and as usual, he was right (I hate when that happens). I got out of my truck and walked past another angler sitting in his rig. The despondent look on his face and the thousand-yard stare he was giving the water did not instill much hope.
I walked down to the water and realized the conditions were almost unfishable. That said, the only thing I truly consider unfishable is lightning, and even then I've made some questionable choices when I was on a good bite. In that moment I had a decision to make: pack it in and give up, or go for it, knowing the odds of catching anything were somewhere between slim and none.
Process Over Performance
Then it hit me: this was an opportunity for process over performance. Think about it. Even experienced anglers can go hours without a fish when conditions aren't cooperating, and conditions were certainly not cooperating with me. I knew I probably wouldn't catch anything. In fact, if I did, I'd chalk it up to pure luck, because with the wind and current I couldn't even feel a hit in order to set the hook.
So I made a choice: to enjoy the process and not worry about the performance.
Performance focus
- Did I catch anything?
- Was it worth the trip?
- Outcome I can't control
Process focus
- Casting into 30 mph gusts
- Reading the current and the tide
- Effort and attention I can control
It was a choice to experience what I could: noticing the current, feeling the wind push me around, smelling the salt air as the spray swirled all around me. (If that sounds a lot like mindfulness, that's because it is.) And it was fun! Sure, I didn't catch anything, but I had a good time. I was able to step back from the expectation of catching a fish and enjoy the process of fishing. I enjoyed practicing my cast with 30-mile-an-hour gusts in my face. I enjoyed figuring out how to get the bait to the bottom with the current ripping by. I enjoyed seeing the tide higher than I had ever seen it in that area.
Why This Matters Beyond Fishing
This is the same approach I use with athletes, students, and clients every day. When we fixate on results we can't control (the score, the grade, the fish), anxiety goes up and enjoyment goes down. When we shift attention to the things we can control, like our effort, our preparation, and how present we are, we usually perform better and feel better doing it. It's a big part of how we approach performance psychology at NPS, and it's closely related to the idea of acceptance when the weather (literal or otherwise) doesn't go your way.
So next time things don't go as planned and you start to worry about how that will affect your performance, take a breath and see how you can enjoy the process.
Tight lines.
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