Editor’s Note: The writer’s opinions and observations expressed here are his own, and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views, policies or positions of FLW.

Whether it involves fishing or anything else in life, you’ll be better off if you can eliminate negative thoughts. Life is a lot like a battery: For every negative there needs to be a positive in order to complete the circuit. I choose to take the negative and complete the cycle by looking for the positives!

Dwelling on the negatives in life will never help you succeed. The best in any sport or business, or any other endeavor, are positive thinkers. I like to look back at the career of Michael Jordan and think of the game-winning shots he didn’t make. Following those rare misses, he didn’t focus on that missed shot; instead he focused on working hard and preparing to make the next one.

By its nature, fishing can create a lot of negative thoughts. We are chasing a moving target, and even we anglers at the top level of the sport have bad days on the water. Something as simple as losing a fish might generate a negative thought. Even then I choose to focus on the positive. You might ask, “Dave, but how am I going to see something positive from losing a fish?” Well, you got a bite, you found where that fish was, you worked the bait so the fish would bite it – those are all positives.

The best way to eliminate negatives in life is through proper preparation and hard work. In fishing, that might be something as simple as spending the extra time it takes to re-spool reels with new line, sharpen or replace old hooks, or retie a knot after putting a few fish in the boat. By preparing yourself for success you’ll eliminate a lot of the negatives before they can ever happen.

Negative things will still occur from time to time, but when they do, move past it and focus on the positives.