When I was younger I used to go fishing. All the time.
I would regularly get up early and walk the two miles from my house, carrying all of my gear on my shoulders just to sit by the side of my favourite lake. I loved fishing. I could spend twelve or more hours each day (particularly during the summer holidays) trying to catch fish.
Many times I caught fish. Sometimes lots of fish. Sometimes I caught nothing. But it didn’t stop me going back the next day to try to catch fish again.
Looking back, the thing I always remember was that when I was catching lots of fish I continued to do what I was doing. When I was not catching fish I would change something. It might be something small, like the depth of line that I used underneath the float, or the size of the hook or a different bait. Sometimes I would change something bigger, like changing the method of fishing or moving from my spot on the bank to another on the opposite side of the lake.
Often the changes brought results (and fish).
But even when they didn’t I gained a different perspective or got different feedback. By changing what I was doing I obtained more information that I could process and use to influence what I did next.
Then I could make further, calculated changes until eventually I was back catching lots and lots of fish!
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