Lately I have been comfortable with the way things are going. If my progress as a competitor was represented in a graph, I feel that it would show that I am performing better than I ever have, in every category, compared to my recent past.

I’m not comparing myself against anyone, I’m just saying that I'm personally experiencing a level of progress that I feel is healthy enough to stay on track with my lofty goals for the future.

That’s good, right?

Just the other day, I was having a conversation with my good friend Brad, the owner of Topwater Clothing. Brad and I talk at least once a week and I consider him a mentor, since he has been living around athletes from extreme sports his whole life and understands what makes great athletes tick.

I was telling Brad that I was feeling more comfortable than I have ever felt in my life with my fishing.

This is about where he surprised me with something like: “Man, you are making good progress, but you still need lots of work on the mental aspect of the sport.”

When he said that, my first instinct was to defend myself and retort with something like: “Dude, my mental game is the strongest part of my fishing. I think I’m doing just fine!”

Instead of trying to shield my ego, I instead asked him to elaborate a little on what he thinks I need to work on.

He basically went on to tell me that to be the best I can be, I can never be comfortable with my performance, and that there is but a very thin line that separates being comfortable from being complacent – or lazy.

It didn’t take long for me to realize that he was absolutely right. To be the best I can, I can never get comfortable. I need to get better.

The Balance

Since that conversation I've put a lot of thought into the subject because I wanted to know if the all-important confidence was linked to being comfortable, or if the two were separated by that thin line as well.



On one hand, I don’t want to become complacent and let my current progress become stagnant. But on the other hand, I do want to nurture my confidence.

I think it really comes down to understanding the difference between comfort and confidence. I believe that a person who recognizes the difference between the two and puts forth the effort to refuse complacency and welcome confidence, but also has a burning desire to strengthen weaknesses, is a person who can become a good competitor.

Uncomfortable

One of the biggest ways that I can think of to improve my fishing and keep challenging myself is to put myself in uncomfortable situations out on the water.

I realize that an “uncomfortable” situation can mean many things, and I don’t mean I’m going to go flipping a line of buggy whips with nothing but a buff and a Topwater hat on, but rather I'm going to deliberately put myself in areas that don’t coincide with my current strengths.

My biggest strength is flipping. If there is a flipping bite anywhere on a lake, I'll find it, and I feel pretty confident I can make it work for me in a tournament. Conversely, I would have to say that my biggest weakness is fishing offshore structure with a deep-diving crankbait.

I have confidence in fishing offshore, but throwing a deep crankbait on offshore structure hasn’t been a winner for me in the past. However, if you look at the past Winning Pattern articles on BassFan, you'll find that crankbaits are either No. 11 or a close 2nd in terms of baits or techniques.

This's the reason I just recently started asking around to find out what the best lakes are in Florida to hone this skill.

Next Challenge

I'm glad that I have someone like Brad to keep me in check when I start to get a little complacent. Though I'm always working hard, it's good to have someone there to remind you that you can always work harder.

I think the biggest challenge for me now is isolating what I need to work on most, and which weaknesses need the most attention at this point. Regardless of what challenges I’m faced with next, I'm excited to embrace each of them with open arms and a competitive heart.

But still, I am happy with the way things are going.

Miles "Sonar" Burghoff is a student at the University of Central Florida and an aspiring professional angler who writes a regular column for BassFan. To visit his website, click here.