Winning Outdoors can mean a variety of things, depending on what is important to you. For me, Winning at Life while enjoying your time outdoors can’t be beaten. If you have a passion for the outdoors, or are curious about it, this is the place for you. Do you want to learn new fishing techniques? Are you interested in early season dear hunting strategies? Have you thought about family outdoor photography as hobby or side hustle? Maybe you’re seasoned in the flower bed, but want to learn raised bed gardening tips?
No matter your interest, it is important that you have the ability and the means to make it a reality. We have all had things that we wanted to be successful at, I believe that’s what we are looking for in this thing called life.
If we have learned anything this last year and a half, it’s that life as we know it can change in an instant. Whether it’s the daily activities we take for granted or that it’s shorter than we planned, we have realized that each moment is important.
Effective Time Management
I’ll admit, I have not always been the best at time management. There is nothing more frustrating than having a fun trip planned, then stressing out because time is running short and you’re not prepared. This creates a rough start to the trip, if you get to go, which can cause issues for the entire duration. I have tried to put together a few tips to avoid this in the future.
Be Goal-Oriented – Know what you want you end goal to look like. You should do this first. Think about what you want to have completed by what time on what day or week.
Set Tasks or Checkpoints – Create Daily, Weekly, Monthly tasks, depending on how far out the goal is. This will allow you to plan out what needs to be done, then you can determine how long it will take to complete each task. Complete them as you’ve planned.
Don’t Multitask – While I have often heard individuals bragging about multitasking, it is actually a very poor practice. This will distract you from your end goal and will ultimately hinder production. When you begin a task, try to avoid distractions and complete the task before moving on to something else.
See further discussion on Time Management here.
Financial Planning For The Future
*I am NOT a financial planner!* Now that I have that out of the way, have you ever wanted to go do something really fun and exciting and just didn’t have the funds? I know I have! As with the previous section, when you create your “End Goal”, you should have an idea of how much it will cost.
Create a Budget – I believe everyone should have a budget, regardless of upcoming plans. Right now, we’re just focusing on getting you in the outdoors and winning! Set aside money each payday for your goal. Be sure to plan far enough ahead.
We can’t all spend money like Congress, so make sure you have more coming in than going out. If not, you may have to pick up some extra hours or sell some unused items. Just don’t give up on your end goal!
Outdoor Gear For Success
If you have ever done anything, chances are you have had some gear or equipment break. This could be your vehicle, a tool, or the zipper on your favorite pair of pants. No matter what it was, it likely turned a good day into a bad one.
Before you take that trip outdoors, think about what you’ll need and make sure that it’s ready to go ahead of time. This is included in the tasks/checkpoints area.
Use a Checklist – Create your checklist early on. This allows time to add additional items and prevents you from having items you don’t need.
Read Reviews – Before you just go purchase some items, check out some reviews. No, you don’t have to read them all, and there are always some who are just unhappy. It maybe something that doesn’t affect you, but it might.
Use Reliable Gear – Similar to reading reviews, don’t just purchase something because it’s the cheapest. I am definitely not a name brand snob, but the statement “You get what you pay for” isn’t completely nonsense. There is usually a happy medium somewhere in there where price and quality meet, if price is a concern.
Positive Attitudes For All
If you have made it to this point, you should be ready for your outing. Your attitude is not only important during the previous phases, it is just as important for the actual end goal. You should be prepared with gear, time and money. This will promote a stress free environment where you can enjoy yourself. Take advantage of this.
Lose the screens and unplug. Enjoy all that nature has to offer. All the work that you have done to this point was for a reason, so make the most of it.
Wrapping Up
Here I have talked about some important factors to make your next outing a success. This is definitely not an all-inclusive list, and we’ll explore each of these items in further detail in the future. Just remember, aside from a single outing, our end goal is to create or maintain a passion for the outdoors. This isn’t accomplished by being miserable while we should be relaxing.
If you have any comments or questions, feel free to post them below.
Keep Winning Outdoors!
JP