Today's guest is Gord Pyzer. Gord is widely known as Canada's most scientific fisherman. He's now the Fishing Editor at Outdoor Canada Magazine,  and the Field Editor and Television host for In-Fisherman Magazine.  But before that, with a masters degree in resource management,  he worked for 30 years as a senior manager with Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources. He was inducted into the Canadian Angler Hall of Fame in 2009, and the Freshwater Fishing Hall of Fame in 2015.  As you'll soon find out in the episode, his reputation as the "most scientific angler" is well deserved. Even if you're not very into fishing, (like me,) His deep understanding of these fish and their habitats, alongside his obvious passion, will leave you laughing in amazement. 

Timing: 

1:33 Start of interview
5:19 Lesson in Persistance
12:18 Getting to Know the Fish
17:04 Making a Living From Fishing
21:20 Sustainability
35:46 Gord's Best Fishing Stories
43:00 Gord's Definition of Success
54:14 Life Lessons from Fishing

The Golden Nugget of Wisdom:

The main lesson I learned looking back on my conversation with Gord Pyzer, revolves around humility and mastery. I went into yet another interview EXPECTING a professional to agree with and elaborate on a lesson I recently learned. But I quickly realized the lesson I learned was personal circumstance, and not an overarching blanket lesson for everybody out there who wants to learn how to fish. Let me explain. 

As I discuss in the beginning of the interview, I recently caught my first fish ever. It was the last hour of the last day of the trip when I caught it and I instantly thought: FISHING is just about PERSISTENCE. I didn't give up so I was PROUD of my persistence, of my grind it out mentality.

But as soon as I brought it up with expert fisherman Gord Pyzer,  he laughed and told me gently that it's actually quite the opposite of persistence.  That if he hasn't caught anything in the first 20 minutes, he's outta there! His years of studying fish inside and out has led him to become so efficient in catching fish that he says he catches too many! 

Looking back on it, the lesson here is that you CAN'T SHORTCUT mastery. When you first start learning a skill, you may THINK that you've discovered the secret, but really you've just made a little bit of progress, you've taken one step on a long, long journey. You think it's persistence, but as Gord teaches us in the episode: it's about studying and understanding the migratory patterns, the temperature preferences, the feeding habits, the biology,  the circadian rhythm, and the never ending list of  complexities for every single species of fish that leads to success.  And this takes YEARS to learn and apply, not days and a few hundred casts. 

 

Music:
FLAWD SOULS: Spotify / Instagram / SoundCloud

Trent Kitsch most likely doesn't need an introduction for most of you, so before I list some of his accomplishments, let me paint a picture of our interview set up. Trent kindly invited me to his home where I set up my gear outside on a comfy patio overlooking the Okanagan Valley, it was a beautiful 30 degree summer day and we cracked a beer. It was less of an interview and more of a conversation with somebody who's interested in similar topics. As for accomplishments, Trent founded Saxx Underwear in 2007, and sold it in 2016.  He then continued his entrepreneurial journey by co-founding and selling Doja Cannabis to Canopy Growth in 2018, which was  a several hundred million dollar deal. He also currently owns and operates Kitsch Wines, a world class winery here in the heart of the Okanagan Valley. He's got a deep love for entrepreneurship, and he's got the stories to back it. 

Show Notes: 

1:40- Start of Interview
6:06- The Saxx Van 
11:30- The Elevator Pitch
16:40- Trent's and Failure
21:49- After Selling Saxx
34:04- Healthy Habits
35:56- What Trent's Working on Now
37:33- Ria
42:19- Advice for Young Entrepreneurs
44:52- Setting Milestones/ The Goal Card
57:26- Open-mindedness/ Curiosity
1:03:10- The Golden Nugget of Wisdom 

The Golden Nugget of Wisdom: 

Trent Kitsch is in the big leagues of business, so it hit different when he shared his respect for failure and the willingness to just TRY! We all have a natural feeling of embarrassment when we're trying new things. It's like our mind easily constructs a sort of made-up, fake crowd, full of critics paying very close attention to every move, eager to laugh at every mistake we make. This paralyzes us. But nobody is paying attention as much as we're paying attention to ourselves, so we have to notice this pattern, and not let it stop us from trying. We have to ENJOY Trying! And it's easier to enjoy it, knowing that you have people like Trent in your corner. 

I was comforted when Trent reminded us that the BEST of the Best, hall of famer baseball players bat at .300. They hit only 30% of the time! But I was even more comforted when Trent stressed the point that he's developed a love for trying, and for those who try. It's nice to know that somebody at the top is cheering you on, and not judging or laughing at our efforts as we sometimes assume. And this applies to anything you do.

In Trent's Words: "being ok with failure is a cool thing. I think it's important to try, if the people are naysaying the tryers, fuck those people. I love trying." 

 Thanks Trent! 

Music:
FLAWD SOULS: Spotify / Instagram / SoundCloud

Today's guest is Svein Tuft. Svein is a Canadian cyclist who rode professionally for almost 20 years with a list of accomplishments that will leave you gasping for air. He's won the Canadian National Time Trial Championships a total of 11 times, He's worn the pink leaders jersey in the Giro D'Italia, which is Italy's equivalent to the yellow jersey in the Tour de France. He's completed the Tour De France 3 times and finished a total of 10 grand tours. These grand tours are races that are an average of 3500km long over the course of 21 stages in 3 weeks with only 2 rest days. There are only 3 every year. One in Italy (The Giro), The ultra famous Tour de France, and one in Spain (La Vuelta.) With such a long lasting career, I was excited to dive into Svein's mindset regarding longevity, and he definitely had some golden nuggets to share on the topic.

Timing:

1:48 Start of Interview
5:00 Elite Level Athletes
10:59 How to Make the Legs Feel Light
18:30 Toughest Days on the Bike
23:30 How Svein Started Cycling
26:43 The Commercial Side of Cycling
31:09 Using Data vs. Listening to Your Body
37:30 Svein's Healthy Habits
43:13 Short Term vs. Long Term Gratification
50:45 Teaching Long Term Thinking
54:40 Talking Finances
59:21 The Golden Nugget of Wisdom

The Golden Nugget of Wisdom:

Mindset is tough to define, which is why I dedicate my time trying to clarify what the worlds elite performers have to say about it. My conversation with pro cyclist Svein Tuft has clarified a piece of the puzzle that I believe will help me live a better life. 

When describing the common denominator between the worlds elite cyclists, the best of the best, he mentions that they have a narrowed focus on what they want to achieve, which translates to them not wasting ANY energy dreading the "shitty" parts of the job. They don't complain that they have a big workout to complete, or that the weather's bad, it just "is what it is..." it's what they do. It's as if they've figured out that negative thoughts drain our physical energy levels, and they need all the energy they can get.  

This made me realize that our brain is  constantly trying to determine whether what we're pouring our energy into is "worth it." And though it's a helpful tool that can help us avoid doing things that are a waste of energy, it's also a trap that can keep us lazy in our modern world. Here's what I mean:

A young, 20 year old Jeremy used to struggle with something as simple as cleaning the floors in the apartment. My mind had decided it wasn't worth the energy. I loved the idea of having a clean apartment, but I wasn't yet convinced that the 45 minutes of effort was worth it. Because those 45 minutes were filled with negative thoughts like, "This is brutal, why am I doing this? I'd rather get high and watch survivor." It wasn't the work that was the struggle, it was the thoughts. 

But over the course of a decade the negative thoughts have slowed down to the point where there is no more mental struggle. It's just something that needs to get done, so I do it, without any self-imposed suffering.  This may be a silly example, but I truly believe if we can start to notice these mental hurdles, we'll be able to slowly clean up all areas of our lives in days or weeks, rather  than years or decades.  

Music:
FLAWD SOULS: Spotify / Instagram / SoundCloud