I went deep water fishing about 5 miles off the coast of Miami, Florida this week. From sun up to sun down, the wind felt like a giant paintbrush splashing pink and blue and salt and fish across the landscape of my life. I want to frame my Whole Life Challenge thoughts this week in things I learned on my fishing trip. I did not go on the trip thinking about the Challenge, but as the day went on it occurred to me many things directly relate to Challenge habits.

Keep several lines in the water.

Big fishing boats keep several lines in the water. Our boat had between 4 and 6 lines in the water at all times. Some had live bait. Some were designed to fish at extremely deep depth. Some had really dark colored tackle. Having several lines in the water increases your opportunity. Having several lines in the water is more difficult to orchestrate and accomplish, but the payoff is better. From a Challenge perspective, all the habits working together have a greater chance of being successful – a whole life – than habits acting on their own. All the lines have to be in the water for the catch to be made.

Know your rhythm.

The captain of the boat talked to me about the importance of knowing the rhythm of the ocean and the fish. When the day started the water was very calm. As the day progressed it got to be choppier. Fish bite more frequently in calm water. I am more successful with the Challenge when I ease into it – when I embrace the way each Habit works for me. Find an exercise I actually like. Keep water with me at all times. Get as many steps walking as possible. Sneak in stretching during moments when I need to take a break from work. If turbulence starts to come, I find calmer waters.

Pay attention.

The fisherman told me, “Pay attention to the rod, not the reel. The rod tells you what you need to know. Watch for it to wiggle. That is when something is biting. Once something is biting, reel it in at a slow and steady pace.” In Challenge terms, watching is about taking advantage of resources like recipes, work out demonstration videos, and discussion threads. Watching is about noticing how my body feels. Watching is about marking down my results – weight, strength, flexibility, and endurance.

When something does not work, it is time to try something else.

Fishing is a lesson in flexibility and patience. Throughout the course of the day, we had to try several locations, types of bait, and depths of lines in order to catch fish. Making those changes was like flexibility and patience dancing together. Closely tied with flexibility and patience is perseverance. A split second after the Captain said we were “Beating a dead horse” because we had not caught anything, my father caught a 62 inch sailfish. It is easy to get discouraged on the Challenge when results don’t happen quick enough, or you really want that whole pizza, that second (or third) glass of wine would be awesome, or sleeping in and not working out would be great. Flexibility, patience, and perseverance (with a dash of hope and courage) can help.

Get outdoors.

The fishing trip reminded me how much I love the outdoors. Since we joined a gym in March, I have not gotten outside as regularly as I had in the past. (My runs have always been a place where I connect with the outdoors.) The open water reminded of the vastness of our natural world. The awesome beauty that surrounded the boat put things into perspective for me. We are but speaks in this vast universe of planets. I am learning the Challenge is about perspective, too. Like nature, our bodies have an ebb and flow.