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Hey Guys!

Welcome to the 64th Issue of Guys Fishing Weekly!

Thanks for spending even just a little of your week with us. We are grateful for you!

Stay Legendary,

- The GFW Boys

Year Defining Goal

Welcome to the new year, 2025! We are likely the 27th email who has wished you a happy occasion, so we won’t belabor the point too much. And if you came here for fishy writing, bear with me, as we aren’t catching any fish today.

The turning of the calendar means it is “Resolution Szn”! And since today is January 2nd, it is possible you have already caved to the siren call of cookie dough ice cream.

If not, studies say 23% of you will tap out by the 7th… Good luck.

Resolutions suck. They never work.

And I have a theory why.

They add no real meaning to our life. They don’t make it better. They are an empty promise that in most ways take something from us, rather than enrich our days.

Sure, for some of us, losing the weight may make life meaningfully better, adding back years a poor diet tried to steal from our life expectancy.

Quitting drinking may fill us up with new fulfilling relationships. But the temporary pain of losing the destructive relationships we hold so close, is too much for many of us to go through.

Or starting that new habit of running every day, “in the name of being healthier,” sounds awesome! Until your legs awake you with screams to stop, three days later.

And so, we fail.

But WAIT! What if I told you there were a sure-fire way to stick to that resolution?!

Well you are in luck! For only three easy payments of $19.99, I give you the “GFW Fad Diet of 2025!”

The Way

If you have listened to our podcast, you have heard me blabber on about my marathon. Sorry to listeners looking for expert fishing talk, who received mediocre runner’s talk.

In 2024, I set myself a “year defining goal” of running a marathon. The only criteria I set for myself is that I had to run a marathon by the end of calendar year 2025. I worked backwards from there, setting some structure and using the free Nike Running Plan.

It was a big ask of myself. I hadn’t run longer than 3 miles since high school. And on the first day I laced up in 2024, I ran at a glacial 11min/mile pace (Olympians would have nearly lapped me…twice). And at the end, I was dying.

But instead of quitting three days later, I had a year defining experience planned. I was creating a story that I could brag about to the readers of this newsletter, one day. That day happens to be today.

Since our life is only a series of meaningful stories, I was out to create meaning in my life.

No one was going to read “man lost 15 pounds in 2024” on my tombstone. And frankly, no one is going to read “ran a marathon in 2024.” But there is a better chance that “marathoner” would end up on a tombstone than “weightlosser.”

So, as we go headlong into 2025, instead of setting that meaningless resolution, set a year defining goal that you may be able to put on your tombstone. “Angler.” “Adventurer.” “Musician.”

Dream big. I believe in you.

With that, have a fantastic 2025! I hope to see you on the water.

PS - If you want a list of ideas to use to set a Year Defining Goal, we posted a list of 100 ideas on our website.

PSS - If you want to read about what insights I gained from sticking with my marathon training in 2024, reply to this email with a message and I will send my reflections.

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