I was talking to my nephew today. I know what you’re thinking. Wow, he talks to his nephew a lot. You would be right. I love my nephew and we seem to have a lot in common. The main difference, as I’ve said before, is he’s a real writer. I’m a hack. I don’t even put paragraphs in my blogs. I guess you can say it’s my “thing.” Here I am digressing in the first few sentences. We got into a conversation about how to make lots of money. Mike said something poignant. He said, “I used to do some fishing when I was a kid, but I was never very successful at it. I would dip a baited hook in the water, and every now and then, get lucky and pull one up.” He continued, “I’d go to school and hear from my friends about how they caught tons of fish.” I let him in on a secret. When I was a kid I used to go rabbit hunting with an Italian gentleman named Joe Latino. He grew up with my grandfather. He was nice enough to take me and his grandson Nicky hunting. We went practically every weekend during the season. I told Mike that every time I went with Mr. Latino and his friends, I would surely bag several rabbits. I was as young as 11 and 12 years old. With a single-shot shotgun I did this. Somehow the dogs knew how to get the rabbits to come right next to Nicky and I. By the time we hit 14, the Nickster and I would go hunting by ourselves. We would take the same beagles. We had semiautomatic shotguns with several rounds. Yet our rate of success went way down. Some days we didn’t even bag a single hare. But whenever we’d go with Mr. Latino and his friends, we would bag lots of rabbits. That’s when my buddy and I learned that hunting isn’t just about having good aim. It’s knowing how to work dogs. It’s about calling out and letting your dogs know where you are so they can push rabbits into your direction. There was no trick behind it. It was just good, solid hunting. I told you that to tell you this. Friends, family and others will often tell me the same story about how they joined a gym. They tell me how they would go religiously on a daily basis or every other day, yet don’t see any changes in their body. I ask them what they’re doing. They say, “You know, the machines.” I say, “Which machines?” I get any myriad of answers where people do what looks like an air movement of whatever they do on the machine. I ask if they’ve ever hired a fitness trainer. They usually say it comes with the membership. They usually then tell me about how the trainer wasn’t interested in training, but in selling. The point is simple. Whether fishing, hunting or exercising, you will only get out of it what you put into it. And you’re only going to be as good as the knowledge you have. Seek the knowledge. Find out who the best trainer is. If you want more information, write to me. I will give you this knowledge for free. No matter what you are looking for, the information is out there. Plenty of books have been written about this. One of my favorites is Starting Strength by Mark Rippetoe. I know it is about powerlifting, but Mark and I were cut from the same cloth. We are both around the same age, and we both were into powerlifting around the same time. His knowledge is second to none. Now if only I can find someone to teach me how to bowl. Maybe I will break 135 one day.
