When I coach clients, one of first things I ask them is what their business looks like when it is finished. Usually I get a strange look, but I explain that we cannot build something without knowing what it will be. An architect needs construction drawings and a business owner a set of plans to complete what they set out to achieve.

I was interviewing my friend Rimmer Covington from the Mexican Gulf Fishing Company for a book I am writing titled Teach Your Business to Fish. During our conversation, he told me that fish only really do 2 things: feed and breed. And knowing which they are doing can lead to success. You may be asking yourself what this means for building your business. Let me illustrate with a story.

I love to fish for Yellowfin tuna with one of Rimmer’s captains, Scott Sullivan. During a recent conversation about tuna, Scott mentioned that tuna are really just eating machines. Until they reach about 30 pounds, lots of other fish will feed on them. They have to focus on eating, so they can move from being a prey item to strictly a predator. So their daily task is finding food and eating as much of it as possible. These fish can grow to almost 50lbs in 2 years. At that point, very few things in the ocean will be able to hunt them down and eat them.

During this time, the tuna does not focus on its end result of becoming big. It focuses on eating as much as possible and not being eaten. In business it seems like a lot of companies tend to focus on the end result, but let the little daily things slide through the cracks.

A group of friends and I fished with Scott for Yellowfin this July, and our target was to fill our freezer with these tasty fish. Now that was Scott’s goal, but what he did fell in line with what John Maxwell teaches in How to Be a REAL Success, in our case, a REEL Success. There are four distinct steps in this process, and, as the day progressed, they all happened as predicted.

1. Relationships

2. Equipping

3. Attitude/Ethics

4. Leadership

To achieve Scott’s goal of assisting us in achieving our goal, he had to focus on three things that he focuses on each and every day.

1. Find and catch bait

2. Find and catch tuna

3. Allow us to have a good time

As Scott caught bait, he gave us the right tackle and taught us how to work as a team to fill the bait tank with blue runners. Some people caught the fish; others unhooked the fish and got the baits back into the water as quickly as possible. So bait was caught in about 20 minutes.

Scott found the fish, but they were not really feeding on the surface as he would have liked, so we moved to another spot. Once we hooked up, Scott was to determine the size of the fish and whether we would need a harness to fight the fish or not. Some of these fish were big (90 to 100lbs.) and could be fought with just a fighting belt, but the fight would have been very long and the angler would have been spent. So Scott added extra equipment – the fighting harness that allowed the angler to complete the task in more efficient manner. (Equipping)

Scott always has a fun, outgoing attitude and uses it to coach his clients on what they need to do to be successful. Some other captains I have fished with only worry about catching fish, and they yell and scream if a client loses a nice fish. It is all about the experience, and a great coach can ensure both an enjoyable experience and a successful trip. (Leadership)

The fish were really biting, but Scott chose to move on and try for fish other that tuna. We had all we could (probably for the year), and it is said that it’s best to leave them biting so they have the chance to breed. Take only what you can use. Even though legally every angler could take 3 tuna, we had more than enough with 2 each. (Ethics)

After the day was done, the fish cleaned, and some sushi was on the plate, the relationships were solidified. Scott accomplished all four steps in “Becoming a REEL Success” and achieved the goal of the day. (Relationships)

I challenge you to figure out what the end result of your business is, and then figure out the little things that have to happen regularly for you to become a REEL Success.