Today marks the 20th anniversary of a very critical date in my development as an outdoor writer. July 30, 2004, was the first day of that year’s Bassmaster Classic on Lake Wylie, and I was the media observer for Aaron Martens.

As I’ve written many times before, the late development of my writing career has paid countless dividends and I feel like it’s just getting started. I’ve had some great mentors, and most of the learning experiences have been relatively painful. I don’t know precisely what the future of fishing media holds, but I can tell you that there’s still tons of opportunity for savvy, hard workers.

Despite a lack of formal training, I’ve made a career out of writing about fishing – and to the extent that I’ve been able to avoid major gaffes, it’s been because there has been a lot of mentoring from other writers along the way. Here are four that I’ve received that I carry with me every day.

In order to make the most of a side-hustle or dream career, you need to look at every bit of drudgery or repetition as an opportunity. Treasure what you GET TO do more than regret what you HAVE TO do.