You Don’t Just Show Up and Win - Whale Hunting Series: Research

If you’re trying to win at a high level, you don’t get there by working harder—you get there by preparing better.

In this episode of Finding Your Innergator, RB Wright breaks down the first phase of the Whale Hunting series: Research. Drawing from real offshore tournament fishing experience, RB walks through how preparation begins weeks in advance—studying conditions, tracking movement, and using the right tools to identify the best opportunities.

Then he connects it directly to business and sales, showing how top performers use data, technology, and intentional research to position themselves for success before they ever make a call.

Because success isn’t about guessing.

It’s about knowing.

What You’ll Learn

• Why high performers don’t just work harder—they prepare better
•  How research helps you identify the right opportunities and timing
•  The direct connection between preparation and confidence
•  Why most people waste time chasing the wrong targets
•  How to apply research strategies in sales, business, and life

Key Takeaways

• “You don’t win at a high level by guessing—you win by preparing.”
•  “Preparation creates confidence. Confidence creates better conversations.       Better conversations create better results.”
•  “When you skip research, you’re choosing to struggle later.”
•  “Hope is not a strategy—preparation is.”

Whale Hunting Series – Phase 1: Research

This episode is the foundation of the Whale Hunting framework. Before you can plan, execute, or win, you must first understand what you’re going after and whether the conditions are right.

RB walks through how this applies across industries—from offshore fishing to mortgage banking, real estate, and sales—using tools like data platforms, social media, and market research to eliminate guesswork and increase precision.

Your Challenge This Week

Before you make your next move, stop and ask yourself:

1. What do I actually know about this?
2.  Have I done the research?
3.  Or am I just hoping it works?

Because where you start determines where you end up.

What’s Next

Next week, RB breaks down the next phase in the Whale Hunting series: 

Planning – Turning Research Into a Strategy

If This Episode Helped You

Share it with someone who is ready to stop guessing and start preparing.

Because greatness isn’t built by chance…

It’s built by doing the work before it counts.

Transcript

0:12

Hello, everybody, and welcome to Finding Your Innergator Podcast, where we talk about discipline, relationships, and the habits that release to greatness that is already inside of you. I'm your host, RB Wright, and I am so glad that you're here. In each episode, we'll explore powerful lessons, real life stories, and practical strategies to help you live intentionally, build meaningful relationships, and unlock your full potential. But greatness isn't something you stumble into, it's something that is built every single day. So let's get started and begin the journey to finding your inner gator. Hello everybody and welcome. This is RB Wright, and I am so glad that you're here. You're listening to the Innergator, Finding Your Inner Gator podcast. Last week we kicked off something new. I asked you a simple question. I asked you, what are you fishing for? Not what you say you want, but what are you actually targeting? Because your life will always reflect what you're going after. Now, today we're taking it to the next step. Because once you decide you want to go after something bigger, once you decide you're not going to just stay on the bank and catch whatever bites, just whatever shows up, the next question becomes this how do you actually put yourself in a position to win, right? How do you position yourself? This is where most people get it wrong. They think success is about effort. They think it's about working harder, making more calls, and doing more activity. But I'm going to tell you something that may just shift. I hope it does. I hope it shifts the way you think. High performers don't just work harder, they prepare better. Let me give you an example. You know, when I'm tournament fishing, we fish a lot of King Michael tournaments in this area. I don't wake up the morning of the tournament and just go out and hope that I'm going to find the king. I'm going to find the right fish, right? I just don't get up and hope that that happens. That's not how it works. The work starts weeks in advance. Not just with me, I got my team. I mean, we're studying, we're researching, we're paying attention. I use a lot of different tools like satfish, uh, Sirius XM marine, uh, fish weather. I use an app called Windy Underground Weather. I'm watching water to find those temperature breaks. I'm looking for the chlorophyll levels, I'm studying the currents, I'm tracking where's the bait at, right? What these fish are feeding on, where's this bait at? Where are the weed lines? I'm talking to other captives. I'm looking at social media just to see what's been caught in the area. I'm listening to what people are telling me. Sometimes, more importantly, I'm listening to what's not being said, right? I start pre-fishing. You know, from the from the date that uh uh we got a tournament coming up uh less than 30 days from the day that we launched this this uh episode. We're already prefishing areas to find out are the kings in these in these marks that we normally fish. I'm putting myself in position before it even matters, right? Why? Because I'm not trying to get lucky. I'm trying to be prepared. And here's the key. All of that research, all that research, what is it helping me do? It's helping me make certain that the target that I'm going after in these tournaments, it's typically Kings and uh Mahi, that the conditions are right for them, right? It it helps me identify specifically what I'm targeting and make certain that I have the information that the species I'm looking for is going to be there and the conditions are right to pursue that target. That's it. And when you think about it like that, guys, it's no different than life or in business. Especially, especially in sales. Let's take, we can talk about real estate, we can talk about mortgage banking. I happen to talk to a lot of mortgage bankers. So let's just kind of hone in on the loan officer for a second. Most people are out there calling whoever, whenever, however, and they're hoping that something sticks. That's the equivalent of just dropping a line in the water and hoping something bites. But the ones that win, the ones that win the tournaments, the ones that catch the big fish, the ones who get the big accounts, they research. They use tools like Model Match, Radder, Core Logic. They're looking at data. They're identifying who is actually producing, who's moving, who is growing, who fits, what they're trying to build. They're not guessing, they're not just targeting. They're researching to make certain that that target is right. They're on LinkedIn, they're paying attention to social media, they're watching what people are doing, not just what they're saying. They have gathered their information, they have done their research before they ever, ever make that call. Because by the time they reach out, they already know who they're talking to. Now listen, we're in the middle of what we're calling this the well hunting series. Yeah, it applies to fishing, but it also applies to whatever it is that you're trying to accomplish that you think is too big to accomplish, right? That's your will. That's your will. If you're in sales, it's going after that big account. If you're trying to uh lose weight, trying to save money, trying to run a marathon, whatever it is, it's that will, right? It's that well. So when you when you're listening to this, I want you to be able to parlay this to life that the well hunting is finding that one thing, that big thing that you're trying to accomplish. Now I'm going to broaden this beyond mortgage. Remember, this is the foundation. What we're talking about today. You can't do the other five or six steps unless you successfully, unless you do this, unless you do this. Let's broaden this beyond mortgage. Because I think it applies to every business, every salesperson, every entrepreneur. If you're in real estate, are you are you researching your market? Do you know where the movement is actually taking place? Do you know what the inventory is doing? Do you know? Do you know the information? If you're in sales, are you studying your prospects? Do you know their business, their pain points, their patterns? Or are you just showing up and hope you figure it out on the way along the way? You might get lucky every now and then, but most of the time you're not. Because here's the truth. You don't win at a high level by guessing. You win by preparing. And I want you to hear this very clearly. The research, the preparation, that preparation, that that creates confidence. Confidence creates better conversations. Better conversations create better results. But it all, it all starts with research. Now here's where this really matters is that most people skip this step. Why? Why or B? Why would people skip that? You're saying that to me right now, but I'm gonna tell you. It takes time, it takes effort, it takes discipline. There is no immediate reward for just doing the research. But what they don't realize is when you skip research, you're choosing to struggle later. You're choosing to waste time, you're choosing to chase the wrong opportunities, you're choosing to operate without clarity. Then you wonder why things aren't working. You know, I'm gonna go back to real estate agents. I used to write a lot of loans for this one agent. And she would drive people around, come in, have them under contract. Her car probably got 12 miles to the gallon back then, and she would drive them all over town. And she'd come in and lay an offer-to-purchase contract on my desk. And she goes, All right, they want to close in three weeks. She didn't know if they qualified or not. She didn't know how much, they didn't know how much they could afford to buy. And most of the time she was showing them properties that they couldn't qualify for. Now think about that. Think about all the time she wasted. Think about all their time that was wasted, the seller's time that was wasted, the fuel that was wasted, because she didn't do the research the right way. I'm gonna bring this back to fishing one more time, and I hope that this is making sense to you because when I'm fishing, if I misread the water temperature, if I don't pay attention to the current, if I don't notice where the bait is, I can spend an entire day in the wrong place, just like the agent I was just talking about. I got the same boat, same gear, same effort, but no result. It's not because there aren't fish in the ocean, but it's because I didn't do the work necessary to find them. That's exactly what happens in business. The opportunity is there, the deals are there, the relationships are there, but you're in the wrong place. Because you didn't do the research. In well hunting, going after those big fish, those big goals, those big accounts. If you're going to go after something bigger, you don't get to skip the step. You don't just get to show up and expect it to happen. There's got to be action. You have to do the work up front. You have to study, you have to prepare, you have to understand what you're going after. And what's just as important, you have to understand when the conditions are right because timing matters, positioning matters, information matters. My challenge for you this week, what I want you to put in action is before you make another call, before you chase another opportunity, before you say yes to something, stop. And then ask yourself, what do I actually know about this? Not what do I think I know about this? What do I know about this? Have I researched it? Have I prepared for it, or I am just hoping it's going to work? You've heard it said a thousand times, hope is not a strategy, but I submit to you, preparation is. Preparation is a strategy. And if you want to operate at a higher level, if you want to stop chasing and start targeting, if you want to actually put yourself in a position to win, it starts right here with research. I tell you every week inside of you there is greatness. But greatness doesn't show up by accident. It's built. It's built through discipline, it's built through preparation, it's built by doing the work before it ever counts. Don't just show up. Show up ready. All right, guys, I hope that this series is helping you. If it is, I want you to share it with somebody that you know that can use this to help them get to that next level, to help them go after what it is that they're trying to accomplish that's big. This is phase one preparation. Next week we're actually going to talk about the plan, right? The plan. We're going to talk about on the fishing side the plan we put to place, why it's important, how that relates to what you're doing every day. Every day. Win this week. I hope you have a great week, and I look forward to talking to you next Monday. Thanks, guys. Everybody, thank you so much for listening to the Finding Your Inner Gator podcast. You know, if today's episode helped you, share it with someone who needs to hear this message. Remember, greatness is achieved through discipline, intentional action, and optimizing the relationships around you. I look forward to getting with you next week. Now, go Gatorize your day.