“So, how’d it go yesterday?” Sammy asked.

“Really good,” Gordy answered. “But—”

“But what?” Sammy asked.

“But I think I could find even more food. I’ve found enough to get by, but if I’m going to be a fearless shark then I want to do more than survive. I want to thrive. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”

“You’re not doing anything wrong,” Sammy said as he lifted Gordy with his fin, plopped him on his back, and started swimming faster and faster. “It’s just that now you are at the point where your positive attitude must be enhanced by focus and action. A positive attitude will help you survive, but it’s not enough. If you want to thrive, then you must not only think like a shark, but act like one, too.”

“How’s that?” Gordy asked.

“It’s best to show you what I mean,” Sammy said as he raced around the ocean with a focus and intensity unlike anything Gordy had ever seen. He found more food in an hour than Gordy caught all day. But he didn’t stop there. He continued searching for food throughout the day, taking short breaks and then resuming his search with more focus and intensity than before. By the end of the day Sammy had found more food than Gordy had seen in a lifetime. He was amazed.

“You know what the difference between you and me is?” Sammy asked.

“Yeah, you’re a lot faster and bigger than me,” Gordy said.

“That’s true,” replied Sammy, “but that’s not why I thrived today and you didn’t yesterday. The difference lies in three simple but very important reasons.

“First, I bet I worked harder than you. Would you agree with that?”

“Yes, I would agree. I didn’t know what hard work was all about until now,” Gordy admitted. “I just swam around at a leisurely pace looking for food but now I see that if I want to thrive I need to step up my game.”

“Indeed,” Sammy said, as he nodded and wrote an important lesson for Gordy to remember.

“There’s no denying it,” Sammy said. “If you want to thrive you have to do more than just be positive. Being positive is essential and it’s where all success starts. But to thrive you must work harder than everyone in the ocean. There’s no substitute for hard work. Most fish want to think that I’m successful at finding food because I’m a shark. They think that I was chosen to find food and born lucky. But what they don’t see is that I work harder than everyone. I believe the harder you work and the more positive you are, the luckier you become. I’m also more focused than they are and this is the second reason why I thrive. I focus more than others.” He wrote on the coral once again:

“It’s not just about working hard, but also focusing on what you want. Every day I ask myself, ‘What do I want?’ The answer, of course, is always food. So then I ask, ‘What are the three most important things I need to do today that will help me find the food I desire?’ Then, and most importantly, I tune out all the distractions that try to sabotage my success and I focus on taking action. I don’t let all the irrelevant time and energy zappers get in the way of accomplishing my goal. I’m just more focused than the other fish,” Sammy said.

“But weren’t you born that way?” Gordy asked.

“Indeed I was,” Sammy admitted. “Some are more focused than others, but focus is something that can be learned and applied. It is a skill. You just need to practice and commit to it. Everyone can learn to focus and when they do they’ll start to thrive instead of merely survive.”

Gordy nodded, knowing exactly what he needed to do. Instead of wandering around the ocean he needed to have a plan of action. He needed to identify what food he wanted to find, where he wanted to find it, and get better at finding it.

“So how do I get better at finding food?” he asked. “How do I find more food, more quickly?”

“Ah, great question fearless one. That is in fact the third reason why I thrive.” He wrote on the coral:

Sammy continued, “I don’t just work hard and focus on finding food; I work hard and focus on getting better at finding food. I have found that if you incrementally improve each day, each week, each month, and each year, you’ll become one of the top food finders in the entire ocean. You can’t settle for being average. You can’t be satisfied with merely surviving. You have to work hard and focus on thriving.”

“When did you stop searching for food yesterday?” Sammy asked.

Gordy hesitated, feeling ashamed. “Midafternoon,” he said.

“That’s okay,” Sammy replied. “Now you know better. Now you know—you do not settle for anything less than a great day.

“You don’t stop when you’ve found just enough to survive. You keep going until you thrive. You don’t settle for being an average food finder. Each day you keep learning, growing, and improving. It may take you a while to become a great food finder like me, but every day that you choose to work hard and not settle is a day that leads to the life that you want. Most importantly, now is a time when those with a positive attitude, a desire to improve, a great work ethic, and an ability to focus will shine. The ocean is filled with food for those who are ready to work hard and find it. So, are you ready to go find some food?” Sammy asked.

“I’m ready,” Gordy said.

And off they swam side by side with focus and intensity to find all the food that was available to them. Gordy wrote a few reminders along the way so as not to forget Sammy’s important lessons. He wrote:

Over the next few weeks Gordy and Sammy spent every day together learning and practicing the art of finding food. Gordy experienced the power of Sammy’s teachings as he found more and more food each day. He realized that you won’t find food if you’re not looking for it. While others were paralyzed by fear, he took action every day and his initiative helped him thrive. He also chose not to settle and made it a point to continuously improve and seek out new ideas and new strategies. He theorized that if you believed it was too late in life to create the life you want, then it was; but if you were willing to improve and learn a new skill, you would. Some of these new ideas came from Sammy and others came to him while he rested in the evening. He knew that no matter how much food he caught and how much he thrived he needed to stay humble and hungry. Humble enough to learn every day and hungry with a passion to become the best food finder he could be.

He was so thankful that Sammy had taught him everything he knew. Over the next few months, thanks to Sammy’s teachings, Gordy became so skilled at finding food that he was eating more than he had when he was being fed by others. He realized that finding food made him stronger and wiser and more appreciative of the food he caught.

He saw firsthand that the difference between a full and empty stomach were his positive beliefs and actions. And he also realized that there were far too many fish like him simply waiting to be fed. They were fearful, scared, and hungry just like he had been.

He wanted to give back and help others the way Sammy helped him. If he could change, he knew others could change, too. They just needed to be informed, empowered, and inspired the way he was. And so with Sammy’s support and encouragement Gordy decided to start a shark school for goldfish. It was the least he could do.