FORT WORTH, Texas – Every day, Colten Fritzlan pulls out a composition notebook.

The cover says “2023 goals. Trust the process,” and is decorated with a Wrangler “Long Live Cowboys” sticker.

Every day, Fritzlan writes down his goals.

“I tell myself I live in total health,” Fritzlan said. “I say my body is flexible, loose, calm and strong. To dominate every bull for 10 seconds. I love the challenge and the dominance and the knowing I can get better.

“That’s just a few of them, but there’s more of them too. I can’t let everybody know what they’ve got to do,” he joked.

It’s a ritual he completed before Round 3 of the 2023 PBR World Finals at Dickies Arena in Fort Worth, Texas, and one that’s been paying off as of late.

Fritzlan is 2-for-3 in Fort Worth and sits No. 4 in the aggregate (172.75 points) at the end of the first week of competition. He trails just Ramon de Lima (175.75 points), Boudreaux Campbell (175) and Braidy Randolph (173).

In Round 3, he rode Detroit Lean for 86.75 points to finish eighth in the round.

“Great, great bull of Blake Sharp’s and that bull company over there,” Fritzlan said. “I’d seen him a little bit, but I just never really paid attention to him. I knew going in he’d give me enough points to be good on him, and I just had to do my job and reacted.”

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This is Fritzlan’s first trip to a PBR World Finals. He qualified in 2021 but couldn’t compete due to an injury that left him watching from the sidelines.

Two years later, he’s thrilled to finally be competing on bull riding’s biggest stage.

“I’m really starting to slow down here lately,” Fritzlan said. “Like today during intros, I just kind of looked around. This is where I’ve wanted to be ever since I was 7 years old. I remember staying up until who knows when, just watching the PBR World Finals at night, because it’d come on so late at home. But I knew I always wanted to be here, and it’s been awesome.”

Fritzlan suffered a heartbreaking buckoff in Round 1 when Snuggles shook him in 7.01 seconds, but he rebounded in Round 2 to cover Alakazam for 86 points.

“They got me down a little early in the first round, but that was kind of the taste of blood that I needed to really just do my job, because I just wasn’t firing at the end like I wanted to,” Fritzlan said. “And yesterday, great bull of D&H’s, Alakazam, and I knew he was a great bull. Either way he was going to go, I knew I was going to match him. And just having that confidence rolling into today, it’s been fun.”

While Fritzlan is ahead of world title contenders Jose Vitor Leme, Dalton Kasel, Cooper Davis and Dener Barbosa in the World Finals aggregate, he’s not getting ahead of himself as he prepares for the remaining four days of competition.

“It feels good, but it’s still pretty early,” he said. “I’m not worrying about yesterday, two days ago, none of it. I’m worried about today, and when Thursday rolls around, I’ll worry about Thursday, and just plan on doing my job and having fun doing it.”

Fritzlan, now ranked No. 18 in the Unleash The Beast standings, says this season was not what he wanted it to be. Despite notching the second premier series event win of his career in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in March, he had just one other Top 5 finish and has gone 15-for-46 (32%).

But he kept writing down his goals daily and working with his sports psychologist, Diana McNab, who he says has been a huge blessing in his career. The positive mindset she’s helped him cultivate has gotten him to this point.

“This season’s been a big learning year for me,” he said. “I expect a lot out of myself, more than anybody else does, and there for a little while, I was expecting myself to be the top guy in the world or up there. And not seeing my name up there really kind of put me in a headspace I didn’t want to be in. But I just started to tell myself I’m a World Champion. Next year, five years from now – if I put that out there, it’s going to happen. When it’s my time, it’s my time. But hey, we’re here at the World Finals; I’m blessed, I’m healthy, I’m confident, I’m positive, so we’re just going to keep the ball rolling.”

Round 3 of the 2023 PBR World Finals kicks off on Thursday, May 18 (9 p.m. ET on CBS Sports Network). The riders all have a few days off to rest and reset before the final push for a World Championship, and while Fritzlan will enjoy the downtime, he’s not losing focus on the goals in that composition notebook.

“Tomorrow, my grandparents are in town, I’ve got some family, so I’m going to hang out with them. But I’m definitely going to either go in the pool or make sure my body stays loose and cool,” he said. “Tuesday, we’re going to get after it in the gym. Wednesday, we’re just going to chill. Thursday, we’re going to do what we did today. Plan on it.”

Photo courtesy of Bull Stock Media