Because after my first year I had a lot of success, took everybody by storm, came back the next year thought it was easy and didn't have near the season I had the previous year. It was kind of a wake-up call. And so, life goes on.

This quote is saying that experience can be a great teacher. After the speaker had their first year which was a success and they felt like they had taken everyone by surprise, they thought the next year would be easy. It was not and they realized that they had to keep working hard to maintain that success. This was a “wake-up call” which reminded them that life is not always easy and they need to stay focused. This experience gave them the insight that life is always changing and they have to keep learning in the process.