Last night we held practice 15 with a team of grapplers. We had a Steiber (not Logan) call out his teammates in a good way. He told them he sees a lot of fear in the wrestling room. Too many guys are unwilling to “shoot” in the first and second period because they are allowing their brain to fast forward to the third. The fear is of losing energy. I see this every day, by the way. Everyday. The discipline for the fearless is simple – they keep the brain focused on the current iteration, period. Like the SEAL who makes it through BUD’s training, they do not allow the mind to focus forward when staring at the first sunset of Hell week. The successful SEAL simply gets through the current moment and then the next. Same is true in the 3PP and whatever other tough iteration you find yourself in. Remember, you are either learning optimism or learning helplessness. After practice 15 Grappy received a note from one of his teammates. I share this to let you, my normal, fear filled friend, know you are in good company. And, to remind you that you can change your mind. Good…
“I Just wanted to say thank you for bringing Chet to come and talk with us. A lot of the fears I have now are new for me because wrestling in high school wasn’t nearly as challenging. For most of the season I wouldn’t face anyone who posed any real threat and the few times I lost didn’t effect me. But coming to this team I experienced a level of wrestling that I hadn’t before. I remember in high school I loved being challenged in practice with hard sprints and tons of live and I always went with bigger people being I loved getting beat up and learning from it. But since I’ve been here something has changed and when I get beat up I feel hopeless rather than feeling like it was a learning experience. I think if you had not brought Chet around I wouldn’t have realized this change in my mindset and my time on the team wouldn’t be as good as it could. I want to be able to wrestle free again whether I’m losing or not and enjoy wrestling again. So again thank you.”
Your mindset matters, friend. Learn to change yours to one that explains events in the most positive way. The best among us get beaten up, at least sometimes. Learn from these moments. Learn to love the tough tests. Learn to take your shots early and often and enjoy the gift of being in the game, on the mat, and a part of something really cool. You will be wrestling free again very soon. Keep working, friend. Keep working. I mean come on man, it’s only ten minutes of terror. Good…
BUILT TO LEAD 