I Learned This, From Wrestling at The Age Of 12
I was never great at wrestling
but that didn’t stop me from trying to dissect the sport,
and battling and working my fucking ass off..
Tons of lessons I was fortunate to learn at such a young age from the sport,
But one lesson, sticks out and it’s a GOOD one.
Coach Guiducci, never
and when I say never,
ever,
let us lay on our back..
ever..
Specifically in the “Mat Room”..
Let me give you a story,
I once witnessed a interaction between Coach Guiducci and a kid around the same age as me,
This kid, was a super star, athletic, stronger and faster than any of us, truly elite among us boys..
It was minutes after running the mile on a Wednesday,
And this kid, if I could remember his name I’d have put it here,
Decided that it was a good idea that, in the middle of instruction time within the walls of the Mat Room,
that he wanted to lay back on his elbows and rest a bit..
Now Guiducci, called him out after giving him about 2 minutes of a death stare,
to give him the chance to recognize and correct his own mistake..
Coach Guiducci, says “Hey Team! What is our ONE AND ONLY RULE here in the Mat Room?”
We all responded,
“We never lay on our backs”..
He then said, “Well hey ______ sir, why is it that you are breaking our one and only rule here?”
The kid replied , *shrugging his shoulders, struggling to explain that he’s not on his back blahblahblah, “I’m not.. it’s not even my back.. it’s not a big deal..”
Coach Guiducci, didn’t respond, didn’t argue, didn’t explain..
Simply told him “Get your stuff, turn in your singlet, we no longer want you on this team..”
This kid was a star, had an incredibly 3 year record, and was scheduled to crush it in the State Tournament.
And in a minute,
GONE..
Why?
My understanding is this,
You may or may not know,
The 2 ways to lose a match in wresting is by points deficit,
Or being pinned..
A pin (or fall) is when you put your opponent on his/her back with any part of both shoulders or both shoulder blades of your opponent in contact with the mat for two seconds. When you pin your opponent, the match is over and you are the winner..
And to Coach Guiducci’s credit, he baked into his system,
a rule,
a mandatory agreement,
a belief,
That when we are on the mat,
WE DO NOT LAY ON OUR BACK..
That this sacred place, between the lines and circles of the mat,
that we don’t tolerate,
we don’t accept,
we don’t even think about,
laying on our backs.
It is systematized that we disassociate with the idea losing as a whole..
How many things in your life, give you the tolerance, to associate with losing?
What in your life, are actions, that allow you to create thoughts of losing?
Whatever the little actions are,
are typically hidden in the little details of your day.
And as we know, confidence and credibility begin with thoughts, that for promises that we either choose to fulfill or dismiss.
Fulfilling them builds your confidence, and dismissing them hurts your credibility.
And every action or decision we make, casts votes in the direction of who we want to become.
Do you say your an athlete, and treat and feed your body like crap?
Do you say your financially literate, and waste money and refuse to invest?
Do you say you’re honest and upfront, and yet lie to spare yours or others feelings?
Look at your daily habits,
and if you notice areas in your life that aren’t to your liking, and what you feel you deserve,
reverse engineer the results, and find out what you do, that gives you the thoughts, the feelings, that those losing actions, have become accepted and tolerated..
Whatever it is,
Change it,
right here
right now.
See you soon,
Julian R👊🏽
PS. If you needed help, with your accountability and clarity on your goals,
I’m looking for 5 People who want to take control through all circumstances, build confidence and momentum, and find the truth behind what it will actually take to get started on that road..
Shoot me a DM “Accountability”, and we’ll get on a call to talk more.
