I had caught this on Facebook and thought with Regionals/Districts and State coming up that it was a great read for those competeing and just a great read for wrestling fans in general.
A Loss Now, A Win Later
Mark Schwab
The important question is “What will you do between now and your next opportunity to succeed?" This is crucial. Pay attention to the wobbly wheel. You’re astute to address your lesser strengths and firm them up. Working smart is as important as working hard. So again, "Address the wobbly wheel." What is it that defeats you? You won’t improve because time passes; this is a big mistake. We think because we’re a year are older we’re improved. "We are not!" I have seen many digress.
The key will be what you do between performances. Your opportunity to succeed will be here very soon. That is the beauty of our sport; the results can be very different from one competition to the next.
I cannot tell you how important it is to have awareness about yourself. How else will you progress without some type of plan? Write it down, and confront obstacles or weak links, rather than sweep them under the rug; this only buries them temporarily and then they show up at in-opportune times. Understand it! Correct it! Move on! Remember "It won't work things out; you are responsible to work things out."
Be aware of factors that tend to throw you off the beam, reflect and work through it. Identify situations or circumstances that challenge your courage. Confront weakness, fears, and reluctance.
Mistakes / losses are opportunities for growth. They are very important tools to let us know what needs addressing. Analysis is a process to be coming a more effective performer. Self reflection is the school of wisdom. It's paramount importance that you make adjustments. The greatest revelation is that most opponents never adjust. They will continue to behave in the same way, despite apparent inability to get the job done.
Do seasonal losses matter? Yea! Does the loss have to dictate your results for the rest of the season? No! Let me explain. A marathon is 26 miles. It does not matter who is ahead at the 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 mile mark. You don't even have to be winning until you cross the finish Line. Hence, you could pull away in the last 5 yards to win. Competitions are won in this fashion all the time!
Results do not matter right now, if you’re competing hard, willing to take coaching, address the wobbly wheel, make adjustments, and improve and control what you can, which is basically your attitude and effort. If a foot ball team is behind after the third quarter, is it over? NO! If a baseball team is behind after 8 innings, is it over? No!
None of us will ever know the person we can be without loss, pressure, tension, adversity and discipline. Sometimes people think everything is falling apart, it’s no use, they feel hopeless. But, in times like these it pays to remember there will always been times like these.
We all have experiences that will seemingly distance us from our goals and dreams. Sometimes we have to pass through heart breaking struggles before we arrive. Sometimes we need a crisis or hardship that acts as a turning point, and sometimes we just lose. So what! Always remember, you can come from behind and still prevail. Matches are a marathon. You can have losses and still prevail. "The season is a marathon."
The real difference and only thing that matters is what the athlete does with the loss. The opportunity to succeed will be here very soon. Some athletes fold up tent, make excuses, which only weakens them. Others thrive and rise with defeat; defeat actually makes them better and more effective. What does defeat do to you? Does it shut you down or open you up? How do you handle adversity? It is a question we all have to answer and address in life.
We will be dealt blows that penetrate a lot deeper than any athletic event. Do you just talk or do you do something about it? Talk and excuses are cheap; the supply exceeds demand. Worse than a quitter, is to not even try. Get going! We all mope around to a degree, but enough! Toughen up! Remember, time invested wisely can change things.
So what I am saying is "Losses now can be wins later." Defeat is not failure, it’s just delay. The future is and has always been up for grabs; based on what you do will dictate your place in it. So get back to the basics. Maybe you made a mistake, but you are not a mistake. You just need to change some behaviors and turn them in for behaviors that will give you the best opportunity to succeed.
Defeats can chip away at your confidence. We all tend to take our self worth based on our results in life; this is very human. Our capacity for occasional or even frequent defeats can be inseparable from our capacity to reach our goals and experience success.
Defeat is nothing but a little education. What happens a lot of times are we shutdown. Instead of competing to win, we compete not to lose, we protect. This is not a strong recipe to succeed. It's similar to a cat that jumped on a hot stove and burned his tummy. The cat never jumped on a hot stove again but never jumped on a cold one either.
The value of experience is crucial. However, it can be over rated and even harmful if it prevents you from trying again. Understand results can be so different from match to match, "Different day...different results." Without a doubt, a loss now can be a win later.
A Loss Now, A Win Later
Mark Schwab
The important question is “What will you do between now and your next opportunity to succeed?" This is crucial. Pay attention to the wobbly wheel. You’re astute to address your lesser strengths and firm them up. Working smart is as important as working hard. So again, "Address the wobbly wheel." What is it that defeats you? You won’t improve because time passes; this is a big mistake. We think because we’re a year are older we’re improved. "We are not!" I have seen many digress.
The key will be what you do between performances. Your opportunity to succeed will be here very soon. That is the beauty of our sport; the results can be very different from one competition to the next.
I cannot tell you how important it is to have awareness about yourself. How else will you progress without some type of plan? Write it down, and confront obstacles or weak links, rather than sweep them under the rug; this only buries them temporarily and then they show up at in-opportune times. Understand it! Correct it! Move on! Remember "It won't work things out; you are responsible to work things out."
Be aware of factors that tend to throw you off the beam, reflect and work through it. Identify situations or circumstances that challenge your courage. Confront weakness, fears, and reluctance.
Mistakes / losses are opportunities for growth. They are very important tools to let us know what needs addressing. Analysis is a process to be coming a more effective performer. Self reflection is the school of wisdom. It's paramount importance that you make adjustments. The greatest revelation is that most opponents never adjust. They will continue to behave in the same way, despite apparent inability to get the job done.
Do seasonal losses matter? Yea! Does the loss have to dictate your results for the rest of the season? No! Let me explain. A marathon is 26 miles. It does not matter who is ahead at the 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 mile mark. You don't even have to be winning until you cross the finish Line. Hence, you could pull away in the last 5 yards to win. Competitions are won in this fashion all the time!
Results do not matter right now, if you’re competing hard, willing to take coaching, address the wobbly wheel, make adjustments, and improve and control what you can, which is basically your attitude and effort. If a foot ball team is behind after the third quarter, is it over? NO! If a baseball team is behind after 8 innings, is it over? No!
None of us will ever know the person we can be without loss, pressure, tension, adversity and discipline. Sometimes people think everything is falling apart, it’s no use, they feel hopeless. But, in times like these it pays to remember there will always been times like these.
We all have experiences that will seemingly distance us from our goals and dreams. Sometimes we have to pass through heart breaking struggles before we arrive. Sometimes we need a crisis or hardship that acts as a turning point, and sometimes we just lose. So what! Always remember, you can come from behind and still prevail. Matches are a marathon. You can have losses and still prevail. "The season is a marathon."
The real difference and only thing that matters is what the athlete does with the loss. The opportunity to succeed will be here very soon. Some athletes fold up tent, make excuses, which only weakens them. Others thrive and rise with defeat; defeat actually makes them better and more effective. What does defeat do to you? Does it shut you down or open you up? How do you handle adversity? It is a question we all have to answer and address in life.
We will be dealt blows that penetrate a lot deeper than any athletic event. Do you just talk or do you do something about it? Talk and excuses are cheap; the supply exceeds demand. Worse than a quitter, is to not even try. Get going! We all mope around to a degree, but enough! Toughen up! Remember, time invested wisely can change things.
So what I am saying is "Losses now can be wins later." Defeat is not failure, it’s just delay. The future is and has always been up for grabs; based on what you do will dictate your place in it. So get back to the basics. Maybe you made a mistake, but you are not a mistake. You just need to change some behaviors and turn them in for behaviors that will give you the best opportunity to succeed.
Defeats can chip away at your confidence. We all tend to take our self worth based on our results in life; this is very human. Our capacity for occasional or even frequent defeats can be inseparable from our capacity to reach our goals and experience success.
Defeat is nothing but a little education. What happens a lot of times are we shutdown. Instead of competing to win, we compete not to lose, we protect. This is not a strong recipe to succeed. It's similar to a cat that jumped on a hot stove and burned his tummy. The cat never jumped on a hot stove again but never jumped on a cold one either.
The value of experience is crucial. However, it can be over rated and even harmful if it prevents you from trying again. Understand results can be so different from match to match, "Different day...different results." Without a doubt, a loss now can be a win later.
