Leadership Lessons I’ve Learned from Wrestling:

I don’t have any resolutions yet, but I journaled yesterday morning about wrestling and some of the things I’ve gleened this year watching the Lowell Red Arrows grind. I called the entry…

Leadership Lessons I’ve Learned from Wrestling:

You can play injured. Waiting to contend until you’re perfectly healthy means you’ll never get on the mat and throw down. You can be hurt and still win.

How you win and how you lose shouldn’t look any different. The mentality is growth, not a perfect record. Don’t flaunt and don’t pout. There’s another match to think about.

Championing your teammates is more important that promoting yourself. What you do in the middle of the mat is secondary to the support you give on the side of the mat. If you’re there for them, they will be there for you.

Performing in front of a loud crowd is nowhere near as difficult as fighting through the noise in your head. The real grind is in the mind. Mental preparation is everything.

It’s doing the little things over and over and over again that makes technical greatness so effortless and fluid in those you look up to. Things are habitual long before they look natural. Keep practicing.

The most dominant forces in life are almost always radically humble. The ones who believe they have room to grow are usually the ones pinning their adversary. Humble people are fierce souls.

Good contenders never confuse reasons for excuses. Victors evaluate themselves; victims excuse themselves. Success starts with taking personal responsibility.

The best fighters don’t obsess over their opponents, they concentrate on their own readiness. You have the best chance of beating the odds if you’re not hyper-fixated on them.

The spoils of war go the combatants with the highest pain tolerance. Challenging your thresholds of endurance and overcoming limiting belief systems are the keys to elevating to another level.

You’ve got to surround yourself with good coaches if you want the best pulled out of you, people who both challenge and encourage you. People who see more in you than you see in yourself.

You will never be the best if you shy away from rolling with people who are the best. Winners voluntarily go to places and engage people that are better than them. They don’t play it safe.

The things you’re overcoming in your private world are so much more impressive than the things you get applauded for in fleeting moments of public victory. Celebrate secret wins.

Never forget to thank other people for their unique contribution to your achievements. No one excels without thousands of small touches from ordinary and extraordinary folks.

Lastly, keep putting yourself out there. Don’t hold back. Bleed out. You can rest when the battle is over.