Rebuilding your identity after wrestling competitively doesn’t have to be much of a challenge because wrestling is life. Arguably the most inadvertent thing you became after deciding to forge an image with wrestling is a leader. You decided to become part of a group that’s possibly the most under appreciated, yet valuable athletes to compete in what’s called a sport. Choosing to be known for your leadership skills is possibly the best base to begin with moving forward.
7 Mental Shifts Every Champion Wrestler Makes
There’s 7 mental shifts every champion wrestler makes. The 1st is self motivation.
Having an athlete that can understand what it takes to get themselves up and get to doing what needs to be done is a highly valuable skill, especially with wrestlers.
There’s plenty of times where they have to do things to get themselves in peak competition shape.
Whether that’s mentally, physically, emotionally or spiritually.
There’s a tweak that has to be made that’s almost impossible for anyone else to do except that wrestler.
Then is competitiveness.
There’s a mentality to want to learn how to compete and be challenged in a way that pushes someone to the brink.
Specifically with wrestlers, They deal with the most Cutthroat form of competition, probably heard of in any other sport, where someone is trying to take you out physically.
And it always seems personal when they do it.
So to embrace that feeling and look to Challenge someone right back is something that’s found in most champions.
Next is curiosity. A champion wrestler can always remain curious to a situation.
They’re going to want to learn how does something work?
Why do you do the things that’s supposed to be done in order to win a match?
It’s a, Trait that, The youth is usually inclined and naturally, Predisposed to doing.
And if a wrestler can keep that edge with them all the way through competition, it only serves them for the better. Next is being coachable.
A champion wrestler is someone that can take advice under the counsel of another person.
It doesn’t matter what it is that they’re being taught, they’re open to it. especially if they understand that it is something that’s directly linked to them winning their next match.
There’s plenty of people that have had that be their downfall to where they weren’t able to be coached.
So because of that, They stopped learning. And when you stop learning, you’re done growing.
Which ultimately means, Your competition’s going to get better than you eventually.
If they’re not already. Next is accountability.
Being accountable is another mental shift that the champion wrestler can make.
They will always blame their successes on others and take accountability for their shortcomings.
If something didn’t go right, they’re not blaming the ref or their coaches or teammates or anybody that could possibly get the finger pointed to them.
They understand that Wrestling is a sport that is between one athlete and the other.
Everybody else has to be taken away from the equation in order to get the most growth and value. For on and off the mat results.
Then is discipline. A champion wrestler can be disciplined. Two.
Whether it’s Sticking to a dietary plan that’s set for them, or a game plan for how to beat a specific opponent.
The wrestler understands what has to be done and can stick to the plan for what it takes in order to win. The match.
Or whatever competition is that they’re in. At last is being able to go the extra mile.
This is just another champion mentality that is found in the best of wrestlers.
They will always be willing to do a little bit more than whoever it is that they’re around, whether it’s their teammate or their competition, whoever it is, they want to be the hardest worker in the room.
And because of that, They win close matches. They get their hand raised in overtime.
They’re getting awarded and recognized for putting the most effort in with whatever it is that they do.
If a wrestler is able to make these shifts into their mentality, They’re bound for greatness and success.
Wrestling With Change: Accepting The Point When Competition Athletically Stops
Accepting the point when competition stops athletically is a change that most wrestlers inevitably see happen.
Mostly after high school, but it could also be said confidently with collegiate competition because of the low numbers.
Regardless, there’s a point that your athletic career stops, and after you’ve been bitten by the wrestling bug, it’s tough to shake it off.
Having a physical activity that was made fun used to be the norm.
It was something that impacted your life tremendously. It’s almost as if once it stops, you have to learn how to live life again.
That change doesn’t have to necessarily be something that’s a direct contradiction to what your new life is going to be though.
There’s a way to mold your new life and have it adjust with whatever experiences you went through thanks to your past in wrestling.
Just because something’s done athletically, doesn’t mean it won’t transfer over mentally.
Matter of fact, wrestling is 90% mental anyway.
That’s where most of the lessons you gain ends up being something that’s applicable to whatever career you choose moving forward.
That mental edge is from lessons like believing you’re capable of achieving whatever goal it is that you set for yourself.
That mentality shift can be sticking with something until the end.
When you look at the changes needed to be made, they’re actually very few in between.
That’s the case because what’s expected from you in the real world isn’t much different from what’s expected once when you decide to finally lace up your shoes and wrestle.
How Mentality Shifts The Way Wrestlers Approach Challenges
Mentality shifts the way wrestlers approach challenges. With adopting a growth mindset.
It changes the way a wrestle responds to their losses, setbacks, and even being outmatched by an opponent.
That growth mindset ends up influencing your perspective and extends things from what your immediate perception of things are to be.
This actually contributes to the mental toughness that a wrestler is usually known for when it comes to decision making, especially under high pressure situations.
Usually, you don’t get more than a few seconds, if that, to even respond to something that’s highly challenging.
And in most cases, the other person would freeze up and not even have any type of response to whatever it is.
Wrestlers will always have an answer to the answer as my coach would have said in college.
It takes shifting from a fear-based mentality to a challenge base in order to have a great impact and long-term development.
Because fear is your number one enemy when it comes to that. Fear is what holds you back from executing and taking risks.
But when you have the challenge base mentality, you’re looking forward to whatever it is because you’re confident in what your preparation was leading up to that moment.
There’s never really anything that you weren’t prepared for and didn’t have a clue whatsoever when you’re faced with it.
That’s where your mentality ends up being one of your greatest assets as a wrestler in competition, and when you’re done with it as well.
Championship Mindset: The Mindset Adjustment to Separate Yourself from the Competition
The championship mindset is what will separate the average wrestlers from the great.
This is where you have an edge that typically can’t be coached.
This is something you might find with coaches that have had plenty of experience when it comes to coaching other wrestlers.
And understanding that there’s a variable that could not be taught in any practice or any camp by any clinician.
And this is more of a testament to who you are as an individual. It’s, possibly most close to that.
going the extra mile, being someone that has something about you that nobody else can match.
And with that, You become obsessed with growing and nurturing what you’re best at.
And that typically goes against what others will coach you to do.
And as usually picking up at wherever your weak points are, as opposed to where wrestlers that do the best, they find what they’re already good at and become even greater.
RealTalkAJ 
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