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Behaviors Drive Results

 How to Make a Graph (Part 1)

They do.

If you dispute this, stop reading. Move along.

When I coached, my focus was in three areas;

  1. Fitness of the body - overall physical conditioning preparatory to successful wrestling.
  2. Fitness of the mind - overall mental conditioning preparatory to successful strategy.
  3. Fitness of the character - well-rounded humans who oozed humility off the mat.
My wrestlers were very familiar with physical, emotional and mental struggle so some of this came with relative ease to them. Building habits of fitness was a challenge. All of it we measured by our behaviors.

For example, we conducted weekly grade/eligibility checks, we counted our mat time and pushups, we stayed out of the principal's office and out of detentions.

Fundamental to creating habits of fitness was dealing addressing my mindset. First. 

First, I made a conscious choice to see them as humans with goals, hopes, and dreams. Humans who were completely capable of excellence. Capable of achieving their highest potential. 

Next, I made a choice to expect that our pursuit of overall fitness would approach our version of excellence. If that meant that we had enough eligible athletes to fill six weight classes at the State Championships, excellent. If that meant that one of my wrestlers went 0-22 but never missed a practice, we celebrated that.

Finally, when and where our behaviors didn't match what we all knew we were capable of, we made adjustments. We changed our behaviors. Sometimes we did more physical work, other times we held tutoring sessions, and then others - we went to truancy court...together.

We never lowered our expectations for disciplined behaviors towards overall fitness. Ever.

Discipline equals liberty. Liberty paves the road to excellence. Both of those depend on our behaviors.

Behaviors drive results.

Onward!

Dr. J

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