Principles of Principals

  They do. If you dispute this, stop reading. Move along. When I coached, my focus was in three areas; Fitness of the body - overall physical conditioning preparatory to successful wrestling. Fitness of the mind - overall mental conditioning preparatory to successful strategy. 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...