I'd just finished my junior year of wrestling, a year with more ups and downs then I could count. For the first time in my high school wrestling career, I was beating people. Not just any people, good people. I had placed at one of the toughest tournaments in the state, gotten to the finals in my district competition, and even competed in the state tournament. But it wasn't all fun and success. I had struggled all year with getting thrown, I had been given a concussion in the post season, and though I was able to recover, I got pined at State while I was in the lead one round before I would have placed. So when my coach asked me what my goals were for next year, I had a few goals in mind.
"I want to place in the top three at State," I said. "I want to develop a new shot, avoid getting thrown, and learn to up the intensity in my matches.""Those are all great goals," Coach said. "But if your goals for the next year are solely focused on wrestling, how are you going to become a better person?"
My coach wasn't asking me how I was going to be a better wrestler in the upcoming year. Wrestling was extremely important to him, so I knew that in his mind, I needed to work hard to be a better wrestler over the next 12 months. But he made it explicitly clear that it didn't matter if I came back as the greatest wrestler in the state next year if I wasn't also working on becoming a better person.
My coach taught me something that day that I will never ever forget. Perspective is important. Don't focus on one thing so hard that you neglect all others. True growth happens when you develop yourself as a whole, not only as a star-fill-in-the-blank.
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