You set out to achieve greatness, and you have come up short.

You met your match. 

You now realize that you gave it your all, and your all just wasn’t enough.

And it hurts.

It hurts badly.

Worse than anything you have ever felt before.

There is only one thing left to do –

Trust in the process.

It has to hurt.

For the hurt that festers in your soul gets converted to drive, hard work, and ambition.

All vital ingredients needed to propel you to the next level.

There are only 15 wrestlers per year that win their last four matches of the season.

All the rest will end their season with a loss.

But don’t let a loss defeat you.

Especially twice.

You will learn more from your losses than you ever will from your wins.

Let the loss hurt.

When it hurts, it means you care.

When you care, you will figure it out.

Rededicate yourself.

I needn’t remind you that you didn’t set out to achieve something ordinary.

You set out to accomplish something extraordinary.

Therefore, it is going to require an extraordinary effort.

One, which separates yourself from others.

And those others, are hungry wrestlers who are willing and able to go through physical and mental torture. 

So stand back up.

First, look back, and see how far you’ve come.

Then look ahead, and see how much further there is to go.

I guarantee the shorter distance is the one ahead of you.

Discouragement is a dream chaser.

Shelve the feelings of discouragement and just focus on the work.

Wrestling is the greatest sport on earth for the sole reason that the people who are willing to work will see success.

It is not a matter of if –

But when.

Be relentless in the pursuit of your goal.

Make your will the strongest part of your makeup.

There is a reason why you are going through what you are.

Believe that.

Everything happens for a reason; else it would have happened differently.

There is something that you need to learn to prepare you for what is to come.

Inspect what that reason may be.

Embrace it.

Understand there is still more to be learned.

Concentrate on progress and not perfection.

Count the times you gave 100% for 6 minutes this year.

Then top that effort next year.

That’s it.

It’s that simple.

You will get there.

Hurt is an indispensable part of the formula for greatness.

A loss is not where the journey ends.

It is where the initiation of greatness begins.