I hope this post finds you well! It’s October 2020, and we are living in some very interesting times… less than 30 days before a major election. The title of this post came to me as I was reading a chapter of Dan Crenshaw’s new book, Fortitude: America Resilience in the Era of Outrage. In the book, Crenshaw talks about how being outraged is in vogue, almost if celebrated these days. Is it due to poor parenting? Lack of discipline? A fatherless household? Whatever the case is, outrage is tearing our country apart. One could make a good argument that the world is a tough place and there is no room for whining, lack of discipline, and outrage. So what is one solution? What about teaching our kids how to compete in a one-on-one sport? Joe Rogan has talked about how tough the sport of wrestling is on a podcast episode. I asked my Facebook friends, “What is one reason you would encourage your friend to start their child in wrestling“? Here’s what I gathered from the comments. I would love to get your feedback on this post, as I love a collaborative approach to subjects.

1) Discipline, confidence, and learning how to be humble in victory and defeat. In other words, not getting OUTRAGED! No one owes you anything in life, and the best place to find that out is on a wrestling mat.

2) Wrestling teaches a kid how to think and react all at once. The parents can’t save the wrestler or win the match for them. The young man or woman has to think for themselves.

3) Self-confidence and self-defense. Government schools are full of bullies, and teachers/administrators are not willing to apply discipline to menaces due to retribution from parents and media. (One of my favorite comments on the post).

4) How about this, name a reason why young men and women shouldn’t wrestle? Good point!

5) Teaches how to work through the toughest of situations. There is nothing like being in front of 100’s or 1000’s of people, friends, family, and finding a way to win. In life, sometimes we find ourselves in a hole and have people depending on us to create a comeback.

6) Teaches how to show up and dig deep when not feeling like it. It’s an individual sport, but the team is depending on the competitor to pull their own weight. Wrestling isn’t a socialistic sport.

7) Wrestling teaches perseverance with persistence! Whether it’s entrepreneurship, marriage, parenting, losing weight, getting in shape, or anything worth having in life. In wrestling, you WILL deal with defeat at some point, and the same goes for life. Then it’s time to get back to work and improve… get better!

There are many more points I could make, and I appreciate the comments on the Facebook post. The bottom line, we need more kids learning how to be self-sufficient, and it all starts with parenting. Find a great wrestling coach that provides a winning environment. A good mentor can shave off many years of struggle and regret. Here is one of my favorite quotes, “Gold medals aren’t really made of gold. They’re made of sweat, determination, and a hard-to-find alloy called guts”. -Dan Gable

I have interviews with entrepreneurs, winning coaches, top-producing entrepreneurs, and other podcasters on The Josh Peak Show. Here is the link to my podcast. Please subscribe, leave a good review and rating.

Respectfully, 
Josh Peak