"When I'd get tired and want to stop, I'd wonder what my next opponent was doing. I'd wonder if he was still working out. I tried to visualize him. When I could see him still working, I'd start pushing myself. When I could see him in the shower, I'd push myself harder."
-Dan Gable

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"There is no mat space for malcontents or dissenters. One must neither celebrate insanely when he wins nor sulks when he loses. He accepts victory professionally, humbly; he hates defeat, but makes no poor display of it."
-Dan Gable

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The Man In The Glass

When you get what you want in your struggle for self,
And the world makes you long for a day,
Just go to the mirror and look at yourself,
And see what THAT man has to say.
For if it is not your father or mother or wife
Whose judgment upon you must pass.
The fellow whose verdict counts most in your life
Is the one staring back in the glass.
Some people might think you are a
straight shootin' chum and
call you a wonderful guy,
But the man in the glass says you're only a bum,
If you can't look him straight in the eye.
He's the fellow to please, never mind all the rest,
For he's with you dear up to the end. And
you have passed your most dangerous, difficult test
If the guy in the glass is your friend
You may fool the whole world down the pathway of
years, and get pats on the back as you pass.
But your final reward will be heartaches and tears
If you have cheated the man in the glass.

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"You can't ever work too much because there's no such thing as being in too good condition. You can't ever lift too many weights because you can't ever get too strong. You can't ever wrestle too much because you can always do better."
-Dan Gable

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"Raising your level of performance requires a proper mentality and meaning from within. This gives you the ability and drive to work on the things necessary to go to a higher level. When people ask me how to raise their level of performance, the first thing I ask is, How important is it to you?"
-Dan Gable

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"The obvious goals were there- State Champion, NCAA Champion, Olympic Champion. To get there I had to set an everyday goal which was to push myself to exhaustion or, in other words, to work so hard in practice that someone would have to carry me off the mat."
-Dan Gable

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"When you finally decide how successful you really want to be, you’ve got to set priorities. Then, each and every day, you’ve got to take care of the top ones. The lower ones may fall behind, but you can’t let the top ones slip. You don’t forget about the lower ones though because they can add up to hurt you. Just take care of the top ones first. In 25 years as a head coach and assistant, I think I might have missed one practice. Why? Because practice is my top priority. A day doesn’t go by when I don’t accomplish something in my family life or my profession because those two things are my top priorities."
-Dan Gable

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"I’m a big believer in starting with high standards and raising them. We make progress only when we push ourselves to the highest level. If we don’t progress, we backslide into bad habits, laziness and poor attitude."
-Dan Gable

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"Losing Sucks!"
-Terry Brands

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THE PRICE

I pay the price for getting stronger...
I pay the price for getting in better condition...
I pay the price for learning new technique...
I don't want to pay the price for staying just the same...
Victory comes at a price.
The question I must ask myself is:
How much am I willing to pay?
- Les Gutches

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"Once you have wrestled, everything else in life is easy."
-Dan Gable

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"It's better to have wrestled and lost then to play basketball."

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Whether You Think You Can Or You Can’t, You’re Probably Right

If you think you are beaten, you are.
If you think you dare not, you don’t;
If you’d like to win, but think you can’t,
It’s almost certain you won’t.

If you think you’ll lose, you’ve lost;
For out in the world you’ll find
Success begins with a fellows will.
It’s all in the state of mind.

If you think you are outclassed, you are;
You’ve got to think high to rise;
You’ve got to be sure of yourself before
You can ever win a prize.

Life’s battles don’t always go
To the stronger or faster man;
But sooner or later the man who wins
Is the man who thinks he can.

- Author Unknown

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BELIEVE IN YOURSELF

Believe in yourself and in your dream
Though impossible things may seem
Someday, somehow you'll get through
To the goal you have in view.
Mountains fall and seas divide
Before the one who in his stride
Takes a hard road day by day,
Sweeping obstacles away.
Believe in yourself and in your plan.
Say not - I cannot - but, I can.
The prizes of life we fail to win
Because we doubt the power within.

- Author Unknown

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WRESTLING FOR LIFE

I wrestle. Not simply with my opponent but I wrestle with demons of doubt, with my exhaustion, with my past failure, with my injuries, with my anonymity, with that unrelenting voice that tells me to stop, give up and go home.

I wrestle with heartbreak, sacrifice, pain and uncertainty that I may not be a champion.

I wrestle with life, but I am a wrestler, and one thing will always be certain, I will be victorious.

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WINNERS VERSUS LOSERS

The Winner is always part of the answer;
The Loser is always part of the problem.
The Winner always has a program;
The Loser always has an excuse.
The Winner says, "Let me do it for you";
The Loser says, "That is not my job."
The Winner sees an answer for every problem;
The Loser sees a problem for every answer.
The Winner says, "It may be difficult but it is possible";
The Loser says, "It may be possible but it is too difficult."
When a Winner makes a mistake, he says, "I was wrong";
When a Loser makes a mistake, he says, "It wasn't my fault."
A Winner makes commitments;
A Loser makes promises.
Winners have dreams;
Losers have schemes.
Winners say, "I must do something";
Losers say, "Something must be done."
Winners are a part of the team;
Losers are apart from the team.
Winners see the gain;
Losers see the pain.
Winners see possibilities;
Losers see problems.
Winners believe in win/win;
Losers believe for them to win someone has to lose.
Winners see the potential;
Losers see the past.
Winners are like a thermostat;
Losers are like thermometers.
Winners choose what they say;
Losers say what they choose.
Winners use hard arguments but soft words;
Losers use soft arguments but hard words.
Winners stand firm on values but compromise on petty things;
Losers stand firm on petty things but compromise on values.
Winners follow the philosophy of empathy: "Don't do to others what you would not want them to do to you";
Losers follow the philosophy, "Do it to others before they do it to you."
Winners make it happen;
Losers let it happen.

BE A WINNER!