Two Reasons Yianni’s Mindset Lost him Final X Before the Match Started
The 2019 freestyle Final X match between Yianni Diakomihalis and Zain Retherford was a classic battle between two fan favorites. Almost everyone was picking Yianni to win because not only had he beat Zain already this year, he also recently beat world #1 at 65 KG Bajrang Punia fairly convincingly.
With that said, Yianni was the clear favorite to win. So much so that this amazing freestyle wrestling matchup was not even set as the main event on the Final X Rutgers card.
However, when I read the following quote attributed to Yianni by Flowrestling on their Instagram account, I immediately thought to myself that Yianni’s mindset was all wrong heading into this match.
If I’m perfect, I won’t lose.
Yianni Diakomihalis
1) His Mind Was Focused on Being Perfect
“If I’m Perfect…”
As John Wooden says so plainly:
“Success is not perfection. You can never attain perfection…”
As a matter of fact, trying to be perfect is the enemy of winning wrestling matches. This mindset causes you to be afraid to pull the trigger because you are waiting for the perfect moment.
However, when you are facing elite competition that perfect moment never comes. Therefore, this causes you to just wait and wait while your opponent is on the attack.
I noticed in the first match that Yianni lost 10-4, Yianni was impacted by this mindset most.
2) His Mind Was Focused on Not Losing
“…I won’t Lose”
Focusing on not losing is almost a 180 degree difference from focusing on winning. They’re contrasting mindsets.
When your motivation is not to lose, you don’t take risk. On the other hand, when your motivation is to win, taking risk is the name of the game.
When your motivation is not to lose, you stay in your comfort zone and avoid being creative. On the other hand, when your motivation is to win, creativity is your comfort zone.
When you motivation is not to lose, you focus on not letting your opponents take advantage of your weaknesses. On the other hand, when your motivation is to win you focus on using your strengths to stay offensive and score as many points as possible.
Words Matter to the Subconscious Mind
It’s easy to write-off this quote as a one off statement from Yianni. Maybe the guys from Flowrestling caught him off guard and he just blurted these words out. Unfortunately for him, the words you speak not only impact the subconscious mind, but when you speak candidly they often represent the subconscious mind.
I’m sure if you talk with Yianni now, he would be quick to correct this quote. So I don’t want to pick on him too much. It’s possible that his mindset wasn’t the reason for his two losses at Final X Rutgers. Nevertheless, this is still a unique example for all young wrestlers to learn from.
Watch what you say, as what you say often leads to what you do.