Ignored Truth about Hard Work Shared by 2x NCAA Wrestling Champion
Yesterday I came across an Instagram post that provided an often ignored truth about hard work that reinforces something that I often write about. This post was from Isaiah Martìnez, a 4x NCAA All-American, 4x NCAA wrestling finalist, and 2x NCAA wrestling champion.
There are so many wrestlers (myself included) that are infatuated with the idea of “hard work” or “the grind”…
…I observed and quickly learned that at the World/Olympic level the “mastery of hard work” (in a physical sense) is just the entrance fee.
Martìnez goes on to say that hard work can only take you so far. After that, things like mindset, knowledge, creativity, and innovation become the differentiators among elite athletes.
It’s refreshing to hear an elite athlete like Isaiah Martìnez share these thoughts with his followers on Instagram. Most elite athletes overshare their blood, sweat, and tears and undershare what they are doing to win the mental battle.
As I previously wrote in an article titled What Separates Good Athletes from Great Athletes, if you want to be great you have to be mentally sharp, psychologically savvy, and use fanatical focus to train your mind. Seeing Martìnez’s Instagram post sharing his perspective on the mental battle reinforces why these words are so true.