A link was posted last night under the recent Carl Joseph entry that deserves its own place on the blog.  It was a story about Arizona State wrestler Anthony Robles.  Robles has just one leg, but that hasn’t stopped him from becoming a dominant force in the sport of wrestling.

Arizona State’s Robles Climbs Into National Rankings

You can watch a video of Anthony below:

There are several things I like about this story.  It’s awesome to see Robles compete at such a high level, but what I really enjoy is hearing how difficult it was for him to get where he is today.  Many read these inspirational stories but fail to realize the steps taken before these individuals were making headlines.

For example, in the story above, Robles discusses his entry into the sport as a high school freshman.

“I got beat up a lot. I finished 5-8 in my first year. But after that, I liked the competition; I liked how it’s just one-on-one. It has a team [dimension], but at the same time, how well you do is determined by how hard you work, not what anybody else does.”

Here was a kid who certainly had doubters when he first began.  He then goes out and has a losing record.  I don’t think anyone would have held it against him if he packed up his bags after his first year.  He had already defied the odds by making the team and competing.  Just getting up to compete is a victory in itself.  But that wasn’t enough for Robles…

He worked hard, wrestling against bigger and better athletes.  I’m sure he got his ass handed to him, as does everyone who is first getting started.  He continued to learn and improve however.  That’s all that mattered to him.

Robles went 48-0 as a junior on his way to a state title at 103 pounds. He posted the same record as a senior, pinned his way through the 112-pound bracket at the state meet and capped his career later in the spring by winning his weight class at the 2006 High School Senior National Championships.

He now wrestles at Arizona State and is working his way up the rankings.  This is obviously an amazing story, but let’s look past his single leg.  He does not consider himself disabled, so neither should we.  I’m more interested in his willingness to win.  How many youngsters have started a sport and given up after a poor performance or losing record? How much potential has been untapped simply because people have given up?  I’m sure there were dream snatchers around Robles who thought he couldn’t succeed.  What if he had listened to them?  What would he be doing now?

So many of us have potential that we never even realize.  If Robles walked away after his freshman year, we would have never realized his potential to go unbeaten two years in a row.  Who could have guessed he would be so successful?

We can all learn from this story.  Life isn’t supposed to be easy.  The great do not become great by taking the easy road.  They struggle just like everyone else.  What separates the champion is his willingness to get up after being knocked down.  He blocks out the dream snatchers and charts his own future.  I’m sure Robles had nights when he went home banged up and bruised.  He kept coming back however.  He never gave up.  It’s been a way of life for him since he was a young boy.

In the words of his own mother,

“I’ve seen him ride a bike when he was 5 years old and nobody thought he could do that, and I wasn’t even sure he could do that. I saw him play football and that was amazing. I’ve seen him play basketball. He drives a car. He’s missing his right leg and drives with his left leg. People weren’t sure how he was going to do that, but he adjusted. It’s just Anthony’s personality — if it’s in front of him, he’ll figure out how to do it.“

Notice how she said, “people weren’t sure how he was going to do that.”  I’m sure “people” have been thinking this way his entire life.  People often think that they are smarter than they are. Fortunately, it isn’t up to people to decide what you and I do with our lives.  People need to worry about their own lives, and stop interfering with the lives of others.  If you don’t think someone can succeed, keep it to yourself.  Let the individual decide on his own.  Offer your support, rather than living life as a critic.

If you want to be special in this world, you need to be ready to pay the price.  Chances are that you’ll fail at first, perhaps many times. We all run into obstacles that at times appear too difficult to overcome.  That’s life.  Deal with it.

And please don’t misconstrue my words.  I’m not telling you what to do.  You don’t need to overcome anything if you don’t want to.  I’m simply telling you what you will need to do if you want to be special.  It’s an individual choice that we must all make each day.

If and when you are ready to make that choice, you can learn a lot from Anthony Robles.

If you think you are too old to exercise, take a look at this story:

87-Year-Old Bench Presser – Beatriz Maullins

Beatriz Maullins is 87, but her age isn’t slowing her down!  She lifts weights three days a week, and in her words, “It just makes me feel alive.”

Oddly enough, I know exactly what she is talking about.  In an article I wrote last week, I said the following,

 ”I come alive when testing my limits and seeing just how far I can go.”

I don’t have a monopoly on these feelings.  Here is a woman approaching age 90 who shares the exact feelings.  She can still find life and vitality in the gym.  There are people half her age who can learn from her example.  I still receive emails from men and women in their 30′s and 40′s who describe themselves as over the hill.  Beatriz is over twice their age, and still going strong.

The next time someone suggests that weight lifting is dangerous I’ll pass along this story.  I’m sure Beatriz would have plenty to say on the subject.  Not only does it make her come alive in the gym, it also helps here enjoy life outside the gym.  Exercise isn’t dangerous.  Ignorance ranks much higher on the danger scale.

Push yourself based on your abilities.  This simple advice applies to those in their 20′s and well as those in their 80′s.  It is universal.  Get up, get busy, and do YOUR thing.

Ross

I have a new article available at the link below.

http://www.rosstraining.com/articles/pickyourpassion.html

Enjoy,

Ross

Below is a short clip from Will Smith’s movie The Pursuit of Happyness.  The movie is based on the amazing true story of Chris Gardner.  I highly recommend watching the brief clip and listening to the message within.

At one point, Smith (the father) says the following:

“When people can’t do something themselves, they want to tell you that you can’t do it.”

He goes on to say,

“If you want something, go get it!”

Yes, it’s only a movie (though based on a true story), but we’d all be better off by following this simple advice. Our world is unfortunately filled with dream snatchers.  Many who fail take comfort in seeing others fail.  They don’t want to see you do something that they couldn’t achieve.  Dream snatchers come from all walks of life.  They are not necessarily enemies or strangers.  Often times the dream snatcher doesn’t realize that he or she fits the mold.  It could be a friend, coach, or even a family member.

Don’t let dream snatchers bring you down.  Use their negativity to spark new motivation.  If someone tells me that I can’t do something, I work that much harder to prove them wrong.  I am the only person who lives inside my skin.  No one knows what I can or cannot do.  We as people are often not as smart as we’d like to believe.  No one truly knows what others are capable of achieving.  We can’t look into a crystal ball to see the future.  Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.  No one knows how bad you want it.  No one knows how hard you are willing to work.  No one knows how much you are willing to sacrifice.  These are unique (individual) factors that differentiate you from everyone in the world.  The individual writes his own future.  Don’t let anyone steal your pen.  You need to take ownership and then live with the decisions that you make.

Perhaps the best advice you’ll ever hear is to believe in yourself.  This advice applies to all facets of life (ex. school, career, sport, etc.).  You can only go so far when you live a life of doubt. When you actually believe in yourself and refuse to give up, you’ll often surprise yourself and others.

Ross

As many of you know, I recently had several problems with the site’s forum and blog.  The forum was inaccessible for over 5 days.  During those five days, I slept little as I tried my best to resolve the problem.  I was fortunate to have help from some fellow forum members.  Without the assistance, the forum would likely still be down.  Yet even with the assistance, it was a frustrating time trying to figure out what was wrong.  It was equally frustrating trying to devise a solution to the problem, as nothing seemed to work.  There were a few moments when I was ready to sledgehammer the computer!

During the downtime however, I came across an old email from a blog reader who had passed along the Youtube video below (of Carl Joseph).  I had almost forgotten about this story.

After watching the video again, I snapped right out of my sleep deprived frustration.  Carl Joseph managed to excel with a single leg, yet here I was letting a tech problem bring me down.  Talk about putting things into perspective. My forum was down.  Big deal!  Life goes on.  There are bigger problems in the world.

Yes, the forum serves as a valuable resource to many readers, but having it down for a few days is hardly a life altering problem.  Re-reading Carl Joseph’s story helped snap me back to reality.  Yes, we all have unique problems, but most of our problems are not as serious as we think in real-time.  It is often useful to take a step back and examine just how serious the problem may or may not be.

We ALL have problems, but we are almost always able to resolve these problems.  No one said life was supposed to be easy.  Getting frustrated comes with the territory.  I’m not suggesting that there is anything wrong with getting upset over something, but I am suggesting that we don’t let frustration get the best of us.  I’m human, so I know it can happen.  Every now and then it is nice to read through an inspirational story such as that of Carl Joseph.  To see someone in his position excel the way he did really cranks up my own motivation to get up, get busy, and stay busy (and put the sledgehammer down!).

Ross

PS – For those who are new to the blog, be sure to read through the inspirational category for many more motivational stories.

The message board and blog are both back and running.  It is 4AM here and I’m going to bed!  I’m just glad that everything is fixed.

I’ll catch back up with everyone tomorrow.

Thank you again for your patience.

Ross

The RossTraining.com message board has been temporarily disabled.  I am experiencing database problems and am working to resolve the issue.  I hope to have the boards back up within a few days (at most). I will post any updates to this blog entry.

I apologize for any inconvenience.

Thank you,

Ross Enamait