JohnA Passaro's Blog, page 12
July 11, 2020
Wrestling Is a Season In Life
Moms & Dads,
If there is a chance that your child believes that in your eyes you view them as only a wrestler there is nothing more important in your life than to correct that.
Today, in this hour.
They are so much more.
I know you know that, but they need to know that.
They need to hear that from you.
They need to see it in your actions.
They need to feel that.
Everyday.
As parents we can get so caught up in travel sports, wanting our kids to achieve, to perform, to prepare them for life that somewhere the fine line of being their coach and being their mom or dad got dulled.
Undull it.
Don’t assume they know it.
Take the time today to do something, say something that is not sports related.
That is not performance preparation.
That is not planned, expected, inspected and analyzed.
Just be with them.
Love them.
Let them know that wrestling, although important, is only a small part of who they are in life.
They are much bigger than a wrestler in your eyes.
They are more important to you than winning.
They are your child.
Let them know you would do anything for them.
Then show them.
Start by doing nothing.
Nothing wrestling-related today.
Let them know that wrestling is only a season in their life.
An important season, but just one of many seasons they will experience throughout their lives.
If both of you are there for them all as passionately as you were there for Wrestling season then life will be good.
Actually, great.
Make them realize that their best days haven’t been lived yet, regardless of how many top step of the podiums they have walked upon.
Let them know now.
Like right now.
Thank you.
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July 8, 2020
What is the Least Amount You Would Accept?
Goals must be magnetic.
They must pull you towards their achievement through all obstacles.
Most wrestlers think they are setting magnetic goals for themselves.
They are not.
It is almost a reflex reaction for a wrestler to set their goal each year to be a State Champion.
But when you ask that same wrestler,
“What if you took 2nd, could you live with that result?” some would respond, “Yes”
“How about 3rd?”
“Yes, 3rd is still a very respectable year.”
“What about 4th?”
“No, that doesn’t sit will with me, 4th wouldn’t be good enough for me.”
In the eyes of this wrestler 3rd is an acceptable achievement for the season and 4th is not.
That’s where the magnetism is.
There is nothing wrong with that.
Except the wrestler has created a internal conflict – making his goal to become a State champion when his magnetism is attached to taking at least 3rd.
In reality, the above wrestlers
real goal is to take at least 3rd in the state.
The magnetism is not really at taking first, because, if it was, it would be unacceptable to take anything other than 1st.
To set a true magnetic goal ask yourself,
“What is the least amount that I would accept?”
That is your real goal.
Inside Greatness question,
“What is the least amount you would accept in your upcoming season?”
————
Pre-Order a Limited Edition copy of Inside Greatness (Signed & Numbered)
Expected Shipping Date: August 15th, 2020
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Inside Greatness Pre-Order
I have this theory that everyone has greatness inside.
It just has to be pulled out of them.
Some fortunate wrestlers get greatness pulled out of them by a coach, some by a rival.
I find though most wrestlers still have greatness clogged inside, yearning for it to be pulled out of them.
This book is for those wrestlers who want to pull the greatness out of themselves.
I believe asking the right questions pulls greatness out of people. The right question makes one contemplate and provide answers to understand a process like they never have before.
This book, part vision board, part journal, part sports psychology, part motivational self-help, it asks 100 intriguing questions to wrestlers pursuing greatness.
Each of the 100 questions provides space for the wrestler to contemplate, explore and write their answers.
This book is designed for the wrestler who is seeking to become a champion and understands the importance of the mental game in wrestling.
This is a great book to utilize before the start of the season.
Pre-order a copy of Inside Greatness today.
________
Pre-Order a Limited Edition paperback copy of
Inside Greatness – 100 Questions Every Wrestler Must Answer In Pursuit of Becoming a Champion
The first 100 Pre-Orders will be signed and numbered x/100.
Expected Shipping Date: August 15th, 2020
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July 7, 2020
Push Beyond Your Limits Daily
Push me past my limit all you want.
It’s territory I know all too well.
Ben Greenhalgh
The average human uses only 10% of their brain.
That means we have 10x more mind function to tap into.
Imagine if your brain was 10x smarter,
10x more effective, 10x more efficient than it was at your greatest moment?
The possibilities of achievement are limitless.
The common person, though, stays within the
10% that he has always used never going beyond the misconstrued boundaries of their mind;
in essence, creating a self-imposed fence around future achievement.
Go beyond the boundaries.
Unleash the 10x force.
Push beyond your limits daily.
Working up to yesterday’s limits is not the goal.
Pushing past those limits, making daily breakthroughs, is the goal.
Set out to make yesterday’s maximum today’s minimum.
And do the same thing tomorrow.
Remember, during wrestling practice, when your coach would always go past the preannounced time he said the leg lifts were going to last?
Remember how that felt?
Remember not thinking that you could hold out any longer?
But you did.
You reached a new mental pain limit.
Do that every day in every aspect of your life.
And see how your life expands.
Wrestling Rules for Life – Paperback
Signed by the author
$28.99
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July 4, 2020
Baseball, Childhood Dreams, & The 4th of July
I love it when synchronicity strikes in my life.
Baseball, childhood dreams, and the 4th of July.
There is nothing more American than that.
Today, the 4th of July, baseball, and childhood dreams all collided in my life.
And made me proud.
I love baseball.
Most people wouldn’t believe it is my first passion.
I miss baseball, especially youth baseball.
I miss coaching budding youth players, seeing them grow.
I miss making up a batting order, deciding who was going to pitch that day, seeing players take the extra base, and execute game plans to near perfection.
I really miss baseball.
So much so, that I’ve read six books in the last month about a ballplayer’s journey in the sport.
I just finished, “The Wax Pack,” by Brad Balukjian.
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I loved it.
The premise of the book is that the author decides to buy an unopened pack of 1975 Topps Baseball cards and then embark on a quest to find each one of the players in the pack and interview them.
To see how their life turned out after baseball.
The pack had an assortment of players, from the nondescript role player to future Hall of Famers.
The surprise of the book was the degree of happiness of each of the players in the pack was not linked to the success that they had on the diamond, it was linked to their gratitude toward life and their family life.
Some players had some parts that made up a great life, some had none.
Few had them all.
It was a great read.
I absolutely loved the book.
How could I not? I love to read, I love baseball, I loved opening up packs of baseball cards as a kid, I love learning the background story in people’s lives, I love the big picture.
It was an amazing read.
The 4th of July in one of my lifetimes ago, was always big Tournament Baseball weekend.
10 games (I coached 2 teams) over 3 days in the blazing summer sun.
It was always an awesome time.
Today, 14 years after coaching my final game in baseball, one day after finishing “The Wax Pack,” and on the 4th of July 2020, I woke up to a text message containing this picture of a newly minted Topps Baseball card.
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The only thing more exciting than opening up a pack of baseball cards is to open up a pack of cards and pull the one player you knew whose childhood dream came true.
Congratulations Justin, Ed , Donna and Ryan Dunn.
Enjoy.
One day in the future, if an author opens up a new pack of 2020 Topps baseball cards and decides to go on a quest to meet all the players inside, I hope he pulls your card.
As I know you will be able to give him what he is seeking as to what makes up a great life.
Gratitude and family.
I know you have both.
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What a Time in the Sun It Was
The 4th of July reminds me of Tournament Baseball.
Coaching 10 games, with two teams over three days.
Tournament baseball reminds me of celebrating in Tim Trifaro’s backyard afterward.
Celebrating At Trifaro’s house reminds me of Friends, Food, Wiffleball (Played left-handed of course, so not to ruin one’s arm) and great memories.
Celebrating At Trifaro’s house reminds me of Friends, Food, Wiffleball (Played left-handed of course, so not to ruin one’s arm) and great memories.
Looking back, what a time in the sun it was.
I don’t believe any of us realized how special of a time it would truly turn out to be.
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July 1, 2020
It’s 6 a.m. and All Is Well In My World.
The road to success is one of solitude.
It’s easy to work when the stars are aligned.
It’s another thing to sweat before the crack of dawn with the future state of all that you value unknown.
I have the utmost degree of respect for those unique wrestlers who continue to trust the process even with their world in chaos.
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June 24, 2020
Get 1% Better Every Day
Little by little, one travels far.
J.R.R. Tolkien
There are approximately 100 days in the high school wrestling season.
If a high school wrestler commits to getting
1% better every day, by the end of the season,
they will double their stamina, their technique, and their effectiveness.
Most people feel there isn’t enough time in the day.
Not having enough time isn’t the issue.
The issue is utilizing the time you do have more efficiently.
No one gets to increase the amount of time they have.
We can only more efficiently utilize the time that we have.
Practice with a purpose.
Slow and steady wins the race.
Consistency wins.
Take the approach life is not a sprint;
it is a marathon.
Small gains over long periods.
Life is the same way.
Life has many 100-day periods, more than three per year.
Get 1% better each day in every area of your life.
Be productive.
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Make small gains every day over long periods.
The Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca said it best,
“It is not that we have so little time.
The life we receive is not short, but we make it so;
We are not ill provided but use what we have wastefully.”
Be jealous of your time.
Use it effectively.
Seek to get 1% better every day.
This is a chapter from:
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June 20, 2020
Master Life Goal and Plan 2.0
As a 21-year-old, I remember sitting and writing my Master Life Goal and Plan.
A manifesto on what I wanted in life with a specific and detailed plan on how I was going to make that happen.Boy, were my ambitions ever so off course.I guess that is expected at that age.It’s one of life’s great mysteries,how traveling in the wrong direction somehow brings you to the right path in life.I could have written a thousandMaster Life Goal and Plansand not one would have come remotely close to preparing me for my life.Don’t get me wrong, nearly everything I wrote in my original Master Life Goal and Plan came to fruition, but, oh how different it was from how I imagined, with a much greater cost.34 years later, I’m amazed at how different my goals, ambitions, and perspective on life is today.Today, I started writing a book called,“Master Life Goal and Plan 2.0”It’s all about the 2.0I believe we all have a 2.0 version of ourselves.The 2.0 version contains the improvements, nuances, and adjustments that we need to make that lead us to a new perspective on life and helps to obtain peace, tranquility, and harmony within our souls.I could have made one thousand Master Life Goal and Plans at age 21, none would have prepared me for what was to come.I’m confident the“Master Life Goal and Plan 2.0”ALWAYS will.________“Master Life Goal and Plan 2.0”Will be released Saturday, August 22, 2020
June 19, 2020
The Loveless Prison
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Stone walls do not a prison make,
Nor iron bars a cage;
If I have freedom in my love
And in my soul am free,
Angels alone, that soar above,
Enjoy such liberty.
Richard Lovelace
To Althea, From Prison
It’s an unfortunate but true statement that we all have people in our lives we’ve given up on.
People we once cared for deeply, people who once brought value to our lives, people who have wronged us or someone else… in our eyes.
Wronged someone so badly that we do not even try to reconcile, it is just easier to disassociate, abandon ship and move on.
Lovers, friends, kids, family members – people we know to be good people, but who have done something we just can’t reconcile with… in our mind.
So instead, we decide to put these people in our own little prison.
A prison that does not take away their freedom, but one which cuts off our love to them.
This is the worst prison of all.
The ‘loveless prison’.
There are 2.2 million people incarcerated in the United States.
There are exponentially more in ‘loveless prisons’ nationwide.
These ‘loveless prisons’, the ones in which we are the sole person on the parole board, do not rehabilitate a man.
It hardens them.
I don’t see how withholding love will ever make any situation better.
The answer is always more love.
Not less.
The Loveless Prison is from
In the Eye of the Storm – Inspirational poems and stories on overcoming tragedy and adversity.
