“There was no greater sin for a Gable wrestler than to be caught stalling — backing up, eating clock, not attacking and destroying — and once Gable even screamed at a ref to call it on his own guy.”—Wright Thompson*
Everyone who ever wrestled knows Dan Gable. Dan Gable is larger than life and undeniably the epitome of a wrestler and coach. One of Gable’s core principles was “no stalling”. He lives this on and off the mat.
Many of us are stalling in life. We have the desire, perhaps, but we are avoiding executing or simply holding on to avoid doing anything that might cause us to lose out on “success”. Stalling, however, is not a winning strategy. Stalling is a strategy that protects us, but limits us to the “successful side of mediocre”. High performers in life (and wrestling) do not stall.
One of my most memorable matches in my rather undistinguished wrestling career occurred my sophomore year of high school. A senior and I were similar in weight, and we would sometimes weigh in at both 185 and Unlimited. (In those days, the upper weight classes were limited to these. I spent three years of varsity losing up to 30 lb after football to make weight at 185. To wrestle Unlimited, you had to weigh over 180 lb, I believe, but your opponent could weigh anything over this. Today, the upper limit is 285 lb and there are more options in the upper classes.) One particular dual match, Bob was to wrestle the 185-pounder, and we would forfeit at Unlimited (the opponent out weighed us by more than 80 lb). Bob won, but not by the spread necessary for our team to win the dual with a forfeit at Unlimited. So, I had to face this really big guy and just not get pinned. It should not have been a hard task, but I kept getting cautioned for stalling. I got nervous and shot. My opponent sprawled and got on top of me with all that weight. It was not long before he pinned me. It is a disappointment that I still carry.
In this match, one could argue that stalling was a wise strategy. Perhaps. (Dan Gable would not think so.) Stalling was not comfortable, though. I suggest that stalling should never be a comfortable option.
We are wired for self-preservation. So, sometimes, stalling might seem reasonable. But, if one wants to be a high-achiever—a high-performer—one has to always be driving forward. To be (extra)ordinary, one must be pushing forward. One must always have the will to be on the attack.
If we feel like our life is in a holding pattern—i.e., we are stalling—we need to take the shot. My mistake in wrestling was not in taking the shot. My mistake was in taking the shot I took. I didn’t wrestle smart, but the experience has not caused me to fear taking chances. The lesson in this match (remember, in wrestling, as in life, there are only winners and learners) was not that I should stall when faced with challenges. The lesson was that I need to attack with a smart strategy.
Having a growth plan is a smart attack strategy. Approaching each day with a specific offensive strategy is the only option, if winning is to be a possibility. Stalling is running away. It is a position of weakness.
One may be heavily outweighed by one’s opponent, and defeat (i.e., to not win) may be inevitable, but victory is only possible when one is on the offensive. After all, there are no defensive points in wrestling. Stalling leads nowhere.
Carpe momento!
“In every battle there comes a time when both sides consider themselves beaten, then he who continues the attack wins.”—Ulysses S. Grant
*Wright Thompson. The Losses of Dan Gable. ESPN The Magazine. Retrieved 12-3-2016 at *Wright Thompson. The Losses of Dan Gable. ESPN The Magazine. Retrieved 12-3-2016 at http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/page/Dan-Gable/the-losses-dan-gable