So how do you keep your resolve up when your spirits are down? I think the key lies in remembering why. The saying goes, “If you have a strong enough why, you’ll always figure out the how.” Remember why you started, remember why you have worked so hard, remember why you haven’t quit, and remember the people you have helped or inspired along the way. Your effort matters and the world needs it.

Here’s to at least 100 words a day.

We had a great time together over the next few days. We went to downtown Helsinksi, and I showed her what Europe was like. It was her very first time out of the country, and I was so happy to share a little bit of what my life has been like on trips over the last decade. We even had an opportunity to go to the temple in Helsinki, Finland. It was a very positive experience. Things were perfect, and I was hoping that it would set the tone for a great performance on the weekend, but it didn’t go as I had planned.

I made weight relatively easily, and I felt well rested and prepared for the competition. I felt like it was my time to shine. I drew Balacs Kiss from Hungary the first round of the tournament. He was a world champion in 2009, but I had beaten him the last time that I wrestled him. I knew that it would be a tough match, but I was confident that I could beat him again. As the match started, we were both wrestling at a very intense pace, pushing and pulling and grappling for position. We both knew that we were in a dog fight for with our Olympic dreams on the line. He caught me with a quick arm throw that I did not see or feel coming until it was too late. I was down and I knew that I had to score. We battled on our feet for the rest of the period, and I attacked with a high dive and got in deep to his waist. I scored one point from securing the take down, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the three points that he earned from the one arm throw.

The second period was just as intense as the first one was with both of us battling hard for the score. I executed an arm drag and drove him to the edge of the mat, inches away from a push out and a score, but he maneuvered out of the danger zone. The match went to parterre position on the mat. The whistle blew and I secured my lock. I went for my gut wrench. My lock was tight and I had a good drive. At one point I felt his hips slightly lift, and I thought that I would have the turn secured. However, it didn’t work. I tried and tried again but with no success. Time ran out and my opponent was awarded a point for his defensive display. In an instant the Olympic dream that I had vividly carried with me for years was snuffed out. The bright candle of hope that I had nurtured and cared for for years was put out so quickly. It was like all of the sudden I was in a dark room and I all I could feel was pain. The pain of loss. The pain of getting so close to something and not obtaining it. The pain of failure. How could I make sense of getting so close to the Olympics for the third time in my wrestling career and not making that breakthrough? It hurt. It still hurts. It will probably always hurt to some degree. All I can hope is that God has something big in store for me.

Since the tournament, I have been able to reflect on my life and my wrestling career. I spent the last decade of my life sacrificing for my Olympic dream, but I was also rewarded in a great way even though I didn’t reach all of my goals in wrestling. I was able to earn a world medal, win a team world championship, win numerous pan american championships, as well as gain a ton of international wrestling experience. I have made some amazing friends and seen things that many people will never see in a life time. I have been blessed with the kindness of others who helped me along the way ranging from coaches, teammates, family, sponsors, and some people who are just fans of the sport and wanted me to succeed. My life has been made much fuller by the people who I have met through the sport of wrestling and I have learned lessons from wrestling that will translate well into any other endeavor to which I commit myself to in the future. I have had the privilege of traveling the world and seeing how a variety of cultures live, by the which I have been able to develop a greater appreciation and love for the United States. I was able to represent my country and my family. I had fun.

All in all, even though I didn’t accomplish all of the goals that I had set for myself, there is one thing that I know, can appreciate, and be proud of: It was a good run.

When I flew into Beijing when I arrived to China, I thought that the town was foggy for some reason. However, I soon realized that what I thought was fog was really air pollution. Taiyuan was the same way. There was always a thick haze that surrounded everything, and buildings would disappear in the smoky mess as you look out into the horizon. I would have a very hard time living there. Even as we flew out of Taiyuan and back to Beijing, I was able to get a better sense of how bad the pollution actually was. As the plane gained altitude, I finally saw the blue sky and the pollution below the cloud line. There was no break in the haze while we flew for a little over an hour from Taiyuan to Beijing, and because we were flying in the morning, it was easier to see the contrast between the layers of atmosphere. I took a video out of the plane that would do more justice to the situation than I am able to describe here, but due to time constraints right now, I won’t be posting it. Take my word that it was gross.

The flight from Beijing to London was close to 11 hours, but it didn’t seem so long because there were plenty of movies and tv shows that were available on the flight. I dosed off for about a half an hour as well. It was a pretty enjoyable flight. When we arrived to London, Coach Fraser and I were exhausted. We grabbed a taxi to our hotel, and the ride was expensive. It cost 30 pounds or close to 60 USD to drive the five miles to our hotel. We grabbed some dinner in a nearby restaurant and hit the sack. I went to bed at 8pm that night. We arose early the next morning and left the hotel at 5:30am. Checking in to our flight in London was quick and painless, and after a three hour flight we arrived to Helsinki.

I like Helsinki. There is plenty of blue sky, the sun has been shining, and the food has been much better here than it was in Taiyuan. I have been to Helsinki a few other times, and I have wrestled well here in the past. I know this is a different tournament than what I wrestled in last time I was here, but the familiarity of the location adds a little comfort to the process. We have a good internet connection, I can drink the water from the tap, and there is English television. I was told that there is a mall close by, and I think that at some point in the day, I will go look and see what it has to offer. Yesterday our driver said that there is a movie theater in the mall. If there is one, I hope that The Hunger Games are playing in the theater. I read the book series last week, and I am interested to see how Hollywood will tell the story. I am happy to be here, and I am looking forward to competing again this weekend.

The tournament had some great competitors today just as there will be next week. I’m grateful that I still have one more opportunity to get the job done. One last chance. Nothing to lose.

The other day I walked down an alley and I saw people selling food out of their small canopies set up by the side of the road. The street was dirty, smelled horribly, and was full of potential customers. I saw one man in particular that looked poorer than the rest and had a very small homemade grill. Behind him was a small room that I assume was where he lived. The way that he was interacting with the other people in the dwelling made it appear that they were his family. I looked at the small children, and I thought of my two young daughters back home. The thought crossed my mind that that man hustling to provide a little extra money on the side of the street loves his children just as much as I do and wants to succeed for his family.

Suddenly I felt a little guilty for not taking full advantage of the opportunities provided to me just because I was born in the united states. I have been able to attend college, travel the world, and spend the majority of my life doing what I love to do. However, there’s still plenty more that i can do. I’m sure that the man will probably never know what an inspiration he was to me that night, but I definitely want to make sure that I make the best use of all of the opportunities that I am afforded because of the country that I live in. I am truly blessed, and I’m very appreciative of the part of the western civilization that I live in.

Coming to China makes me once again realize that the world is indeed a very large place. I’m glad that I have the opportunity to visit, but I’m also glad that I will eventually be able to go home.

China is definitely a different place. First of all, everything is in Chinese. While we were in Beijing, we were accommodated pretty well with people speaking English. The town that we are in is Taiyuan and has very little American visitors. This has made it a little bit of a challenge to get around and do simple things such as purchase water. I went to the grocery store yesterday and showed them my debit card with the visa sign. They nodded which to me communicated that my card would be accepted there. However, after swiping my card and trying to make a transaction, their point of sale system was unable to allow me to purchase anything. However, there was a young man back in the line that spoke a little bit of English to come explain what was going on. I should have brought cash. Never travel to another country without cash! This is the first time that I have ever encountered this problem, but being as I have traveled the globe plenty of times before, I should have known better.

There is an ever presenting cloud of smog here. It is really gross. I have never seen the effects of pollution as drastically as I have seen them here. It is like there is a cloud hovering beneath the clouds. I would like to go for a run outside, but I think it might be a little counterproductive. Imagine jogging with a cigarette and you might be able to visualize the situation here a little bit.

One of the upsides is that I do have a relatively good internet connection here in the lobby which allows me to blog and skype, however, when I skype only my wife and kids can see and hear me. I cannot hear or see them. The problem isn’t due to a problem with her settings either, as other people are experiencing the same problem. I think that the gov might be regulating the site that way for a reason. Also facebook and youtube are both unavailable here.

It really is a different world here, but I am glad that I have the opportunity to be here in an attempt to qualify my weight class for the Olympics. My dream is still alive, and I still have a chance.

I was hoping and planning to have the weight class qualified by the Olympic Trials so that I could compete in them. It seems so strange to not be going to the Olympic trials. I have competed there twice before finishing in second place. One of the reasons why I am still competing is to make that team that has eluded me in my career. I think I have had a great go at it so far, but I still want more.

So tomorrow I am headed to China where I will compete next weekend. I have trained hard for this, and I feel confident in my preparation. Good luck to all the Olympic trials competitors. I am working towards joining those champions who will leave the tournament as Olympians. If it all works out it will be a dream come true.

1. Be responsible for the warm up.
The warm up is really one of the most important things that sets the tone for the practice, and by watching how the athletes are performing during the warm up can give you a good idea of how your athletes are feeling. Too many times there is little to no thought that goes into the warm up plan in many programs Usually an athlete is put in charge of the warm up for the day, and just runs through a bunch of random drills out of routine. Why waste the 20-30 minutes of a practice without focusing on something specific? To do so is a waste of time.

One of the greatest coaches that I have worked with, Ivan Ivanov, was always a stickler about what went on during the warm up. He had put a lot of thought into each practice, and the warm up was no different. He watched very closely to determine if he would go through his exact practice plan as written down on his clipboard or whether he would add or decrease volume. A lot of that was determined during the first 15 minutes of practice. Be thoughtful in your warm up. It sets the tone for the rest of the training session.

2. Ask useful questions.

One of the most important roles of a coach is to be someone who asks useful questions. Questions are a great way to motivate athletes, instigate evaluation, and retrieve information for your own needs. When I was first starting to wrestle,my club coach Greg Williams, always made sure to ask questions after every match. He asked me and all of his athletes what we thought that we did well during the match and what we felt needed to improve upon. Then after hearing what we had to say, he would provide his own insight. This was very useful in getting me to think about what I was doing and what I needed to work on, then the focus of wrestling was on improvement and skill development not just on wins and losses. The reality is sometimes you can wrestle horribly and still win or wrestle the match of your life and still lose. By asking the right questions you can be a great catalyst for growth.

3. Follow up.

There is a saying that I heard doing sales before that states “the fortune is in the follow up”. I believe that this is true in many settings, including wrestling. If a coach can get an athlete to commit to working on something to improve themselves, then they should take the time to follow up on it. Sure every athlete should be responsible enough to discipline themselves and work on what they need to improve, but the reality is that most of them don’t. It is easy to jump from move to move during a practice. However, if you can help that athlete to focus on developing one skill to perfection, you have helped them on the road to success. It’s as simple as reminding your athlete to hit an extra ten repetitions of a move at the end of practice. Just make sure that it isn’t only one day and then you never ask them about it again.

The reason why I believe follow up is so important is because I have seen a lack of it even at the highest level of wrestling. I have spent hours in meetings where great plans were made but then not a word of what was discussed is mentioned again until the next year when it is time for the same type of meeting. If you’re not going to follow up, what is the point of the meeting in the first place?

These are just a few ideas that I hope can help you in what you’re doing. Although these ideas are put in a wrestling context, you can most definitely apply them to other areas of life as well. Sport mirrors life and vice versa.

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Problems don’t fix themselves and usually early action can help with early resolution. Don’t let that nagging “thing” take you out of your game. Resolving the problem will probably be less painful than you had imagined, and you’ll be glad that you took care of it today.