Are You a Doer - Or Just Talk Like One?

[Preston Gary]

Occasionally, I get approached by some grappler asking me for some
"hidden secret" to improve their mat performance. And when this
happens, I generally give the same advice: show up for class on time,
drill, listen to the instructor's teaching, and trust us to give you a
fundamentally sound grappling base. That advice is usually taken with
lots of enthusiasm, a promise to carry out the instructions to the
letter, and some challenge to wait and see how they perform. And
that's exactly what I do; I watch and wait for them to perform.
Unfortunately, the performance rarely happens. The reason the
performance rarely happens is because good training advice was
essentially wasted on a Talker, not a Doer!
A Talker is the person that:
- Spends too much time trying to make an impression on his instructors
or coaches, by talking about all the big things they're going to
achieve - Wants to be recognized as a "big dog" in training, but won't
put forth the effort to be one - Needs a different training approach
that they approve of before doing it instead of one that's been proven
to work for others before them - Signs up for my emails; but rarely
reads them since he already knows "the basic stuff" I'm talking about
anyway
Most grapplers (or people in general) will NEVER achieve their life
goals because they choose to live and die as Talkers. They have the
ability to choose what directions their training (or lives) will take,
just like the Doers, but choose to talk rather than take action.
Fortunately, the Doers are the exact opposite of the Talkers.
A Doer is the person that:
- Takes every piece of information given to them; dissects it,
analyzes it, figures out how it will work for them, and puts it into
action - Isn't worried about getting attention or being recognized as
one of the "big dogs" at the school - Gets noticed by training and
working harder than the Talker - Doesn't get offended or tired of
hearing "the basics" being repeated because they know if it's being
emphasized, it's both important and MUST be mastered to ensure success
So, are you a Doer... or just talk like one?