Win the fight

Win the Fight!

On April 13th, 2018, I found myself at Clackamas Community College in Oregon with two of my athletes, Keoni and Austin, who were considering attending CCC. The Clackamas Cougars had won the past three NJCC national championships and were on the hunt for more. Under the watchful eye of Coach Rhoden (aka "The Road-Dog"), they were a true juggernaut.

As I sat against the mat room wall watching the boys practice with the team, my eyes kept being drawn to the corner of the team whiteboard. On the bottom left, it simply said, “Win the Fight!”

There was nothing special about the slogan, nor the way it was written. In small, black expo ink, the words were a bit smudged and faded, as if the whiteboard had been crashed into by grappling partners countless times over the months and years since it was first written. Yet, as I watched my boys scrap with the college kids, I couldn’t help but keep looking back at those words: “Win the Fight!” I ended up snapping a picture, intending to take it back home to The Valley.

When I got home, I shared the trip with my wife Kerstin and showed her and the kids some pictures I took of the campus and the boys training. When I came across the whiteboard picture, I almost deleted it. But something made me keep it, so I added the words “Win the Fight!” in my journal.

The following Monday, I walked into my office and wrote “Win the Fight!” in the bottom right corner of my own whiteboard. It stayed there for about a week, but I started feeling like it didn’t quite fit. I began thinking about what it means to win and to fight. I didn’t want just a “moment in time” kind of win; I wanted something more. Instead I wrote “Win the Day!”

For six years now, it’s the first thing I see each morning when I sit at my desk. There’s nothing wrong with “Win the Fight,” but I realized that each day offers its own set of challenges and opportunities to win, no matter how small they may seem.

Whether it’s getting up on time, knocking out a few extra chores before the family wakes up, or completing my workout instead of skipping it those little wins stack up. They matter.
I constantly tell our boys that the little things can make the biggest difference. Winning isn’t an accident; it’s the byproduct of doing the hard things, big and small, with consistency over time.

One of the boys asked me how I know if I’ve “won” my day. Without hesitation, I told him that I wake up each morning and reflect on the day before. I think about whether my actions aligned with my core values. I think about the tasks I accomplished and the people I interacted with.

I’m a big fan of routines and rituals. For the past seven years, I’ve stopped at the bottom of our driveway each morning before work. I take a few minutes to reflect, say a Hail Mary, and send messages of gratitude to people in my life who fill my heart or need their hearts filled. That small moment, taking time for reflection and gratitude is often my first big win of the day. From there, I head to work with intent to “Win the Fight” and, more importantly, to “Win the Day.”

I’ve been talking to the boys about their personal recipe for success in competition, a recipe that doesn’t factor in winning or losing. Several of our team leaders sat down with a small group of teammates today after practice to share their own rituals and routines before, during, and after a match. As the season progresses, our staff will continue helping our athletes identify what their own personal recipe for success looks like. By doing so, they’ll have a clear understanding of the standards they’re trying to exceed.

Long-term, our focus is to help these athletes transfer the skills, values, and habits they’re building in the practice room and during competition to the next phases of their lives.
I’m looking forward to this new season and the opportunity to “Win the Day” alongside the boys as they chase their goals and dreams.

This is the beginning of a new day.
I can waste it or use it for good.
What I do today is important because I am exchanging a day of my life for it.
When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever,
leaving in its place something I have traded for it.
I want it to be a gain, not a loss;
good, not evil;
success, not failure —
in order that I shall not regret the price I paid for it today.
author unknown

Go Bears!
Coach Feist