What high school kids don’t understand is that they are playing the wrong game.

The edumacation game is entirely the wrong game to play. The end goal in the education game is to get the best grades. Why? Because you got to get into the best college. But what happens when you get into the best college? You end up with a ton of debt (perhaps) but worse you end up competing to get the best grades again. Then what happens when you end up with the best grades in college? You get the best job. But why is this bad? You get the first job that opens itself up to you.

Now, what did you learn during that process? Did you descend deep down into the Abyss? What happens when you did not get the best grades? Nothing life changing, that’s for sure. And therein lies the problem.

Training.

In education, there’s no training for a bigger purpose, like an athletic purpose. What I tell kids is to sign up for something. Competing is important. Challenge yourself.

Take for example high school wrestling. It's takes some fucking guts to go out there and lose. You are going Mano y Mano, you can't say "my tight end didn't block".

And wrestling is hard because winning is great but losing teaches you more. There's something about getting your assed kicked and going back to shake someone's hand.

More people should wrestle. But once you get out of high school or college it's not very feasible. This is why BJJ is great for adults.

Teamwork.

Education also doesn’t give you teamwork.

Teamwork is not just about making everyone better; it’s about taking weak link and owning it; by making the weak link better. Because without that weak link becoming better, you can’t become better. Wrestling teaches you this too.

Pressure.

Education also doesn’t teach you about pressure.

Don't talk fucking pressure about taking exams. I've competed against opponents in front of more people than you will ever meet in your life. I remember wrestling in the HS state championships in front 20,000 ravenous wrestling fans. The nerves to expose yourself in front of that many people could make a grizzled man puke.

Get out there and perform. If you can’t, you learn something about yourself. Keeping training, keep helping your teammates, and then try again to compete under pressure.

Moral of the Story.

So, the moral is this: Even if you are the best student, you still lose the fucking game.

Train. Find a purpose. It doesn’t have to be a life purpose. Just find a purpose and fucking train hard at it. And embrace losing.

Teamwork. Make everyone around you better. Hang around others that want to make you better. It’s a virtuous cycle.

Pressure. Train hard, so you can be forced to perform under pressure. Embrace the pressure. Bath in it. Cleanse yourself with it.

Train. Teamwork. Pressure. And Good luck.