GRIT Athlete: Josh Tyler
GRIT ATHLETE SERIES
Welcome to the GRIT Athlete series. Fortitude to endure in the face of challenges and failure is a trait that can be taught. Developing your intrinsic motivation that spurs you on when others quit is a trait that greatly impacts any facet of our lives both: professionally and personally.
Iron Will Lifestyle rounded up a group of athletes with proven grit that inspire us. We bring you their stories and advice to help you level up while #ChasingIronWill.
JOSH TYLER
Professional Fighter | University Instructor
Black Rifle Coffee Contributor | Creator of Survival Fit
This ginger bearded badass out of Utah is kicking off the June GRIT Athlete series and he’s got a hell of a story. This workhorse of an athlete is a prime example of someone with a mindset rooted in relentless commitment to whatever the goal in front of him is.
From his resume, clearly, Josh is a top-level athlete. However, we pick his story up when he wasn’t a headliner but rather the worst guy on the team.
As Josh transitioned from a premiere high school wrestling athlete to the collegiate level at Old Dominion, he went from being the best guy around, to struggling to keep up with the rigors of the collegiate training schedule.
“I thought I was in amazing shape, but in summer conditioning I was dead last in everything we did. I prided myself on being the best guy in the room. I didn’t foresee myself being that far below the mark. At the time, it was a big blow to my ego. But I wouldn’t let that deter me”
Growing up, Josh described himself as last in the pack in young sports. His father coached him from an early age to work to get to the front of the pack by incremental daily improvements. A focus of pushing to get one step further within the pack every single practice. An attitude of striving to be the best in practice ultimately carries over to game day performance. Those lessons from little league served him well in high school and were needed again when he realized he had some major work to do to keep up with his collegiate teammates. Once again, Josh went to work.
His GRIT kicked in and he was once again about to earn his way back to the top by those daily improvements of moving one step up in the back with every practice. Josh put his head down and was determined to push to the front of the pack with an intensity that set him apart as the hardest working guy in the room.
By the end of the summer his coaches had elevated him to be the guy the rest of the team was competing against. His was the pace to match. He had pushed from the least conditioned guy to the guy to beat. Whatever the prescribed training sessions for the team, Josh would stay and do extra work. He came full circle from last place to a leader on the team with the strongest overall conditioning. How easy would it have been to make excuses; to wallow in disappointment that maybe he couldn’t compete at the same level? Uncovering grit within us is never pleasant. Those extra hours of training were fraught with sacrifice, discomfort, mental and physical fatigue – and yet, look what was waiting on the other side?
A slew of injuries in his neck and shoulder would follow him through college.
He suffered a neck injury that required cortisone shots directly into his neck. Ultimately, the athletic trainers told him he had to stop wrestling or risk being paralyzed because of the residual trauma. Josh wrestled for nearly 3 years with an injured shoulder that never fully recovered from a dislocation his sophomore year.
After college he received the long awaited surgery to repair his shoulder.
“Surgery was absolutely the lowest part for me during the 6 month rehab. It completely messed with my psyche. I went from a Division I athlete to immobile and didn’t know how to handle it.”
But once again, Josh rallied. He decided to make the jump from wrestling to MMA and after 6 months rehabbing his shoulder – the training began. He did what many train for but few achieve transitioning into a professional mixed martial arts fighter for the Bellator.
With that background on why we love Josh and his unbelievable work ethic and ability to overcome – we had the pleasure to sit down with him for his words of encouragement and advice for those #ChasingIronWill.
The community, coaches and teammates Josh surrounds himself with help create the recipe for success.
I want to be around guys who are or have been competing at the highest level with a ton of experience. There is no substitute for experience in fighting. It’s difficult to get that experience yourself, in actual cage fights.
You can be the best-trained guy, but if you haven’t done it under the lights, that other stuff is almost meaningless. People with knowledge are irreplaceable. I try to be a sponge around them: black belts, pro fighters, boxers.
As for teammates: positive energy and super motivated are key. I fell into a great group of training partners. It feels less like work and more like hanging out with your bros. We motivate each other to push.
When there are days you don't want to train how do you rally yourself to switch gears?
Once I get out of the house it’s a done deal. Sometimes the Xbox is calling my name and I would rather just relax with the family, but I force myself to get out of the house. I know that if I stay at home I’m going to feel like crap and then the next day it will snowball. I’ve wrestled with that demon enough, I just need to get my ass out of the house.
I usually drop a phone call to a teammate for a pump up on the way to the gym. Without fail every time I get on the mat and start working – the desire to skip my workout goes away.
There has yet to be a time that I felt worse for training and working out. I remind myself that I know that to be true when I’m sitting at home debating on the workout. There is no magic pill just hard work.
Knowing your own personal psychology and patterns help. I set my expectations really low on those days. “I’m probably going to kick my ass today… I’ve been beat up before I’ll be beat up again” But those tend to be above average days for personal performance.
Which helps reinforces that if I can just get out the door it’s going to be a good workout. I’ve been through worse. Even if it is a piss poor workout I’m better for it.
What is a big goal you have in 2016 that is challenging/stretching you
My goals continue to shift over the years. As a professional fighter I am striving to reach my full potential in the UFC.
Being the best fighter, father and husband I can be. Each one is achievable on it’s own – but the balance together is very difficult.
What piece of advice would you give to those looking to achieve big goals and overcoming fear?
Taking big goals and making them small, incremental goals. For me moving from last place to first place was the big picture. But I was required to pass one person at a time to get to the top. Small goals lead to big success. Let nothing stand in your way of what you are pursuing. Challenges are inevitable; you play the game long enough and something challenge or adversity will spring up. Figure out a way to deal with that. Some people walk away – some thrust through it. The only thing separating them is grit within their mindset that they will not be stopped.
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