Don't Live To Work, Work To Live

Today I thought I would shake things up a bit and go with a more introspective approach for this entry. I am sure most you are familiar with the daily grind of always being on the go. The world we live in tries to take every ounce of energy we have to fulfill its needs. Today I beg the question, “Do you fulfill your own needs?”

I have a saying I tell myself daily. “Do not live to work. Work to live.”

 I know it is easy to get in a routine where all one thinks about is work. I have a job where it is extremely easy to do. Yes, our office is open nine to five, but the nature of my job goes beyond such time constraints. I work nights, weekends, holidays, etc. all in the name of something I love to do. It is so easy to get wrapped up in work I often forget to take time for myself. When this happens I go right back to my saying “Do not live to work. Work to live.”

Here is where I am going with this. There are a few key things I try to do in order to get out of my work rut and focus on myself. Now not all of these things may be for you, but it is a place to start. The whole point of this is to take some time to reflect on yourself and how to become a happier you.

Work Hard, Play Harder

We all have a passion. It can be something a simple as writing a blog all the way to hiking 14 footers. My suggestion to you is find something you really enjoy doing, no matter how small, and make time to do this thing twice a week. For me, it is a few things. I enjoy writing, but sometimes with my job I end up writing for days on end, so I find pleasure in reading or playing a video game a couple nights a week. This takes my mind off of work and allows me to refresh and relax even during the most stressful of days.

Release Those Endorphins

Stress can build and build when all you think about is work. I find it very therapeutic to spend a few nights (or mornings) a week at the gym. I get a little steam treatment, cardio, weight lifting, hot tub and the like in, and I feel like a new man. I know the gym is not for everyone, but just try and find something active you enjoy and do it. The hardest part is actually getting up off the couch! I have never regretted a single workout I have ever done, so give it a shot and see where it takes you. And the key part, just have fun with it!

Treat Yourself

When swamped with work, family life, etc. the one person we often forget about is our self. I know I do anyway. I think one of the most beneficial things to do for oneself is a treat sesh. What I mean by this is find take a few hours and go do something you like to do, but splurge a little bit. I don’t mean monetarily, I mean emotionally. For me, I enjoy a nice trip to the Hu Hot Mongolian Grill and a funny flick. Just spending some quality me time with, well, me, makes all the difference.

Appreciate the Have’s, not the Have Not’s

Pretty self-explanatory here, you have many blessings in your life whether you see them or not. It is important to recognize what you have, and take joy in it. I may work a lot of hours and get stressed beyond belief sometimes, but then take a look out my apartment window and I have a view only God could have dreamt of. It is all a matter of perspective and choosing what to focus on.

Alright, I have done enough preaching for one post. I just wish to share my inner thoughts with you all and hope not to sound to crazy!

Just remember, enjoy what you do, but enjoy who you are more. I tell myself I work so I can live just as a reminder that work, wrestling, writing, whatever it is means little to who I am and how I live. Enjoy life people!

I myself am enjoying this damn awesome mountain view before I watch the True Blood series finale on my DVR, another one of my guilty pleasures.

With that, I leave you with a quote from the famous Henry David Thoreau…

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”

-Rich

The Blur that is World Team Camp

What a week it has been here in the Springs. All three World Team’s are having their final camps stateside before traveling to the World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. What does this mean for me? Interview time!

My mission for the week has been to capture tons of video and interview every World Team member from each of our three teams. My favorite part though is just spending some time with the athletes since most of them don’t train here.

Of course I got to spend some quality time with my Oklahoma boys Sam Hazewinkel and Andrew Howe. I was even lucky enough to catch Haze with a jumping hug. The Haze and myself go way back to my Junior High days when I used to go to OU camp and he would tell stories about flying ninjas to us campers. Seriously such an awesome guy. If you even get the chance go talk to him.

I spent a few minutes after yesterday’s practice catching up with Jordan Burroughs. We started talking about my days at OU and his trips to Norman. We actually competed in college at the same time even though I wasn’t lucky enough to face him (or maybe I was lucky). Then of course the OU and Nebraska football discussion took place. I think we all know how that would end up if the two faced each other this year!

I spent some time this morning with the Greco guys and got to hear some great boot camp stories from Spenser Mango, Harry Lester and Caylor Williams. I think it is so admirable how these guys are striving for their athletic goals and at the same time serving our great nation in the Army. I won’t throw them under the bus with story details though as hilarious as they were.

Lunch today was a riot. Got to eat with a few of our athletes, Jason Welch, Alli Ragan, Jenna Burkert and Sarah Hildebrandt. I felt bad eating up a storm while they tackled their salads. But someone who shall remain nameless did divulge with a scoop of ice cream… or two. I do have to give credit to Alli for trademarking the phrase rimmel time for all our interviews. Pretty catchy if I do say so.

Then of course I was interviewing Olympic Champ Jake Varner and my camera broke. JB had a joke or two to say about that haha. Just my luck. But all in all it was a great day.

Of course I was able to build some relationships with some of the new guys I haven’t talked too in depth with like Nick Marable. He and I have both been coached by Sammie Henson so it was great relating on that. Sammie is INTENSE! It is easy to see why Nick is getting to be one of the best in the world. Great guy with a great plan. I can’t wait to watch him in Uzbekistan.

Also The Truth Ed Ruth is just the man. I always love the conversations we have. Most of them do not revolve around wrestling. It is great to be able to chat about personal things, family life, how our life is going, etc. It's no wonder people call him Easy Ed. One of the most down to earth guys you'll ever meet. The man also gives great interviews as you can see here.

Now it is time to head to the kitchen and whip up a batch of my famous queso. One of my best buds Joe is in town and he is ready to chow down.

More to come from training camp later this week! If you want to check out all the interviews from camp check them out HERE. 

Have a blessed day everyone!

Peace

Adam Coon, Maroon 5 and Chance Encounters

It was another busy day in the USAW office so I decided it would be a good time to channel my inner Junior High self. I threw my musical selection back to some old school Maroon 5, Sunday Mornings, She Will Be Loved and the like. If you can’t roll with Maroon 5 then we might not be friends anymore!

I want to give a big congrats to Adam Coon on winning a bronze medal at the Greco-Roman Junior World Championships today in Croatia. I had the pleasure of meeting and interviewing Adam at the NCAA’s this year. For such a mammoth man, you would he has this imposing personality, but it is quite the opposite. I don’t recall meeting a more humble guy than he. I am really pulling for him to do well in the future, starting with Junior World Freestyle later in the week.

If you want to watch Adam and the rest of the Junior World Team athletes compete for gold you can watch live at fila-official.com. And lets give FILA some credit for providing us with a live stream and better coverage than ever before. They are definitely moving in the right direction. Up tomorrow is our stellar women’s team. Go get em ladies!

A couple of our Greco World Team guys, Jordan Holm and Joe Rau, paid us a visit in the office today. Again, just quality people involved in our sport. Jordan and I started chatting about the Junior Duals and of course our home states of Oklahoma and Minnesota became the topic of conversation, since they did, of course, meet in the first place dual. If you haven’t checked that dual out it was a great one! Then again it is always great seeing my Okies win! It was especially special for me to be able to call that dual on Flowrestling.

Oh, and just in case you were wondering, Joe Rau does not weigh 250 pounds at the moment! I was sure to ask! Haha. He is cutting an arm and a leg to make 80 kilos, but he looks in good shape from where I am sitting.

Once I got my main tasks out of the way for the day, Maroon 5 still going strong, I started working on the dreaded Fargo matches on our YouTube site. I think there are over a gazillion matches from Fargo so headache is putting it mildly. I was able to finish up the Cadet Freestyle Finals playlist compete with semis, quarters and medal matches so be sure to check them out HERE.

I am trying to get all of those finals playlists taken care of for all styles so bear with ole Rich. It’s a long process!

One of the more gratifying parts of my job for me is being able to help others with their various questions or problems. I had an awesome guy who called me today with message board issues. I took him through the whole process of creating an account and posting, but the side conversation was just delightful. I learned more about him and his role in the sport. Those are moments I really enjoy.

Tomorrow should be a busy but fun day as well. Headed down to the Greco World Team training camp to get some video of our men and maybe an interview or two. Always a blast being around the athletes and witnessing their dedication first hand.

With the day done and my Maroon 5 playlist coming to an end, it’s time to switch it up to the rock playlist for leg day at the gym and some reflection time. I leave you with Adam Coon's bronze medal bout from earlier today.

Stay classy,

Rich

Starting this bad boy up!

Hey all!

Before I get real deep into anything I just wanted to say thank you all for checking in with me. I recently decided I was going to start a blog and share my tidbits of wisdom I gain from my travels and life experiences.

Just a brief intro about myself, I am currently working in Colorado Springs, Colo. for USA Wrestling, the governing body for wrestling in the United States from the Olympic level on down. So if you want to know anything wrestling, I am your man! It is truly remarkable the people I get to work with and the places I get to travel to. Can't wait for Tashkent, Uzbekistan next month!

My role at USAW right now has many complexities, but to keep it simple, I am in communications, primarily dealing with broadcasting, social media strategies and promoting our sport and athletes to the masses. It is a tough job, with many hours put in that the outside world will never see, but I know I am doing something special that many people could only dream about doing.

I wrestled in college at the University of Oklahoma (Yeah thats me in the glory days to your right). Yes the real wrestling university in the "Sooner" state! haha I kid, I kid. Because of my position at USAW I have come to the realization that those Cowboys up north are decent folk too! So if you know me I do have that okie bias, but I really just appreciate all wrestling these days no matter who you compete for.

So, if you made it through those boring background details about my life, I appreciate you following along with me. Hopefully I can give you a little insight into my world and the world of wrestling at the same time.

The big news of the day for me was the two year countdown to the 2016 Olympics in Rio. I know that is a long way off, but man am I excited to get there. How about the lineup Team USA could have down there as well? All the staples of today with Burroughs, Metcalf, Varner and the emergence of new blood with Ramos and Ruth, then throw in the youngsters Pico and Snyder... It's gonna be goooood!

Made a little graphic to commemorate the occasion..

Of course credit for that awesome Burroughs pic goes to the man, Tony Rotundo. If you haven't seen this guys pics you are missing out. The best in the biz! His site is www.wrestlersarewarriors.com so go check it out!

Well gang it's off to the gym for me to get a little steam in. The wrestler mentality is always with me.. work hard, steam hard then go eat!

Hope you enjoy following me! Get in touch with me by either commenting below or hit me up on twitter @Richard_Immel.

Peace,
Rich