I’m not sure if you saw the Manny Pacquiao fight on Saturday night but it sure got a lot of attention. Even 60 Minutes featured a story on him last week.

Whenever I watch a boxing fight or movies like Rocky, I get all pumped up.

It made me think of an email one of my friends (who is a former light weight boxer) wrote me.

He wrote:

Back when I used to fight competitively, I discovered that I rarely went into the ring with more determination than my opponent.

“Hey,” I’d think, “it’s just a sport.”

Then I’d get punched in the face. And all of a sudden, I’d start to get serious.

Sometimes, I’d break a tooth, or fracture a knuckle. And it was in those moments that I’d think to myself, “one of us is leaving here in an ambulance, and it isn’t going to be me.”

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Ohhh. That’s hardcore. “One of us is leaving here in an ambulance, and it isn’t going to be me!”

For some reason, it reminds me of the saying, “It’s better to pay the grocer than the doctor.”

As Bruce Lee advised, “forget about winning and losing; forget about pride and pain. Let your opponent graze your skin and you smash into his flesh; let him smash into your flesh and you fracture his bones; let him fracture your bones and you take his life.”

I know, a little harsh. Fine. VERY harsh.

The great Vince Lombardi observed that it’s not whether we get knocked down, it’s whether we get back up.

But, in my experience, the truth is a step further: If I get knocked down (and I always do), I make sure I get back up twice as determined, twice as sure of what I need to do, than I was before.

Of course, this applies to us in so many ways.

If we give in to our short term, irrational mind, like we all do, let’s come back for our very next meal absolutely determined.

If we have a crappy workout, let it slide. But be sure, like all hell, our next workout is intense.

If we don’t get much accomplished one day, let’s make sure we get a lot done the very next day.

This has become a personal mantra of mine, of sorts. It’s a question I always ask myself when life throws its inevitable lemons at me.

“How quickly can I recover?” I ask myself.

Boom!

Let’s get back into that ring of life. No wallowing. Stop looking at what we don’t have. Motion creates positive emotions.

Progress = Perfection.

I got the eye of the tiger. Do you?

(And hey, even if you don’t right now, focus on doing the work. Once you get the work done, you’ll have the eye of the tiger.)

Clients tell me sometimes, “they’re just not in the mood.”

Ya know what? Sometimes, I’m not in the mood, either.

Why do we need to be in the mood for something to do the work? And yes, it’s work.

Existing isn’t work.

But living? That’s work.

Thriving? That’s a lot of work.

It’s called work because it’s difficult. Not because we need to be in the mood for it.

Very few people wake up each day in the mood to eat healthfully or in the mood to exercise. People aren’t usually in the mood to push themselves harder than they’ve pushed before or in the mood to be brutally honest with themselves – which can be quite uncomfortable.

Of course, what we’re in the mood for is irrelevant to how our body performs or how we exist, live or thrive.

For today and the rest of the week, let’s not pay so much attention to what we’re in the mood for.

Let’s pay attention to the work.

Then, when we’re thriving, we’ll be in the mood to continue thriving.

On Sunday, I watched the NYC marathon from a bunch of different points along the 26.219 route, however, I purposely saved the finish line for my last stop.

People crossing the finish line 8+ hours into the marathon, in the dark, are not running through the finish line. They’re barely jogging or more so walking, usually limping, and in a lot of visible discomfort and I’m sure pain.

So, as I was watching person after person cross the finish line with their arms up in triumph between 5:30 and 6:15 PM, a recurring thought kept hitting me.

These people resolved that no matter what, they were going to finish. No matter how long it took them, they’d cross that line.

In the journey of life, there aren’t many cut and dry markers like start and finish lines. However, there are a ton of marathons we choose to enter (whether we realize it or not).

For the sake of consistency, let’s define a marathon in life as a process.

As I wrote on Thursday –> The reason why getting the body we want is so hard in 6 words is because: It’s a process. Not an event.

Dating is a process. Building a company is a process. Establishing trust is a process. And getting the body we want is a process.

Events, on the other hand, are easier to manage, pay for and get excited about.

Processes, though, build results for the long haul.

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Hopefully, whatever marathons we choose to pursue are worthwhile ones. And when we focus on the benefit, it’s easier to get through the inevitable discomfort we’ll face. Of course having support makes all of the difference – and in fact, every runner I asked post marathon said the cheering of the crowd is what kept them going.

But here’s the critical mistake so many people make: If you’re going to decide to start a marathon, decide up front that you will not quit when the going gets tough.

No matter what it takes, fight like heck to back that commitment up.

One famous couple’s counselor asked a simple question that allowed her to have a flawless track record.

The one question that set her apart and made her very successful was this:

At the very beginning, before the first session, she’d ask her clients: ‘Are you considering divorce?’

If the answer was yes, she refused to take them on.

Why? Because there really aren’t degrees of commitment. As soon as we consider giving up on anything, we are looking for reasons to support that decision.

If we, instead, commit to a project, or mission, or marriage, then we look for reasons to stick with it.

And when it comes to our health and fitness the reasons to stick with it are literally endless.

P.S. As a product of divorced parents, I am in no way, shape or form advocating that parents should stick to their marriage, if it’s not working. I think the best thing parents can do for their children is be happy themselves (whether it’s together or not).

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I hope you’re having a fantastic weekend so far.

Today, I plan to spend a majority of the day and early evening watching the NYC Marathon. To say it’s inspiring is a huge understatement.

It’s hard not to well up when I see a double amputee go by on his hand bike. It’s hard not to well up when I see a double amputee run by on her prosthetic legs. (For running they wear what look like curved skis.)

It’s hard not to well up when I see a 75 year young woman run by.

It’s hard not to appreciate the patience and persistence these people must have.

Yet, when we go back to our own lives it’s easy to get lost in it. It’s easy to find reasons to complain. It’s easy to look at what we don’t have. It’s so easy to quit.

Year after year, it’s hard to control my emotions.

I was trying to figure out why, and I think it’s because each time I see one of these inspiring athletes – I put myself in their shoes or wheelchair or hand bike. And it absolutely tears me up.

But like all human beings we learn to deal with our reality. We learn to make the best of it.

Or we don’t.

But that’s a choice we all get to make.

We can hope and wish all day long. Or we can choose to take action. We can choose to make the best out of our current situation and look at the silver lining in everything.

Or we can choose not to and complain.

Sometimes, a little perspective goes a long way.

Sometimes, getting out of our own head, makes us realize how good we really do have it.

It also makes us realize the problems we may have, that might seem enormous, are rather tiny.

It makes discomfort not so uncomfortable. It makes hard work, hardly work. It makes effort, effortless.

This is, of course, if we choose to look at life as a gift and nothing but that.