The secret to kicking someone's ass

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."

--

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.)

-Adam