Lessons Learned in the Boxing Ring

The challenges I have faced in life are much like the challenges I have face in the boxing ring. It’s just that in the boxing ring you’re held accountable by your trainer and the people watching the fight, whereas in life you are often forced to hold yourself accountable.

Here are some lessons I learned in the ring that apply to life as well.

1. Face your fears and go on anyways. There were so many times in training, sparring, or in an actual fight where I wanted to quit but I never did. I’ve tried my best to carry that over to life and have been successful in doing so, but far from perfect at the same time. The adversity I faced in boxing is in front of everyone, I was held accountable. My trainer could see if I was going to give up and I didn’t want to let him down. But why should life be any different?

You should want more than anything not to let yourself down.

“It’s not how many time’s you get knocked down, it’s how often you get back up and go forward that counts.”

This quote is attributed to a lot of people, but I’ll give it to Rocky Balboa.

2. Get out of your comfort zone. Most growth in life only happens when you’re out of your comfort zone. In sparring I had to try new things to become a better fighter, even if I was going to pay for it, I had to give it a shot. Life is the same way. There won’t be much growth if you just stick to the same old way of life.

In business you have to continually try new things and continually push your own limits. To grow mentally and spiritually you have to get out of what makes you comfortable and push yourself if you truly want to grow as a person. In the gym its the same thing. If you don’t push your body beyond what it’s used to, you’re not going to see any benefits.

We cannot become what we want to be by remaining what we are. – Max DePree

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The Balanced Life – Time Management

How do you fit the right workouts and the right meals into a busy schedule?

• Clearly identify your goals. When I did this I was able to plan more clearly and in turn fit much more into my day. Clear goals keep you focused, they also allow you to see how you’ve progressed. Visibly seeing your success will help you big time. Writing down clearly defined goals helped me realize what I was doing wrong and when I made the changes I needed to make, they helped me see the proof of my success.

Write down both short and long term goals and keep them measurable.

• Whether you’re trying to lose fat, gain muscle or both, you have to plan your week out! Winging it won’t work.
  

For both gaining weight and losing it, you should be getting in 5-6 meals a day. Each meal should have a portion of protein and a portion of whole carbs or veggies, or both if you can fit them in. If you’re trying to gain weight your meals should be much bigger.

You don’t have to continually be counting calories, but to get an idea of how many you’re taking in each day try the google calorie counter. I’ll use this every now and then just to check up on my diet and make sure I’m getting enough calories each day.

Before I started planning out my meals I’d get stuck buying something quick to eat that was high enough in calories to cover a meal, but didn’t have the same nutritional value as a well balanced meal would. These high calorie snacks are the worst! They’ve got very little nutritional value and are full of empty, useless calories. So try planning your meals. It’ll do wonders for your diet, your goals and your health. Read the rest of this entry »