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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