I got into a spat with an MMA fighter

“What the hell?” I screamed…

as I felt the knuckles of my opponent sink into my teeth

5 minutes remained in possibly the most intense match of my life

I taste blood. “This can’t be good” I thought…

I looked at the ref as he came over

Partially annoyed… Partially surprised…

As I’m digesting this,

The referee pulls us both over and to my surprise does the unbelievable but before we dive into the juicy ending of this story here’s some context

(and why it’s relevant to you)

Are we too old to do anything?

The last time most of us played a sport was in school

Most of us never won anything or played a tournament

Our biggest achievement was scoring a six (or homerun) and then narrating that story for generations

Once we reached university the sporting spirit ended as ‘fans’ and eventually… we ended up with bodies that can barely make it up a flight of stairs

but why does it have to be this way?

Why do we have to just ‘accept’ mediocrity?

Now don’t get me wrong

I know some of us are dealt with unfair cards in life and I may not understand the nuances

I do sympathise with you, but the rest?

You know most of your ‘excuses’ are shallow and empty

Ever heard these?

1. Oh my weight is heavy because of ‘bone weight’

2. I can be good “if I practice”

3. I can wake up early too but I “choose not to”

These are the convenient lies we tell ourselves and…

here’s the dealbreaker

We have conditioned ourselves to remain mediocre by narrating these stories

Here’s the harsh truth you have to accept

You have to cut off people and things in life

Let me explain

Why do I know about these excuses above?

It’s because I’ve told them myself

It’s the easy way out

This all changed when I hit the gym a few years ago

I went from an overweight college student to someone who can

• Run a half marathon

• Lift a decent chunk of weight

• Sprint up and down a football pitch

and this… from a guy who couldn’t get into a single sports team in school

Trust me when I say this friend

Your biggest enemy is you

Your second biggest enemy are the narratives you build

but the worst?

Being a part of a group that has the same mediocrity

I know it sounds harsh now but it’s a fact

To escape mediocrity, you need to embrace excellence

To embrace excellence, you need to make some difficult choices

These choices help break away from the narratives you’ve built

How do you break away from these narratives?

The answer to these is simple

but here’s the deal breaker

simple doesn’t equal easy

Here’s what it requires in a nutshell:

1. Identifying the lies you feed yourself

2. Understanding the reasons behind those lies

3. Working on being brutally honest with yourself

4. Denying those lies by taking action and changing those beliefs

5. Creating a new identity that is comfortable with change thereby driving progress

Let’s say you struggle with losing weight and you tell yourself “It’s natural for my body because of genetics and bone weight”

1. Identify the lies - ‘genetics’

2. Why do you believe this bit? - comfortable excuse

3. Is it true? - unless you can scientifically validate this - No it’s not

4. Hitting the gym / going for walks instead of saying “I don’t have time” - eliminating other excuses

5. Adapting the new identity of someone who works out, walks and is losing weight

There’s a catch

These things take time.

They can take months or years depending on your personal narrative but here’s the thing friend

All good things take time

but in the larger scheme of things? You will never regret it

As I was saying…

The referee does the unbelievable

He pulls out a yellow card

Firstly… it should have been a red

but the worst bit?

We BOTH got yellows…

I mean… I have red on my face! (blood…)

I’m pissed

I’m also… oddly motivated

You see this was the first finals of any sports tournament and I’m not letting anyone take it away from me

Not even an MMA bully

Two minutes later the ref allows us back

3 minutes to go

The match continues

I’m more vigilant than ever

“You are NOT going to get past me today” I mentally challenged him

PHWEEEE goes the whislte

We WIN

We ACTUALLY WIN
(well our team was badass)

(and no he didn’t score past me)

In that moment, I didn’t care

That’s the rummy thing about winning

You forget everything (and this made the victory sweeter)

If you haven’t understood the takeaway yet…

It’s this my friend

We have limiting beliefs

As kids and adults we’re told what we can’t do

(even our loved ones contribute)

What we can do is do it anyway

Even if it takes years

It’s going to suck

You’re going to want to give up

It might be “just an office tournament” but trust me when I say this

The feeling is surreal

I hope you take some action to overcome your limiting beliefs

Until next time

Rainar “blood on my lips” Angelo