The Benefits Of Getting Punched In The Face
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It’s amazing what you can learn by getting hit in the face. Seriously.
Recently I started MMA. I’ve been in Jiu Jitsu for about a year now and feel pretty comfortable with ground fighting, but in the last few weeks I’ve added stand up fighting to the routine and boyyy was this a wake up call.
Theres technique involved in all of these martial arts. I know that the understanding of all the different techniques will come over time, but what really shocked me with the learning curve of MMA was that in just a few weeks, my confidence has exponentially increased from getting good at one thing; Being comfortable getting hit in the face.
It’s not something that I would have ever thought would be a factor, but it really is.
You get to class and warm up. The blood is flowing, music blasting, you’re feeling gooood. You start drilling with technique. On the heavy bag, then the speed bag. You work on foot drills and some light sparring, then, it’s go time.
You hop into the ring and it’s just you and your opponent. The clock starts and now it’s for real. All of a sudden it’s not just light sparring. You are actually getting hit. Hard.
You lean in and drop your hands just a bit and WHACK! Right in the nose.
You step forward to take a swing and leave yourself open just a bit and POW! Again in the face.
You go and block a kick and leave your hand down too long, SMACK! Damnit!
That’s just how it goes at first. Everyone is better than you and you’re leaving yourself open to getting smacked around.
It’s a natural reaction to want to avoid getting hit in the face. No one wants that. But here’s the thing, when you go in to the fight scared of taking those hits, you start swinging blind. You hide your head and throw punches randomly. You might even pull back too far, leaving your chin open for a knock out punch. Thats the kind of hit where you wake up a few minutes later wondering what happened.
This is all from just being afraid of taking a punch to the face.
What I’ve realized over the last few weeks is that I really haven’t gotten any better with my skills, that takes time… but I have gotten more comfortable taking hits in the face. And THAT ALONE has made me better and more confident.
It was this realization about MMA that made me realize it’s the same thing with business… and in life for that matter.
In fact I’d even say that a key to massive success in whatever you do in life, business, relationships, health, fitness, you name it, is your ability to take those hits and keep on fighting.
Your skills with whatever it is that you’re doing will come. Just by doing the thing, you’ll get good at it over time. But what separates the warriors from the pack is RESILIENCE.
You can fill in the blank with whatever your specific venture might be, thats neither here nor there. The success that you’e capable of having is in large part related to how long you can stay in the ring.
You don’t need to start MMA or join a fight club to understand this principle, but to be totally honest, I didn’t fully “get it” until experiencing it myself.
You can read all the non-fiction motivational, self help, growth mindset books out there. You can ice bath every day and do all your morning meditations and affirmations that exist, but resilience isn’t given.
Some grow up in environments where they HAVE to be resilient.
Others experience things in life that force that on them; war, tragedy, loss, etc.
Some seek the pain and choose to teach themselves to be resilient.
Wherever you acquire it, it is not something that we all start with. We aren’t born with it. It’s earned.
In various areas of your business and life, stand strong, eyes forward and hands up. Welcome the punches to the face. Know that with each hit you take, you will not only become more resilient, but you are exactly where you need to be on the road to success…. For the ‘prize’ is given to those at the end that remain standing.