Yesterday was the big Boxing event for the two organizations YPO & EO. This event involved having 8 fighters, who trained diligently for 4 weeks, fight in a real boxing match. The participants are not boxers, but trained to be one for a night.
Of course, YPO & EO is not in the business of putting on boxing matches. Their purpose is rather to help their members become better in business as well as with their family. The night was meant to be symbolic of their fighting spirit to achieve their goals- whether in business, with their family, or personally.
Aside from training four of the fighters, I also gave a presentation to help shed light on the educational component of the event. Since the event was a private function, I have provided my speech for everyone to read. Enjoy!
********YPO/EO Boxing Event Speech**********
I would like to open with a story about a boxer from Kampala, Uganda named Bashir Ramathan. Bashir trains in a musky gym where the weak aren’t welcome. It’s a gym for hard core fighters and that’s it.
Bashir lives the classic life of a boxer. He dresses old school, with a tank top, and shorts over his sweat pants. He wakes up and runs the dusty, rock strewn roads of Kampala. It’s just like the old Rocky movies- people stop what they’re doing when Bashir passes by. They all cheer him on and chant for him.
He hits the boxing gym everyday for several hours working the bag, hitting the mitts, and sparring. His opponents are usually apprehensive to go toe to toe with him, because they never see his razor sharp hook coming. Bashir is pretty intense when he spars. His coach says that he fights completely with his mind, using all of his senses. You see, Bashir is blind.
His success as a boxer comes from hearing his opponents feet shuffling and smelling their sweat and feeling their body heat.
Bashir, maybe blind, but the thing he doesn’t lack is vision. He is passionate about boxing and works harder than everyone else, not because he wants to be a champion, but because he has to. His perseverance, drive, and motivation is what makes him succeed.
Cleveland and I were brought in to train 8 fighters to compete in a real boxing match. The event is meant to be fun, but more importantly it’s to symbolize your current position in business or with your family in a down economy.
Believe me… the correlation between a boxers regiment and your life is impeccably similar.
First of all… who here believes with a 100% certainty that there is something you can do in the next 4 weeks to make your business life, your family life, and your personal life… worse?
Okay, how many of you believe there is something you can do in the next 4 weeks to make your business life, your family life, and your personal life… better?
How many of you believe that the choice is yours?
Over the past 4 weeks, Cleveland and I have been training 8 fighters to jab, cross, slip, dip, catch, and perry. We taught them to be offensive, but yet evasive. We taught them how to roll with the punches, recover, and bounce back 100%.
For 8 training sessions, they sweated, they bled, they fatigued themselves to total muscle failure. They sparred with each other, they encouraged each other. They all took some hard shots, and learned some hard lessons about boxing. They each returned to the next session, sometimes with black eyes.
They pushed themselves to the limit, and when they got there, they pushed themselves a little bit further. In their minds, failure is not an option.
Most importantly these 8 fighters have already dominated their toughest opponent… themselves.
If you’ve ever boxed, or competed in martial arts, or even wrestled it’s a completely different world and it’s night and day to team sports. You see, the moment you enter the ring, you are essentially alone. Alone with one person who is trying to dominate you and a referee who can care less about you.
Until you experience that intense sensation of realizing that your success and failure is completely in your hands and no one else’s, do you come to recognize your true inner strength.
It’s this inner strength we are bringing out of these 8 fighters that Steve Marlo & Pete McDonald wanted to showcase for everyone.
Right now, our businesses have changed. Construction is down, consumer spending is down, and sales in practically every industry is down. What if we fought for our business the same way these 8 fighters prepared for this fight? Or fought for a healthy, happy family? What if we exercised the same focus with our kids that these fighters practiced in their training.
Earlier, I asked, is there something you can do in the next 4 weeks to change your business life, your family life, and your personal life. You said, “yes.” Right now, the economy has taken an unexpected toll on many areas of our life.
Do you know what the strategy is called in boxing to deal with an unexpected blow? To roll with the punch. This means you simply roll your body in the direction of the punch to lessen it’s blow.
Today is new economy from yesterday. It’s a new fight, and it’s an opponent many of us didn’t prepare for. Now that we are all in this fight, we must “Come Out Fighting” and quickly learn “To Roll With Punches” if we are going to “Go The Distance.”
If you find your business “On The Ropes”, you “Bob & Weave” and re-strategize. Everyday, we’re “Saved by the Bell.” It’s that precious time between rounds when you recuperate, and you come home to those beautiful children, and you kiss your lovely spouse.
It’s the only way true fighters “Go The Distance.”
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Respectfully,
Duncan Richardson
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