When I was in the 8th grade, Elk Creek High
School started a new tradition. The Jr.
High Cheerleaders would perform with the High School Cheerleaders for the Homecoming
pep rally and game. There, at the pep
rally, before I was even in high school, in front of everyone, I forgot the
cheer. I froze. I felt helpless. I pulled it together and made it into the
final formation, but it was one of the most mortifying experiences of my whole
life. I still remember that cheer.
(And don’t laugh at me for being a cheerleader, I had good reasons and I
might have to beat you up…)
That my friends, is what fighters are afraid of. Not losing, not getting hurt, not a bouncing
check from the promoter, we are afraid we will mess up. We are afraid that we won’t do what we know we can. We are afraid that we won’t be prepared
enough, that we didn’t do enough cardio, enough sparring, and that we didn’t
fix all our weaknesses. Basically we're
afraid of sucking.
We’re afraid of letting our coaches, teammates, and families
down. We’re afraid we’ll let ourselves
down. Everyone important to us invests
so much into one moment, we don’t want that to be for nothing. We want a performance we can be proud
of. We want to exceed everyone’s
expectations and quiet those who didn’t believe we could/should do it.
I believe this fear is our most powerful motivator. UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones expressed
this as “there's
nothing wrong with having butterflies (in your stomach), as long as you can get
those butterflies to fly in formation.” It’s a good thing. My Dad once gave me a gift, and I will give
it to you:
"The pain of working hard is nothing compared to the pain of
losing because you did not work hard enough."
Let your fear make you work hard enough.
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