Do you believe hard work pays off? Have you been in situations that test the strength of your mindset? When was the last time you believed in yourself? Do you doubt your capabilities and strengths? To help you find the right attitude and strengthen your commitment, Matt Thomas sets a great example for us, by sharing what works for him.
Matt Thomas is a renowned World Champion in Chess boxing, a hybrid sport of alternating rounds of boxing and chess. He is also the founder of Brawl for a Cause, a non-profit organization to support various charities. In my talk with Matt, we dived into having the right mindset and its correlation to success and the significance of commitment to his boxing journey.
Understanding the mysticality behind our ego is challenging. We often alternate between other people’s perspectives to us alongside our perspectives of ourselves. Our journey to self-discovery will be an arduous one. One needs to understand self-worth first before trying to open up to others.
We all have egos. It comes in different forms, but everyone has one. It shows up for us all – in the stories that we tell about ourselves and others, the expectations on how we want things to be, and how we respond and reach highs and lows along the way. Getting to know your ego is an essential step to starting to eradicate parts that hold you back.
When you're fighting for yourself, eventually, you'll quit. You'll reach something that is no longer serving you. And because it isn't helping you, you'll push it away. Whereas if you're committed to something much bigger than yourself, that includes a lot more people than just you, you hit that hard trial. You find grit that isn't just inside you; you’ll find it in your community.
You can overcome things you never thought you could because you aren't just doing it for yourself. There is no quick fix to eradicating our ego. These are profoundly rooted in behavior and belief systems that we have experienced throughout our entire lives. But once we see the ways our ego may be controlling us and holding us back, that’s when we can start to do the work of being bigger along the way.
Writing is hard work. Putting words together and trying to alchemize your thoughts onto the page is challenging. Does it also involve many egos and the constant battle of questioning yourself if it is good enough? Are people going to want to read this? Things like approval and acceptance are going to come up. The best you could do is be as present as possible in work, not worrying about what people think of it, not worrying about where it came from, or what it's going to do.
There are times individuals only give up because it’s less scary than continuing to push forward. Remember why you got into the field in the first place and what you used to enjoy about it. Recommit and use this as part of your story. Leveraging this moment to your advantage allows you to build your confidence and keep your account going until the ultimate victory. Matt was no exception.
He also struggled with the dilemma of whether to recommit or quit what he does. But this also helped him reassess and be more focused on what he does. He recommitted and reconditioned himself to a better version of himself. He would spend time hard boxing or doing cardio and preparing for the World Championship.
We all have our chances to overcome challenges. The way we conduct our battles depends on how much we have developed and understand ourselves in the grand scheme of life. We can only choose one thing in the face of adversity; Will you face it head-on, or will you run away and hide?
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