In anticipation for the release of my latest book, tentatively titled Against The Ropes, here is a chapter that didn’t quite make the cut. Enjoy. Follow me on twitter @MatthewR_Harris for the latest details.  Overcoming the Internal Battle It is all mental from here on out. Your body is exhausted. So is your opponent. Don’t allow your own mind to become a stronger opponent than your actual opponent. Make sure your mind is on your side. The battle is now inside of you. Your body is well beyond the threshold of pain that you could have trained for. You are battling your own self-talk. Your... Read More

Commitment. This is the most important word in my vocabulary. When I make a commitment, it means that I will absolutely, without a doubt, accomplish what I promised to. Commitment is an absolute. The words maybe, might and try do not belong anywhere near the word commitment. I spent the first 3-1/2 years of my professional life in a sales organization – a very intense sales organization. We stood in front of a room of our peers every single Monday morning at 7:00am and made a COMMITMENT that we were to accomplish for the upcoming week. If anybody heard you use the word “try”, they would... Read More

It always seems like the messages in yoga resonate with me more than any other forum. I don’t know if it is a heightened sense of attentiveness that yoga creates or just being in a more relaxed and focused state of mind. Whatever the reason, yoga leaves me feeling inspired very frequently. Last Saturday was no different. It started out as a normal yoga class until the teacher challenged us all. She said, “I want you to be unapologetically, you in this class.” As soon as she said that it made me start thinking of the meaning of that. In the context of yoga, she meant to not be afraid to do... Read More

We have all had a run of momentum come to an end at some point. Maybe it was self-induced. Maybe it was not. Either way, now is not the time to hang your head. The second you lose the light in your eyes, or you lose momentum towards the things that are important to you, you give into fear. Fear is the only thing standing between you and everything you want. Fear will paralyze you. It will strip your confidence away and throw you down onto the canvas. Your only job is to avoid fear – push it out of your mind. Focus on action. Focus only on things that are controllable. Things will happen in your... Read More

“Yoga is like music: the rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind, and the harmony of the soul create the symphony of life.” – B.K.S. Iyengar Boulder, Colorado is one of the most brilliant cities in the United States for yogis. Peppered with studios and filled with world-renowned teachers, beginner and advanced yoga practitioners alike have it made. In the midst of all the wonderful array of studios in the foothills, one studio in particular has my heart and makes me feel at home; Boulder’s own, The Little Yoga Studio LLC. This studio is the perfect place for anyone looking to just... Read More

8 months ago, my good friend and I were sitting at a Starbucks on a Sunday morning. This had become a weekly ritual for us. We would get together 3 hours before a hot yoga class, or “broga” as we like to call it, and we would talk about our goals. We never really had an agenda but our weekly sessions quickly became focused on keeping each other accountable. We pushed each other to get better. We started recording each other’s goals so we could ask about them the following week. We became accountability coaches for one another. Fast forward a couple months and we ended up becoming roommates.... Read More

Seriously. Why you? Why are you so special? What makes you think that you can do something great? You will frequently hear people asking you questions like this when you verbalize a large goal of yours. They will do their best to instill doubt in your mind. To encourage you to lower your sights to something more “attainable”. This is where the word “oblivious” comes in handy. Pretend you do not hear them. Pretend that failure is not an option. Do not spend one ounce of energy, planning or preparing for an undesired result. Focus only on the objects of your desire. So back to question of... Read More

“Every business, every place, every person, everything has a certain mental atmosphere of its own. This atmosphere decides what is to be drawn to it. For instance, you never saw a successful man who went around with an atmosphere of failure. Successful people think about success. A successful man is filled with that subtle something which permeates everything that he does with an atmosphere of confidence and strength. In the presence of some people we feel as though nothing were too great to undertake; we are uplifted; we are inspired to do great things; to accomplish; we feel strong, steady,... Read More

I talk a lot of about creating habits and persevering through any and all adversity. It is extremely important to develop strong habits to help you persevere when things get tough, but what is equally important is self-awareness and putting yourself in a great environment. When I talk about self-awareness, I mean understanding yourself at an incredibly deep level. Understanding what you enjoy and what you naturally have an affinity for. I spent 4 -1/2 years in Engineering school and while I learned a ton and enjoyed a lot of aspects of engineering, I knew deep down that it was not a good career... Read More

In the world of Physics, trajectory is used to describe the curve or path of travel for an object. In a perfect environment, take space or a vacuum (a controlled environment immune to any outside forces) for example, the object will remain perfectly on its path of trajectory, indefinitely. It will never alter unless it is subject to some sort of external force. Think about that. If you throw a rock into space, and that rock does not come in contact with any debris, gravitational pull or atmospheric influences, its path of trajectory will continue forever in a predictable pattern. You could fast... Read More