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 muscles are barely responding to your commands. Now is the point where you have to stay sharp. It’s an exhausting point in the battle. This is where the strong people in the world separate themselves from the weak.

In every fight there is a point where you have to look inside of yourself and decide what you are made of. You don’t step into the ring thinking you won’t get hit. Just like you don’t start a business without expecting setbacks. You don’t get into sales without expecting some rejection. Once we experience these things, our mind starts telling us lies. It start questioning our reasoning. It is a defense-mechanism.

People are built to avoid pain. Any time we experience pain, our brain is going to exacerbate the dangers so that we can be comfortable again. We don’t grow when we are comfortable. We grow when we are challenged. We grow when we get hit. We grow when we fail. The true battle is within yourself. It’s with the voice in your head telling you that you should quit. To be great you have to overcome that. You have to beat the voice inside of you.

You have to drown out the voice inside of you with positivity. You have to think all day and dream all night of your vision. It has to consume you. It has to get stronger each day. Each day that it gets stronger, that negative voice gets weaker. You have to keep increasing the heat of that internal fire. Keep shoveling coal into the furnace. Keep fighting the good fight. Keep your chin up.

In sports, business and life things are going to happen to you that you can’t explain. It is going to seem as though victory is impossible. This is a critical point where you have to recall that vision you have in your mind. It’s easy for it to get lost in a sea of self-doubt, pain and feelings of wanting to quit. You can’t quit. You have come too far to be washed away now.

What stories is your mind telling you at this point in the fight? Why did you start this battle in the first place? What reasons can you come up with to keep fighting? Find them. It’s imperative. There is nobody in the world who can make this decision for you. You must do this alone. It will make you stronger. It will prepare you for future battles. Your armor will get thicker and stronger. Rejection will roll off of you like water in the shower. Punches won’t knock you down, they’ll only knock you back.

Your mind is your defense. It’s your associate. Rewire it to be on your side. Rewire it to force you to challenge yourself. To step into the ring when you are scared. Face an opponent that might be bigger and stronger than you. Put yourself under pressure and do things that make you uncomfortable. Everything you want in life is just outside of what’s comfortable for you. Get comfortable with being uncomfortable, then you will be comfortable while everyone else is uncomfortable. Live like it was on purpose. With intention. With relentlessness. With a burning desire to beat the negativity and limitations in your own head. Show the world your greatness and go get that Championship belt that you deserve.

Matthew Harris