How is your career like the Mike Tyson fight?

Unless you've been hiding under a rock, you know that on Friday, November 15, 2024, the hype finally became real as Netflix broadcast a heavyweight bout between 58 year old Mike Tyson and a newcomer less than half his age, Jake Paul.

The event was much anticipated, and began at 8:00 Eastern time at AT&T Stadium in Texas, with multiple pre-fights and one "Co-Main event".

The full card was:

• Bruce "Shu Shu" Carrington, defeated Dana Coolwell by UD8 in a featherweight bout
• Lucas Bahdi vs. Armando Casamonica, 10 rounds, lightweights
• Title fight: Shadasia Green defeated Melinda Watpool by SD10 to win the vacant WBO women's super middleweight title
• Neeraj Goyat defeated Whindersson Nunes by UD6 in a middleweight bout
• Title fight: Mario Barrios vs. Abel Ramos ended in an split draw, Barrios retained his WBC welterweight title

Then came the thunder, as Katie Taylor defeated Amanda Serrano by UD10, where Taylor retained her undisputed women's junior welterweight championship. This fight was one of the most talked about of the night, with Serrano getting much attention for owning most of the fight, and both Serrano and Taylor gaining almost universal respect.

Finally, the main event, Jake Paul vs Mike Tyson, where Jake Paul defeated Mike Tyson by UD8 in a heavyweight bout that began over three hours after the overall event began.

One of the most universal topics was the reslilience of Tyson, who later revealed a summer health scare, and the professional respect of Paul, who many said held back from a full on attack on the aging Tyson.

The other possibly unintentional, possibly intentional act was Mike Tyson's locker room interview. In the interview, Mike Tyson's son asked questions which were met with the typical brief response, then Mike Tyson walked away, revealing his bare backside. Memes, videos, and discussions went wild, and this act is still the butt of many jokes today (pun intended).

But the biggest topic among the 60 million global households watching the fight was the below image, which tens of thousands of viewers complained about.

Buffering. The frustration suffered by the masses as technical glitches or lack of planning caused the event to, at best, freeze temporarily, or for many, to completely stop.

The response from Netflix, or nonrespone, when media outlets asked about the 85,000+ support tickets and hundreds of thousands of complaints, was "nothing to comment on at this time".

How then, is your career like the Mike Tyson - Jake Paul fight?

In your career, there will always be unexpected obstacles, like the buffering outages. There will be things that go wrong, things you can control and things you can't control, there will be layoffs, disappointments, economic changes, and competitive challenges.

The important thing, and what can define your career, is how you respond to challenges, not how you react. Learning the difference is critical, and developing the right mindset paired with a commitment to lifeling learning and development, will serve you well in your career and your life.

When you develop a growth mindset rather than a fixed mindset, obstacles and challenges won't disappear, but you will be able to adapt and take a long-term, solutions oriented view as you learn the lessons and grow.

How is your career like the Mike Tyson - Jake Paul fight?

It's all in how you respond.

Thank you so much for your time and attention this week, and please let me know if I may encourage or serve you in any way.

Have a super fantastic day!

Michael