Lessons from the Greatest

“Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. His hands can’t hit what his eyes can’t see.” - Muhammad Ali 

 This week I’m blogging from our annual business leadership kickoff. It’s a chance for our teams across the business to come together, celebrate the year gone by, and, importantly, get aligned on and excited about what lies ahead. As it’s my twelfth consecutive kickoff, I know that the week is filled with excitement and energy – as well as exhaustion – but it’s something I look forward to every single year. Many people like me tend to “burn the candle at both ends,” as this is both a wonderful and critical opportunity to connect with friends and colleagues, old and new, from around the globe.

 For anyone who has been following my blogs for some time, it won’t surprise you that the chosen theme for my organization revolves around boxing.  After moving to Texas and reaching a major milestone birthday, I discovered a passion for it, which changed my life for the better. In fact, my recent rotator cuff repair surgery is no doubt in part a result of this devotion. (Thank you to those who sent warm wishes for my recovery.)

 We are going all out for the “National Business Ring Kings”. Yes, we donned the full regalia of boxing boots, gloves, and, of course, silky custom embroidered robes. Anything to get our folks charged up! We liken the ring to the market. We’re fighting for our customers to help them win. We know that, to truly grow, we need to get off those ropes and go for it.

 As we all step into the ring this year – whether we view the ring as a metaphor for the market or for our lives – my inspiration comes from one of the most significant and recognizable sports figures of the 20th century. He is perhaps the greatest of all “ring kings.” Born Cassius Marcellus Clay, Jr., Muhammad Ali was an American professional boxer and activist. After retiring from boxing, he continued to motivate others through the dignity in which he lived with Parkinson’s disease. Last week, he would have turned 76.

 I’d like to share a few important lessons I’ve learned from him, supported by some of my favorite quotes from “The Greatest.” Here goes: 

 1.      You can aspire to and become anything you want. Your dreams can become reality. You have no limits except those you place on yourself.  

• “He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life.”
• “It’s the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things being to happen.”  
• “What you’re thinking is what you’re becoming.”   

 2.      But you’re going to have to work hard for it. In fact, you’re going to have to work harder than others around you to make it happen. At times it’s not going to be fun, and you will run into obstacles of all kinds, but it will be worth it.  

• “I hated every minute of training, but I said, 'Don't quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.'”  
• “The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights.”  
• “It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it’s the pebble in your shoe.”  

 3.      Be confident and believe in yourself. And yes, it’s more than okay to be different (and sometimes controversial, profound, or colorful).  

• “I'm so fast that last night I turned off the light switch in my hotel room and was in bed before the room was dark.”  
• “It’s lack of faith that makes people afraid of meeting challenges, and I believed in myself.”   
• “I am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was.”  

 4.      Importantly, be YOU. Respect and embrace the fact that you will evolve over time. Own it. Be present. Be YOU always.  

• “I know where I’m going and I know the truth, and I don’t have to be what you want me to be. I’m free to be what I want.” 
• “My principles are more important than the money or my title.”  
• “A man who views the world the same at fifty as he did at twenty has wasted thirty years of his life.”  

 5.      This life we’ve been given the opportunity to live is a precious gift. Do not squander it – especially the relationships you have with others. And you’re never too old to make a difference. 

• “Don't count the days, make the days count.”  
• “Friendship... is not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything.”  
• “Age is whatever you think it is. You are as old as you think you are.”  

 6.      We are all part of something much bigger. Make a difference. Leave a positive legacy.  

• "Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.”  
• “Old age is just a record of one’s whole life.”   
• “I’ve made my share of mistakes along the way, but if I have changed even one life for the better, I haven’t lived in vain.”

And, with many of us facing big opportunities and big challenges having launched into the new year, no doubt both personally and professionally, I thought I should close with one last quote from Ali about what “impossible” is and is not: “Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. It's a dare. Impossible is potential. Impossible is temporary. Impossible is nothing."     

 I couldn’t agree more. How about you?