Lessons from the past week

I recently trained for and competed in the RUMBLE WITH THE AGENTS LIMITED charity boxing event organised by Paul Shamplina . And I was lucky enough to get the win on the night. I want to put down some lessons I have learnt during this training process which I think can benefit us both in business and in our personal lives. These are not in any particular order but all lessons that have been learned:

1. GET A COACH – If you’re serious about doing something,?get a coach. I have a boxing coach and a business coach and I also choose coaches who have been where I have been. A coach wont do the work for you but they will hold you accountable and get the best out of you. In times when I didn’t want to go to training or didn’t want to complete a task my coach held me accountable and reminded me what I was aiming for. Your coach can also give you tips to accelerate your success compared to you trying to learn things yourself and you will not want to let them down and so make sure you get things done.
2. TRAIN MORE THAN THE EVENT YOUR COMPETING IN/THE TASK YOUR WORKING ON – My son asked me Dad why are you training so much for a 6 minute fight. I was training 3-4 times a week in the gym plus shadow boxing at home for just a 6 minute fight and let me tell you I am so glad I did. When we train things become second nature and our bodies start doing things out of habit. Developing good habits and correcting bad ones is all part of training and this happens in business too. Train so much that the event or job becomes easy. This fight wasn’t easy but my training had prepared me to go the distance.
3. BELIEVE IN YOURSELF – If you believe it you can achieve it. If you want to win something or achieve something you have to believe that you can. Keep telling yourself you can and vision yourself at the end result. If you don’t fully believe it you will be half hearted and wont get there but if you fully believe in yourself and your vision that’s when you will achieve it.
4. GO ALL IN FOR SUCCESS – You have to give what you’re trying to achieve everything. Go in 100%. Don’t fuck about and don’t go into it at 90% because that’s not going to be good enough.
5. CONSISTENCY IS KEY – Be consistent with training. If you have a bad session keep going and stay consistent. Same applies in business-if you’re not seeing immediate results keep being consistent with your actions and the results will come.
6. SMALL CHANGES MAKE A HUGE DIFFERENCE – This is again where a coach will help you to maximise your performance. Small changes in the way a punch is thrown or the way your move your feet can lead to big differences in how that lands and the result of the fight. In business its always the small 1% differences that make the biggest impacts over the long term.
7. ITS OK TO STEP BACK AND RESET BUT DON’T GIVE UP – In the boxing ring if you get tired you need to take a step back from your opponent (so you can’t get punched), shake your arms off and reset, ready to go again. I did this a couple of times in my fight but I never gave up. If you’re feeling tired?or getting frustrated just take a moment away from the desk and just reset and then go again-it makes a big difference stepping back for a minute.
8. HAVE A REASON – I wanted to inspire people that you can achieve anything you believe in and I proved that. When it got really tough I remembered that and also my son who I always want to be the best example to and that reason meant I wanted the win so much that I got it.
9. PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE BEATS THEORY ALL DAY – In boxing you learn best from the hard knocks in sparring because when you get punched you don’t want to be punched again! You can train all day on a bag and that is necessary but practical sparring is where you learn the biggest lessons from learning from your mistakes. Transfer that into business and learn the theory but put it into practice and make some mistakes and learn from them.
10. SUCCESS IS BUILT WITH TEAMS – I fought that fight myself but I had so much support from my team, even before the fight with them picking up the slack to allow me to concentrate on training, my team mates in the gym who sparred with me and trained with me, my coaches-I couldn’t have done it all alone and the same applies with work. Get yourself a team, treat them well and get them behind you.
11. BUILD A TRIBE OF RAVING FANS – I took most of my closest friends, some of my team who could make it and even some close clients. But when I got the event I also realised I had even more fans in the room from industry colleagues I’ve got to know over the years. Support others and they will support you and you never know when you might need them.
12. SMALL MINDSET CHANGES FOR HUGE IMPACT – I was unconsciously nervous going into this fight. As an ex doorman and ex police officer getting into a ring and having some punches thrown at me does not worry me in the slightest. But my stomach was churning for some reason and I felt sick as a dog before the fight. Until my business coach told me to change my mindset from being nervous with a churning stomach to thinking I was excited because that meant it was just butterflies. Those words really helped at the last minute before I went into fight.
13. SHOW RESPECT TO YOUR OPPONENT – You should respect your competition even if you are trying to beat them. I costs nothing and that respect will be returned. It also stops your underestimating people.
14. WORK RATE – If you want to get noticed, put the work in like no one else. My opponent was very good and his defence was very effective. But I was jabbing consistently through the whole match and my work rate was more which ultimately got me the win. Make sure you’re noticed.
15. DON’T LET YOUR ANXIETIES BEAT YOU – Find ways around your anxieties and don’t let them beat you. Don’t give up. Make adjustments for them. There is always a way to get through things if you want it enough.

A big thanks to Paul and Rita Shamplina for the event, my brother Matt Baldock , Claudia Dellapina for her banners and all my team especially all of those who came along on the night to support me. They were the loudest in the room and everyone knew who they were!