WHEN THINGS GO WRONG, HOW TO STAY RIGHT
CALM UNDER PRESSURE - Stephen "Wonderboy" Thompson and I worked together for his UFC World Title Fight. My role was to keep him in the moment, regardless of what happened. Stephen is a counter fighter and waits for his opponent to attack before he responds with a punch or kick. The previous fight between Tyron Woodley & "Wonderboy" resulted in an amazing 5 round draw and Stephen escaped the most ridiculous, deep choke hold I have ever seen. This rematch would be Woodley with his powerful knockout right, against Stephen one kick knockouts.
THE STRATEGY: Stephen would wait for Tyron to attack and then counter while Tyron would be cautious to avoid being knocked out by Stephen's counter. The fight was not a fight fan's wanted to see. The first round was so void of action that the fan's started booing. The second round had a flurry of action, but was dull and fan's were howling!
Stephen scored many points off of counters and barely missed a few head kicks, that would have ended the fight. The 5th round was anybody's fight and as a result, there were a few intense flurries but Stephen stuck to his strategy thinking he would win on points. However, he did not win this close fight. The champ stayed the champ.
THE OUTCOME: The Mental Edge work Stephen did with me, paid off as he didn't let the crowd take him out of the moment, which is no small feat! Imagine a packed arena booing mercilessly, not understanding the strategies of each fighter or the nuances of each style. They just wanted action, blood and knockouts! Staying in the moment is easy when you are winning, but what about during a struggle or when you are losing? What about in business when a strategy misfires or a big sale falls through?
THE KEY: Stay in the moment by practicing the mindset against the boo's. It's been repeated erroneously, over and over again, that athletes or business people only visualize or prepare for the best and never let a negative thought enter their mind. Sports and life simply don't work like that.
Bad things happen. Economy's take a dump. Teams fall apart. Fighters get hit. How can you ever overcome a solid punch, if you never prepare for it? You can't! You must train your mindset to overcome adversity by pre-playing what you will do in a crisis. How can you weather a barrage of punches and thousands of boo's, if you don't have the right mindset? You can't. Plan for the best and be prepared for the worst. This winning, competitive mindset is developed in practice under duress and manifests during competition. You know you are in the moment when things go wrong and you are still fighting!