“Looking up at the stars always reminds me that stars are so small, just little dots, who cares. And I am enormous.” – Sam Saulsbury
I had a dream last night.
I’m backstage at T-Mobile Arena, warming up for a UFC welterweight title fight against Belal Muhammad.
(I don’t know why it was Belal, since he’s not the champ right now — dream prophecy?)
Problem is, I’ve never even been in an MMA fight (let alone a UFC fight).
So I’m freaking out, trying to think of ways to get out of this nightmare (weird, since I have no idea how I got into it in the first place).
Maybe I could fake an injury (nah, the doctors will know I’m faking)…
Or I could actually give myself an injury (that sounds almost as bad as actually fighting — hmm no, fighting would definitely be worse)…
Or I could give myself food poisoning (can’t, not enough time)…
…Or maybe I could just wake up.
Yep, that’s the one:
I wake up, safe in my bed at home, free of brain / limb / ego damage, and wonder to myself…
What would I do if that happened in real life?
Is there any way I could have won that fight?
The answer, of course, is f*ck no.
Dude would have mangled me.
Even 1% confidence in my ability to win that fight would be delusional.
But:
If I’d worked my way up the rankings, beating increasingly tough opponents until I eventually came face to face with Belal, then yeah:
I could afford to be a bit more confident about my chances.
Which brings us to the grand point of my dream-lesson:
We don’t get to think our way into real confidence.
(no amount of pretty thinking is gonna let me knock out Belal Muhammad)
The only way to build real confidence is through one conquered challenge at a time:
Starting small, with the cold shower, the inconvenient truth, the progressively harder workout, the amateur MMA fight…
And working your way up the food chain, with harder workouts, bigger challenges, and tougher fights…
Until big, bad Belal is standing in front of you, and you think to yourself…
“I’m about to knock this dude out.”
…And you really believe it.
After all:
You don’t slay a dragon with positive affirmations, you slay a dragon with sharp blades and mastery.
Happy hunting.
– T
P.S. Pair this one with yesterday’s lesson:
