A TikTok video by Hall of Fame UFC fighter Georges St. Pierre inspired this blog.  He was someone I always looked forward to watching, as he was one of the best ever and did it with class.  His story is interesting, as many peoples’ are; bullied as a kid, started to karate to help ensure he could defend himself when needed.  He gre to embrace the true martial artist life, the ethics and beliefs and practices of the ancient ones.  It showed in his approach.  Years later he ran into the guy who used to bully him in school.  The man was homeless and in rough shape.  Georges felt for him instead of laughing at him or finally fighting his oppressor.

One of the things I was surprised to learn was how much he hated fighting in the Octagon.  He loved to train, hone his skills and prepare. But fight week was unbelievably stressful for him, and he dreaded it every time despite having more title defense wins than any other middleweight.  That sounds crazy, right?  How does someone perform at their best in such a proverbial “do or die” scenario?  GSP was kind enough to share a deep and personal insight about this and it was something I wanted to expand upon in this writing.

Basically, he was terrified of going into the Octagon and getting hurt, embarrassed, losing in front of everyone in the arena and watching on PPV.  Understandable, most people fear being judged by others unfavorably as one of if not their biggest fears.  When someone tells me they are terrified of public speaking, what they really mean is being in the spotlight and failing, potentially people laughing at them.  But life as a UFC fighter provides the highest level of this, as physical harm is a given, even when you win.  But losing means not only did you get beaten up over five rounds, or submitted or knocked out, but it happened on the biggest stage in the sport.  Not brighter spotlight.  No higher cost.  No lower lows than a defeat on this level.

He was so nervous and stressed out the week of the fight and the night before that he barely slept.  He dreaded the tension.  Amazingy, despite so much anxiety about the event, he was well trained enough that once he got into the fight, his brain shut out as much of this as possible and he allowed his well-trained skills to come to the forefront.  Years of training allowed him to perform almost without conscious thought.  Through sheer repetition of every scenario possible he knew how to react to whatever someone would throw at him.

At some point along the line, he learned what may be the most valuable lesson of all:

Fear is always present, those who learn to act despite this

are the ones who rise above.

What Georges learned that was so valuable was to perform under the greatest of pressures.  But here is something that I think almost everyone forgets…Everyone is afraid.  We as humans all have many of the same fears in general, but when you whittle it down to two guys fighting for a world title and the money and prestige that goes with it, both of you have the same level of fear and anxiety.  You’re both well aware of what is on the line and what the other is capable of.  When in competition you have to remember that the other person is just as scared as you are.  There is a lot of comfort in this, and also some real advantage.  If they fail to recognize this, they will think you are rock solid, been here and done that and not worried about it.  They can start out nervous and upgrade to panic as soon as things appear they may not go their way.  It’s a downward spiral from there.  He also shared an interesting insight about how he viewed his opponents, and that was that they were a reflection of himself.  It was looking in a mirror across the cage.  This person also has the same goals and dreams, has sacrificed immensely to get to this moment.  I thought this was really insightful as well.

I can speak to both sides of this, as I have been the scared rabbit and I have been the tiger.  I have literally melted people’s will to fight back before walking on the court.  Sometimes it was my reputation as a better player, sometimes it was an indomitable level of fitness that people knew I could outlast them even if I wasn’t playing my best.  But I have also lost matches before stepping through the door myself.  I was scared starting out and my first (but inevitable) unforced error was the sign of things to come.  I allowed it to be anyway, and the wheels came off.  The discipline of mental control is an amazing hill to climb, and it always takes practice.  There is no “finished” in that area, you are always vulnerable if you let your brain run away with you.  In many cases, the one who can relax just a little more, enjoy the moment just a bit, will be the one who performs better and ultimately wins.

So, back to GSP, his words rang true for me and I hope for many others.  The world needs more people who can learn to face their fears and do something anyway.  I have missed out on a lot of things because I was afraid to undertake something.  During the peak of my racquetball career I had a chance to go to college on a scholarship to University of Memphis.  That team was stacked, and I probably would have been number five or six at best, but it would have been likely the best thing for my game.  To be in a team environment for the first time ever, to have access to better players to practice against on a daily basis, AND to get a degree free of cost should have been part of my story.  But it wasn’t; I never took the steps to make this happen.  I stayed in my bubble of security, the place where I was king and things were bent in my favor.  Later, there was a club professional job in Boseman, MT and as an avid fly fisherman I thought long and hard about taking that job.  It would have been perfect for me, but I didn’t do it.  I allowed my fears to get the best of me, and I missed out on two amazing opportunities.

However, I did take a lot of other chances and I made a lot of things happen for myself.  I am fortunate to be able to have the life resume that I do.  Yes, things could have been added and different paths could have been taken, but overall I am very happy with my life is now.  I have a bunch of great stories to tell and more to come.

So take it from Georges St Pierre, and from me as well, Domesticate your Fears.  Learn to push them aside and act anyway.  The best things in life are on the other side of that fear.  There is no life without fear, but learning to tame it and act anyway is crucial to you getting the absolute best out of the chances you are given.

As always, I wish you luck in your endeavors.