Immortal Wisdom Weekly #47
My Advantage For Starting Late, Having The Right Partner, Creating Your Mantra Part 1
My Advantage For Starting Late
I started in this sport a lot later than most people. I really didn’t get going until I was around 24 years old.
But that gave me an advantage too.
We all know how important the mental aspects of fighting are. So because I started late, I knew my skills would be behind everyone else’s.
I’d be up against guys who’ve been wrestling or boxing since a young age. So I knew I had an uphill battle ahead of me.
I knew I could catch up. I just needed time. I could drill more. Show up earlier and leave the gym later than everyone else.
There’s no replacement for the time lost.
But I also knew I could catch up a lot faster or even surpass people in other aspects. Strength and conditioning. And the tactical and mental side of fighting.
So that became my main focus in the beginning.
The hardest part about that is figuring out what works best for you. Especially as an up-and-coming athlete.
Back in the day, there weren’t as many sports psychology books as there are today. So I found that a lot of stuff I was reading didn't really apply to me.
As I kept reading and researching, I noticed a lot of these books had the same recurring themes.
But there’s a reason why a lot of this stuff became cliche. It’s that important. They are things you probably should think about.
For example, let’s look at the grappling part of MMA.
The rear-naked choke is the statistically highest submission. So it always blows my mind when newer guys work on other submissions like armbars, heel hooks, etc.
Of course, it’s good to diversify your training and skills. But to me, more focus should be put on the “cliche” submission or the most common one, which is the rear-naked choke.
So I realized back then that the things that are repeated over and over will get you the highest rate of return.
And sometimes it comes back to basic fundamentals.
To me, that’s what expert-level mastery is. You’re a master of the fundamentals.
That’s why I have a problem with beginner and advanced-level classes sometimes. The advanced people should be working on the same thing the beginners are working on, just at a higher level.
Having The Right Partner
I can’t stress enough how important it is to have a supportive partner in whatever venture you’re doing.
Even if you’re working a 9-5, it’s still important to have someone at home who’s there for you.
A lot of fighters have to travel across the country or even across the world for fight camp. It’s something I had to deal with in the past.
Luckily, technology is good enough today that you can FaceTime or Zoom and can see each other’s faces.
But the key part to making this possible is your partner. Having someone with an aligned vision, who can see the bigger picture. Someone who’s committed to that bigger picture and is willing to do their part in helping it come together.
There’s a lot of money to be made in this sport if you can get to the top. There are avenues to retire at an early age.
But to get there, you need to put everything you have into it. Sometimes that means traveling far away from home.
So it’s a great feeling to know you have someone by your side always to help you chase your dreams. Especially when you have to be away for weeks or months.
I used to leave for about 6 weeks at a time. And 2-3 weeks in, I’d fly my family out to hang out.
This short time together revitalized me and helped me reorganize myself to get after it.
I know not everyone can do that. But if you can, it can work really well.
Creating Your Mantra Part 1
My mental coach (@mentalsensei on IG) is the one who first inspired me to create my mantra.
It’s been one of the most life-changing things for me. My coach not only helped me commit to creating a mantra, but he also helped me refine it.
So let me share some of the process here if you’re interested in creating your own mantra.
It started off pretty basic. My coach would ask me questions like:
Who are you?
What do you want to do?
What drives you internally?
He would poke and prod and pull things out of my mind.
It definitely wasn’t an easy process for me personally. Because I didn’t really understand it.
But I think the biggest lesson is that your first mantra doesn’t have to be perfect right away. It can be dynamic and change.
That’s where I made the mistake. My goal was to write this thing and make it badass.
But really, how you do this is just getting it out. And over time, continually making it better.
You don’t have to put a ton of focus into it. Just spend a few minutes each week. Maybe you can come up with better verbiage or get inspiration from someone else.
I like following social media accounts with positive people, so that has sparked inspiration for things I wanted to include in my mantra.
The main thing you should know is that it’s a constantly evolving thing. It can be updated over time and become more powerful over time.
I’m gonna look through my notes for the specific questions I answered to create my mantra and I’ll share them next week!
Slay Your Inner Demon Weekly
The real game is on the inside.
Every day I wake up and pick a tougher fight. A fight with that bitch ass inner demon inside of me. Every day my purpose is to starve that motherfucker of any little drop.
He never dies though! He’s always there, ready to strike at any moment and take over my mind and take me where I don’t need to go.
So in this weekly series, I’m gonna document challenging shit I’m doing to test myself. I hope this encourages you to do the same and unlock your highest potential!
This is an odd one. But I’ve been chopping a ton of firewood for my sauna.
And man, it’s a fucking grind. Constant bending over and stacking. And the big pieces with knots are a pain.
Maybe it’s easier for some people, but for me, it’s a grind.
But at least I got a shit ton of firewood now.
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That ends it for this week’s Immortal Wisdom Weekly.
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Matt “The Immortal” Brown