The Fighter’s Mindset: Boxing Lesson’s On Grit, Resilience, and Anti-Fragility

One of my favorite metaphors for life is boxing, “The hurt business,” as Mike Tyson once called it, is the business of causing pain and enduring it, all while trying to emerge victorious.

If a fight is violent enough, even the winner will take so much damage they’ll feel like they’ve lost.

“It ain’t about how hard you can hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep going.” 

- Rocky Balboa

In that one line, Rocky Balboa, the fictional heavyweight champion of the world, makes a powerful commentary on the nature of boxing AND the essence of life:

Things happen that will keep you from achieving what you want. The ability to survive setbacks is what sets you up for success in life.

Throughout my amateur and professional boxing career, I’ve had over 80 fights against other trained men whose only intent was to hurt me.

I’ve been hit way more times than I’ve hit.

I’ve been hurt.I’ve been stopped.I’ve been disappointed.I’ve been “robbed” (A fighter is “robbed” when they obviously won a fight, but because they didn’t win by knockout, the bout is decided by the judge’s decision, and they lose.)

But despite all this, I won a state title (2011 Pennsylvania Golden Gloves 201 lbs+) and a national title (2011 National PAL 201+ lbs) and went on to have a professional career of 13-1-1.

But most importantly, I kept fighting and won way more fights than I lost.

This aligns perfectly with the rest of my life.

I’ve been beaten, betrayed, abandoned, disappointed, and robbed (literally).

I’ve lost friends, battled addiction, and had my heart broken before it was stomped on.

Throughout it all,  I made friendships that will last a lifetime, got sober while helping others do the same, and even saved a few lives.

My life isn’t perfect. It’s a work in progress. 

The last battle I fought won’t be the last one because part of life is the struggle. It’s always going to be a fight. It will knock you down no matter how hard you train for it.

But will you get back up?

This ebook contains 20 short lessons from the hurt business of life and boxing. 

These are observations from boxing that also apply to the various challenges I faced in my life, like battling alcoholism and growing up in public housing and raised without my father around.

I hope that with these lessons, you’ll be better able to overcome any personal hardships, trials, or tribulations you face. 

If you don’t have any immediate challenges, I hope this guide helps you become the most mentally tough, antifragile version of yourself.

Life is the hurt business. 

Stop hoping that it will stop hurting and, instead, get tougher and learn to fight back. Eventually, you’ll get stronger and better. Only then will things become easier.

The rest is up to you.