Toronto, May 19, 2013
Hi, this is Mike Lipkin. It’s May 19 and I’m in Toronto. Spring is turning into summer. The days are warming. The trees are blossoming. It’s the season of growth and recreation. It’s time to get out there and become the champion of your world.
Here’s what I know from all our research: success is a direct function of Champion Self Perception that is continually reinforced by external results. That means we see ourselves as someone who is best in our class and someone who fights for others’ wellbeing. On the one hand, we believe in our own capacity to win. On the other hand, we’re committed to helping our community succeed. We take the actions that achieve extraordinary results.
Sometimes we win and sometimes we don’t. But we always interpret our outcome in a way that reinforces our Champion Self Perception. I know that if I’m continually expanding my skills while I make others successful, every outcome is net positive. Sometimes, my biggest losses can be my greatest gains. I am in control of my response to my circumstances. I am the champion of my world so I am a world champion. It’s makes me feel good just to say it – I am a world champion.
I’m also engaging in the Three Star Practices that enable people to become world champions:
1. I set myself ambitious personal challenges that test and stretch me. Producing a world-class motivational video like this one is today’s personal challenge for me.
2. I adapt to my changing circumstances by fully expressing my gifts in whatever way I can. In this video, I’m literally adapting to the changing seasons while I inspire you to be a world champion.
3. I train to win. I exercise, diet, read, talk, listen, share, work, self-promote, think and play to be preeminent. I aspire to the kind of mastery that the great author, James Michener, describes in this famous quote: “The master in the art of living makes little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his information and his recreation, his love and his religion. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence at whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him he’s always doing both.” So you decide what I’m doing here: working or playing? Both, man. And I’m loving it.
I have a specific role model in the art of playing and working. His name is Georges St Pierre or GSP as he is called. He is the current world UFC champion. Can you see the similarities? Whether you follow mixed martial arts or not, I encourage you to read his masterpiece: The Way of The Fight. GSP is renowned for his sense of purpose, his dedication to his craft and his love of people, including his opponents. Here are some of his game-changing insights on how to be a world champion. Think about how you can apply them to your life, then read the book.
“The outcome of my next fight is not determined in the octagon. It’s determined in the weeks and months before the fight when I’m getting ready for it.”
“Fear is the genesis of most of the good things that have occurred in my life. Fear is the beginning of every success I’ve lived.”
“Some people learn to lose. Others lose and learn. Fall down seven times, stand up eight.”
“The worst punches are the ones you don’t see coming.”
“I’ve never been the biggest guy in the octagon, and I don’t want to be either. My goal is to be the most efficient, quickest thinking fighter. I aim to be flexible, open minded and ready for any situation.”
“Once fear enters your life – whether it’s been there for a second or a lifetime makes no difference – it will take you n one of two directions: empowerment or panic.”
“It’s from doing – that you get your confidence back. Getting back in the ring and performing, doing well.”
“Every time you fight, your opponent doesn’t look anything like the previous opponent.”
“One of the lessons I learnt in all those years of practicing karate is that progress only comes in small, incremental portions. Nobody becomes great overnight. Nobody crams information if he wants to be able to use it over the long term.”
“Humility is the first rule of martial arts. Either you learn humility quickly, or you leave because your ego can’t handle losing repeatedly.”
“Before each one of my fights, I make a point of saluting my opponent. I salute the other fighter out of respect, even though he is trying to take something away from me.”
“I see the world as a knowledge hardware store, and every day I’m just walking through the aisles. All along the aisles, they have those knowledge keys. Each key opens a different door.”
“Everything I do is built on speed: recognition and reaction.”
“World champions need “truth-sayers” around them, and John Danaher is a truth-sayer. A truth-sayer is a person who doesn’t bullshit you about everything. A truth-sayer is someone who has enough respect for you to tell you the truth and help you differentiate the real from the mirage.”
“I have a belief that all human greatness is founded on routine, that truly great human behaviour is impossible without this central part of your life being set up and governed by routine.”
“A punch in the face hurts less when you win than when you lose.”
“Do you want to know what I like best about myself? The truth is, I’ve become “great” at maybe only one thing: dedication. I’ve found a way to turn what some call hard work into a game and an exercise in efficiency. I turned garbage collection into a race because it’s good cardiovascular exercise, because it’s good power training and because it makes the day go by faster. Efficiency for me is an obsession, an addiction. It not only helps me get stronger, but makes thing simpler.”
“We try to create situations that are out of the ordinary so that, after time and repetition, they become part of my routine. And then I keep elevating the intensity and build higher.”
“You don’t get better on the days when you feel like going. You get better on the days when you don’t want to go, but you go anyway. If you can overcome the negative energy coming from your tired body or unmotivated mind, you will grow and become better. It won’t be the best workout you have, you won’t accomplish as much as what you usually do when you actually feel good, but that doesn’t matter. Growth is a long term game, and the crappy days are more important.”
“Balance has taught me two incredibly important lessons: 1) resting is growing, and 2) waiting is training.”
“A big part of my training is to create conditions that make survival almost impossible, but I also want to ensure to build balance by creating conditions that make my success entirely possible.”
“There is an elementary rule in martial arts, and everyone who learns goes through it: You’ll never understand what a punch in the head feels like if you’re the one doing the punching. Winning fighters all know that success comes from the ability to absorb punishment.”
“Knowing yourself lets you differentiate between luck and movement. It places them at opposite ends of the spectrum. Luck is not within anybody’s control or prediction. It occurs, and it’s great when it does, but you can’t base your entire life on it. Movement, on the other hand, puts success within reach. Ability is related potential, but skill represents the concept of doing, of movement.”
“I don’t like solitude. I need to be around other humans. I crave human contact and interaction and laughter and escape. If I or anyone wants to become the best at something, none of us will get there alone.”
“One false move, a single stupid minor mistake can cause the empire to crumble into rubble. The postfight feeling of uncertainty is astounding. Watching myself fight, I realize the line between success and failure is so narrow, it’s scary. Every single time I win a fight, I better understand how the greater the risk, the greater the reward.”
Ok, it’s time to develop your own way to become the champion of your world. Share your insights with me. Spring forward so you’re ready for the fall. This is Mike Lipkin and I thank GSP for helping me create this message.
