Saturday, I watched a Mixed Martial Arts fight that many fans were excited about, largely because it was the return of Conor McGregor, the Irish superstar Martial Artist. Although his opponent Donald Cerrone is an awesome guy, a great fighter and a fan favorite too. So I was excited to see both of them perform.
I try to learn what I can from the event and athletes.
I wanted to specifically touch on something Conor was saying after his win on Saturday during the post-fight interviews that I've been thinking about the last couple of days.
It was about his mindset for getting back into training after this event.
What caught my attention is how much he emphasized the importance of getting back to the gym quickly, and the level of detail he talked about his return to training.
He said that he's going to take the night to celebrate, take one day off, and then get back into the gym and get a hard practice in.
He even mentioned the specific cardio machine that he would use on this first day back. He said it's a machine that puts cardio to the test and is a hell of a work-out. It sounded terrible, and like he knows how terrible it is well.
He said that taking time off after an event in the past has led to unplanned extended time off, and emphasized the importance of getting back into his routine quickly.
He mentioned this is especially the case due to not training hard during the week of the fight.
Like many athletes, he puts in a hardcore training camp, then strategically tapers off the week or so before the fight to go in fresh, not bruised and beat-up, or over-trained.
So if he takes the week of the fight off from hard training, then takes some time after the fight, that quickly approaches two weeks, making it even harder to get back to that routine.
I think it's important to understand that it's natural to want to continue that time off, but that we can be aware of it, so we can counter it if we choose.
We can be pro-active in deciding to get back into our rhythm, knowing that it takes some extra effort to get it started again.
I think many of us can relate because it's so common to celebrate a goal or milestone by taking time off, then to get comfortable on the break, and not go back to the level of operating that got us there.
An example for myself is when I'm on a good yoga streak, and sometimes I'll take a day off, no big deal at all. It's just one day, as long as I get back into my routine quickly. The more time that goes by, the harder it gets to go back to that consistency.
The same with business, sometimes we celebrate and new client or order, and fail to go back to the routine that got us to the goal. Back to the post-fight comments, Conor mentioned knowing the things that he should do, and at times not doing them.
I think this is why he was so specific about what exact machine and day for training.
He was visualizing the resistance he will face and pro-actively deciding in detail what he was going to do to overcome it.
Talking to the public about it may even be part of his strategy. He's reinforcing his plans by saying it out loud and putting that commitment out there.
It was interesting to hear a world champion level athlete talk about having to put themselves in check and battle the resistance to get back to work, and about his mindset for dealing with a victory celebration, time-off, and the importance of getting back into his routine.
Again, he mentioned this is from making mistakes in the past and learning along the way. It's not easy for him, and that's why it's so interesting to hear the process.
I think this shows the importance of planning to get back to our routine shortly after a milestone, event, or project.
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