Champions Aren’t Made in the Ring!

Originally shared in A Daily Dose Of Leadership on January 16, 2017.

Smokin’ Joe Frazier once said, “Champions aren’t made in the ring, they’re merely recognized there. What you cheat on in the early light of morning will show up in the ring under the bright lights.”

In chapter 3 of Leadership Gold, John Maxwell makes a similar point. I realize I’m a bit biased, but I think his may apply to a wider group of people. In this chapter on defining moments, John offers his thoughts on preparing for the ones you’ll face in the future. He says, “One of the most valuable things I’ve done in my life is to make major choices before times of crisis or decision. That has enabled me to simply manage those decisions in critical moments of my life.”

So how does that apply to you and me? I’ll take a shot at answering the second part of that question. I’ll leave answering the first part up to you…

For me, Smokin’ Joe’s message and John’s message go hand in hand. I would even argue that practicing John’s suggestion makes it that much easier to do the things that need done “in the early light of morning,” or when no one is looking. Many refer to that as character. (John refers to it in this chapter as Commitment: make and keep the proper commitments daily.) The other personal decisions John references that tie this together for me are those on Relationships, Faith, and Growth.

I consider myself very blessed in the area of relationships. That said, I know I need to be very intentional to make sure I’m building new, and stronger, relationships every day if I want to continue to get better and add more value than I can today.
I have faith in my ability to add value in those around me, as well as faith in the natural law of sowing and reaping. I have faith that when I do the right things for the right reasons, the right things will come from it. I’ve never heard of someone planting potatoes in their field in the spring and picking corn from that field in the fall…

I am excited about continuous growth. Growth was a decision I made nearly twenty years ago. My path was certainly not the traditional one; but it has absolutely been a valuable one. When I work to grow daily, I see opportunities I would not have seen otherwise.

With these decisions in place, I’ve been able to have a confidence in who I am and what I can offer. Please don’t misunderstand this for arrogance. I’ve put a TREMENDOUS amount of time, energy, and personal finances into this.

I think that may just be what Smokin’ Joe was referring to… How about you?

Photo by Hans M on Unsplash