A story about the cookie monster, a UFC superstar and an Oscar winner
Reading time: 2 minutes
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In 2018, UFC superstar Conor McGregor fought and lost the biggest fight of his life.
He was up against Khabib Nurmagomedov, a Russian death dispenser whose father had him wrestling against bears (literally) by the age of nine.
McGregor blamed the loss on insufficient training leading up to the fight. Not because he didn’t spar with bears, but because, as he explains:
“Don’t tell yourself you need to do something and then don’t do it.
I knew in my head, I was saying…
Get up at this time. I didn’t get up at that time.
Train at this time. I didn’t train at that time.
Don’t eat this. I ate that.
Don’t drink that, I drank it.
And these all just infiltrated my mental strength.
Little defeats, instead of wins.”
McGregor will soon be making his movie debut, starring alongside Jake Gyllenhaal in Road House.
Have you seen the movie’s trailer?
Jake Gyllenhaal looks like a marble statue chiselled in a CrossFit class. You’d see that six-pack through a ski jacket.
Every guy on the planet wants to be ripped like that - me included. Imagine the satisfaction of taking your shirt off at the beach, knowing you have that under the bonnet. If I looked like that, I would never wear a shirt. Never!
So, what’s the difference between Jake Gyllenhaal and me? Firstly, put me in the vicinity of sweet treats, and this happens:
Well, that’s one difference. The other is 10 million pull-ups, push-ups and sit-ups. Jake Gyllenhaal is 10 million small wins ahead of me.
Speaking of shirtless actors, here’s a story about Oscar winner Matthew McConaughey:
“You want to do what, boy? What the hell?”
That was the response after a young Matthew McConaughey plucked up the courage to ask for his father’s blessing to deviate from his lifelong plan of going to law school, to go to film school instead.
Then, his father paused.
“You sure that’s what you want to do, son?”
“Yes, sir”, stammered young McConaughey.
Again, his dad paused.
“Alright then…but don’t half-ass it!”
Don’t
Half-ass
It
According to McConaughey, these are the three most important words he’s ever heard - the fuel that motivated him to climb the gruelling ranks of Hollywood.
The moral of the story:
Small wins stack up. And so do small losses.
What’s the metaphorical cookie standing between you and something you really want?
If you want it, go for it. And don’t half-ass it.
If you enjoyed today’s article, please remember:
As someone who recently quoted McGregor on my own post this landed with me heavy.
Thank you for sharing!
Wow between using UFC references and pulling out a Greenlights reference, you've got a reader in me. Fingers crossed to McGregor actually being able to make a comeback these days. Awesome edition!