Avoid the Mental Block
On this episode of Mental Mondays, Ben Askren was inspired by the movie Rocky IV and the fight between Rocky Balboa and Ivan Drago. There are a lot of different lessons to take away from this. The first being a mistake Askren has warned of in the past, putting your opponent on a pedestal. Rocky’s corner is telling him that Drago is beatable and just a man like anyone else. At the same time, Drago is in his corner saying Rocky is not human, he is like a piece of iron. Askren sees kids and parents do this when they talk about opponents being faster, stronger, or better technically. You then get caught thinking about how good that person is. This only hinders your performance and doesn’t help you in any way during a match.
Getting Through Adversity (1:48)
Early on in the fight, it was not going Rocky’s way and he was being dominated by Drago. Rocky fought through this adversity and didn’t give in. Askren says this is something everyone needs to remember. Every moment of practice or matches is not going to go your way. Successful people understand how to deal with these moments and look for how to turn the tides in their favor. This lesson is all about perseverance. Failing or struggling doesn’t make you a failure but giving up does. You also have to realize adversity will be there. If you’re not prepared for it, it’ll be harder to deal with.
By Any Means Necessary (2:37)
The last lesson Askren took from this fight was that Rocky wasn’t concerned about how clean or pretty the fight looked. Rocky wanted to win and didn’t care how bad it looked. Askren sees wrestlers get frustrated after or even mid-match when their technique isn’t perfectly smooth. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what it looks like if you get your hand raised. Rocky figured out how to make it ugly for Drago and win the match.
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