Two weeks ago, Tyson Fury defeated Deontay Wilder for boxings heavyweight title. The fight was never that close, and Tyson Fury defeated Wilder pretty handily. I like boxing as much as the next guy, but it wasn’t what happened in the ring that piqued my interest. I happened to watch an interview Tyson did before his match, and what Tyson discussed was fascinating.
Tyson took an extremely disciplined approach to his pre-fight training camp. He did not see his wife and children during the ten-week camp. Tyson stopped drinking diet sodas, of which he consumed up to 30 per day. He did not drink any alcohol, and he only ate what his nutritionist allowed. In Tyson’s words, he “took everything dear out of my life.” The interviewer astutely observed that this drastic approach wasn’t just about being healthy but more about sacrifice. Fury said, “I always train hard, but this time I pushed it to the extent that I couldn’t have done more.”
Simply stated, Tyson Fury did more hard things than his opponent. He embraced the sacrifice needed to do these hard things, and his decision to drastically increase the volume of hard choices paid off in the ring. Fury knew that both men are great boxers (the previous match resulted in a draw), so Fury knew he had to do more if he was to be victorious. It couldn’t just be about strategy, or more training or more sparring. Tyson Fury focused on the small aspects of this training that strengthened his decision muscles. His overall mindset to embrace hard choices at every opportunity proved to be the difference between Fury and Wilder.
Fury’s victory made me think about my own “fights.” In quiet self-reflection, I realized that in my own failed pursuits, I often scrambled to simply do MORE. In my losses, I focused on the wrong thing. I chased activity versus outcomes. I focused on external threats versus internal messaging. It has become apparent that I need a new strategy for my future fights.
Would I be more successful if I break down all the little decisions supporting my effort and simply choose the harder option? This strategy change would force me to focus on fewer but harder decisions. Could it make sense to examine past failures to determine a baseline of hard choices, and then actively work to make more hard choices in my next attempt? Tyson Fury has proven that success is directly correlated to the number of hard decisions a person is willing to make, so why should my fights be any different, or yours for that matter.