6 Sports Psychology Concepts To Improve Your Life
Learning to be present
Like Eckhart Tolle says, “Your entire life only happens in this moment.”
The past is the past, you can’t change it. So it’s good to forget about what happened before because it doesn’t mean it’ll happen again.
Look at Israel Adesanya. He fought a guy that beat him 3 times and KO’d him twice. He didn’t let that affect him. In the 4th fight, Izzy knocked Alex Pereira out cold and got his title back.
Also, stop worrying and getting anxious about the future. The future isn’t here yet. Life is happening in the present, so focus on what you can do today.
Positive self-talk
Notice how you talk to yourself when something goes wrong.
If you’re talking to yourself negatively, you might be making yourself fuck up and you don’t even know it.
Being calm in hectic situations
Shit happens in life that we can’t control.
A girlfriend, family member, or someone at work is just pissing you off. They’re acting all crazy.
It’s important to be calm in those situations. Don’t get flared up and caught up in their emotions.
If they’re yelling and you’re yelling, no one is getting their point across.
So be calm and really think about what you’re saying.
This also applies to high pressure situations. It’s important to be calm under pressure instead of trying to avoid those situations. Because oftentimes, high pressure situations are signs of growth.
Being disciplined
Be disciplined in the process. Sticking with it even when things aren’t going your way.
If you learn how to do this then you’ll realize that you can truly do anything or get good at anything you want. Especially for the young bucks out there who are in their 20’s.
Imagine what could happen if you focused on one thing for 10 years and focused on the process.
You’ll become an expert, guaranteed.
Recovering from loss and reinventing yourself
For the longest time, my only goal was the be in the UFC.
But shit happens. My body couldn’t hold up. I was getting injured constantly and had to pay all these medical bills.
So I had to go and reinvent myself. It’s like this quote from a leadership book I’m reading:
“Others recover in profound ways much like a monomythic hero of various ancient legends who goes on to reinvent themselves and achieve higher and more redemptive forms of greatness than if he had succeeded in his initial venture.”
That’s how I feel about my journey.
So it’s important to be able to reinvent yourself, whether that means going into another sport or pursuing a different track.
Self-accountability
Don’t play the fucking blame game.
It’s not the coach’s problem.
It’s not your teammate’s problem.
It’s your problem. And if you don’t own up to it, you’ll never get anywhere.
This is especially important if you’re in a leadership role. When shit goes wrong, you gotta take the blame.
This was an issue I had to deal with myself. But it was only when I took accountability for my own problems, things started to get better.
JJ’s Story
We talked about reinventing yourself earlier and another good example of this is my buddy JJ.
JJ used to train with me at the UFC gym and he was just a soft, little pussy. Every time something didn’t go his way or he got tapped out, he’d storm off the mats fucking crying.
Or if he wasn’t getting a move, he’d get flustered, freeze up, and start acting like a spaz.
But one day, JJ got hit with some tragic news.
His sister died.
I can’t speak on this from my own experience, only from what I’ve seen. But when a sibling dies, it can fuck somebody up.
It can really spiral someone downhill. To the point where they’ll start looking for an escape and turn to pain pills or other drugs. Anything to get away from the pain.
But like a concept we went over earlier, JJ reinvented himself. And if you would’ve told me back in the day that JJ would actually fight, I would’ve said not a fucking chance.
Now he’s an undefeated amateur MMA fighter. He helps teach the beginner MMA program at my gym. He’s been learning striking from me and has been my student for over 8 years.
I can confidently say that he’s got some of the cleanest striking out of anybody.
JJ found his purpose. He’s helping other people out and giving back. He’s really thankful for where he’s at in life even though he’s not making a ton of money and living with his parents.
But still, he’s enjoying life more than most people who have way more than him.
I’m super proud of this kid’s journey and I can’t wait to see where he’ll go in the future.
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Happiness Is A Skill
A lot of people believe that happiness comes and goes or comes with getting something.
You can learn to be happy now.
I’ve spoken about this before, but one of the ways is becoming a king of perspective. Things can always be worse.
I almost feel like some people need something traumatic to happen to them to realize they had it good before.
But it doesn’t even need to get that far. You can recreate the same transformation by doing hard things. Put yourself in tough situations like in wrestling, jiu-jitsu, or sparring.
If you never go through anything tough, you’ll sit there and create problems in your head. This turns into anxiety and you’ll start fucking freaking out over nothing.
Here’s the truth.
If you’re not happy where you are now, whether it’s a job or some other thing you’re dealing with. You have two options:
Accept it.
Or change it.
If you accept it, you gotta start looking at it from a different point of view or else you’re just torturing yourself.
Be thankful you have your job. There are people coming out of prison who can’t be in your position.
You can learn to be happy. Everything you need is within.
Active Listening
Listening is such an important skill.
For me as a coach, it’s even more important. Each of my students might have different problems and it’s my job to listen and see where it’s coming from.
Sometimes guys just need to get something off their chest or they need a simple answer.
You don’t need to go into some deep bullshit rant. Sometimes you just need to say it how it is. Like, “Hey, you’re lazy in this position. Or you’re not trying hard enough at practice.”
Sometimes people just need the truth.
For personal relationships, listening can make or break your relationship.
You gotta realize that your partner might be programmed way differently than you are. This could come from their parents, the way they were raised, etc. Their previous environments might’ve given them a completely different outlook than you.
So if there’s conflict, it’s important to not just get fired up about it. Like we said earlier, learning to be calm.
In situations like these, it’s important to imagine yourself in their shoes. If you were raised the exact same way, by the same exact parents, you’d think the exact same way.
As a student, it’s important to listen to your coach.
I know I used to be this way and I know a lot of people like this. Sometimes you just want to justify what you’re doing instead of listening. And you’re only hurting yourself.
Hopefully, your coach has been doing this a long time. They’ve probably been in your shoes before. So sit there and listen to their advice.
Let it sink into your fucking brain.
Active listening is huge.
Update: Settled In
It’s been such a pain in the ass, but it’s finally done. We’re settled in.
I’m so fucking happy about it, I absolutely love the place.
It’s a bright house. Some nice landscaping, some nice trees, and nice grass.
The neighbor’s got a bunch of shit in his yard and that kinda pisses me off. Because we have these beautiful windows in the living room area but all we can see is this guy’s junkyard.
So I’m trying to figure out how to do a privacy fence. I just put in some privacy screens, and those are pretty good.
But to build a six foot brick wall or privacy fence is pretty expensive so maybe I’ll save for that.
Other than that I’m pumped.
I’m 5-6 minutes away from the gym so I can be there at any time to record videos for you guys. I can be there more with Sean and my students too.
It’s still surreal to me that this house is actually mine. Like I can’t believe I was able to get this place by doing something I truly love, which is martial arts.
I’m so fucking thankful. And it makes me want to keep working hard, bust out content, learn, read, and continue to help my students.
Just fires me up.
Quick Hits From This Week
Red Hawk Recap Ep. 90
Slick Rick rejoins us on this episode of the pod.
Francis signs with PFL
Good for Francis, he’s making some good bread. Really nice of him to negotiate a $2M payday for his opponent too. I still think it’s gonna be tough for PFL to find Francis some worthy competition, but we’ll see. Happy for the guy.
Suga vs. Aljo
It’s been announced. Aljo is already saying he’s gotta see how his body holds up. But look, all the respect to him. He did just fight Henry Cejudo and he’s gotta ready for Sug in 3 months.
In my opinion, Aljo is the most dangerous bantamweight ever. Him and Petr Yan. He’s physically strong, real long, and a great grappler. We’re gonna have our hands full, but it’s gonna be sweet. Good chance we’re making history, watch us.
Being attacked is a sign that you’re important enough to be a target. You should relish the attention
On YouTube, there are a lot of people who talk shit. For a while, I was reading every single YouTube comment. And for the most part, a lot of it is positive. But it’s gotten to the point where I don’t wanna read them anymore.
Your mind only has so much energy
You need to be careful about noticing negative shit and focusing on it. A lot of people scroll through Instagram and YouTube and are talking shit in their minds. You gotta be careful with that and stop it when it happens.
Giving your future son a single lesson
This is a hard one, I’d say maybe find your interest and run with it.
TimboSugarShow Ep. 237
Aljo tweets Suga
We’re showing up in August. See you then Aljo.
Haney vs. Bradley Martyn in a streetfight
Brad is freaking athletic and super powerful and strong. Look, Haney has a puncher’s chance and he’s a great boxer. But this is a streetfight. And I think Brad takes it. Haney only weighs 150, so if Brad grabs him, he’s probably getting dumped on his head.
Henry stepping in for Aljo
Would be weird but he’s coming off a loss. But it’s the fight we wanted. Either way, we’re showing up on August 19th, doesn’t matter who shows up.
Fighting for the belt
Sug feels normal. Just another day. It’s something he’s been working for since he got in the UFC, but he’s on a mission. Gonna be 13 long weeks, a lot of discipline, and people are expecting Sug to get smoked. Watch what happens.
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That ends it for this week’s Red Hawk Essentials.
Hope you enjoyed this one. Give me a like/comment/subscribe below.
If you’re new here, welcome to the fam! We’re dropping gems like this each week.
Luv ya, talk next week.
Tim
My first day of training is Friday. Looking forward to it👊💪
Great Read, congrats on the house!