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Respect and honor play a crucial role in unlocking your true Self-Worth, especially during life's difficult moments - whether at home or in your business.
No one expected this to be a civilized conversation.
"You’re fuc*ed. There’s no other way about it. Your little legs, your little core, your little head. I’m going to bounce your head off […]. You fuc*ing bi*ch."
Conor McGregor yelled at Floyd Mayweather during their pre-fight trash talk in 2017. Their boxing fight was about to become the second highest in paid views in history.
"On August 26, I’m gonna knock this bi*ch out." reacted Mayweather "Sit quiet you little bi*ch."
Trash talks are common in commercial martial arts matches. They’re often personal and their aggressiveness intensifies the already violent nature of the sport.
(And improves its commercial success.)
Conor knew this would be a difficult fight.
His boxing was strong, but his main discipline was Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA.
He’s used to hitting with punches, kicks, knees, elbows, choking, submissions, and more.
With Floyd, it’d be punching only.
Floyd, on the other hand, was a 100% boxer - in fact, quite a legendary one.
At that time, his stats were unbelievable: 49 wins against 0 losses.
He was an undefeated eleven-time five-division boxing world champion.
Conor, on the other hand, recorded 22 wins against 6 losses.
He was a two-division, and, at the time, UFC Lightweight Champion.
In the boxing world, however, Conor was 0-0.
Yes, Conor’s boxing game in MMA was extremely strong.
But even though he was 10 years younger than Floyd, he was still "not a boxer".
Soon enough, it was 26th August 2017:
The fight day.
Conor gave some good punches in the beginning.
"This is easy!" he thinks in the first round.
But soon enough, Floyd changed his strategy which Conor wasn’t prepared for.
Floyd’s boxing experience and flexibility were far superior to Conor’s.
In round 10, Conor is exhausted and the final result is clear:
Floyd Mayweather won the boxing match with Connor McGregor by a technical knockout.
That day, Floyd extended his professional boxing undefeated streak to 50-0.
After the fight, this is what Conor said in an interview about Floyd:
“I've got to give him full respect — fair play to him, what a great career he's had. He’s a composed man. You can give him nothing but respect. I’ll take my hat off every day.”
Floyd said about Conor:
"I respect him. I take my hat off to him. He put up a much better fight than I had expected."
Some say that the fight was nothing but entertainment and it was all about money. Mayweather made $280m, and McGregor made $130m.
Maybe it was.
But I like the story for a different reason:
the Power of Honor to impact Self-Worth.
Here’s what I mean:
Yes, the pre-fight trash talks were aggressive and personal. The nature of the sport itself is violent: the goal of both fighters is to literally physically destroy the other one.
Knocking the other out of consciousness is the highest level of Victory.
All-in-all, this was a good, hard fight.
But once it was over, the fighters gave each other Respect.
They Honored each other for their skills and various technical attributes.
Another Conor's quote about Floyd is from later that day:
"He was composed and he took me out towards the end. That was a good fight. With a good, solid competitor."
This is one Man giving Honor and Respect to another Man after he was challenged by him to the core.
"You were Worthy as an Opponent," they say to each other implicitly.
This is a very intimate and important part of the fight experience.
"Okay," you might wonder: "But why should this even matter to me?"
Honoring Enemies turns them into Worthy Oponents
I get it, neither of us is a professional martial artist.
But what you and I share with them in real life is having hard Opponents from time to time.
Dealing with people sometimes requires stepping into difficult conversations - with our bosses, employees, and friends. Sometimes even our wives and/or kids.
These fights aren't about destroying the other side, like boxing.
They are fights for the win-win solutions.
Everytime you truly WIN (leading both of you to win) in these fight, your business (or relationship with your woman) gets better.
And just like in boxing, these fights often require tapping into your mental and emotional reserves. And that can get REALLY difficult.
Therefore, it's equally important to give Honor and Respect to our "Opponents" after these "fights".
Otherwise, our efforts to do the right thing slowly become a pain in the ass.
They turn into "bad fights".
Why?
Because if I see those fights as a waste of my time, my Opponents are worthless to me.
But...
When you're fighting a worthless Opponent - are you not worthless yourself..?
Just notice what entitlement feels like:
"This is sh*t. She should have known this. I should have done this a long time ago. This shouldn’t be a problem…"
With that, every next challenge becomes increasingly more exhausting until life feels like a war with yourself - whether it's training for a running race, building my business, or growing my relationship.
"It’s just fu*king effort all the time, it’s exhausting, it’s constant problems. I hate that."
Instead of seeing my Opponents as forces that push me to grow and become better, they become Enemies that make my life painful and bitter.
"There is no greater misfortune," Chinese Tao Te Ching teaches "than a feeling of "I have an Enemy.""
This is where Honor and Respect come in place.
Do you want to turn your Enemies into Worthy Opponents?
Honor them.
Show them Respect.
Acknowledge their worthiness in challenging you.
Recognize the fact that if it weren’t them, you wouldn’t stretch yourself.
That way, you transform them into a Worthy Opponent.
And through that act, you’re Honoring Yourself.
And acknowledgment of your own Self-Worth.
Honor your past trauma for helping you develop your uniqueness and character.
Honor your fears for making you grow your courage.
Honor the most challenging people you work with, for helping you develop great Leadership.
It’s all acts of self-empowerment.
And they change your suffering into a Good Fight.
A Worthy Fight.
Even if you initially wanted to, like Conor said, "bounce their head off".
Struggling with low Self-Worth and avoiding Emotional Tension? If you want a clear strategy to build Natural Masculine Confidence, download my free e-book with case studies, examples, strategies, and the in-depth understanding you need to fully recover your Leadership Authority as a Man.