Doubt Is Removed By Action
Listening to Conor McGregor's interview with ESPN's Ariel Helwani for his upcoming bout at UFC 246 against Donald Cerrone there was one particular quote that stuck with me.
McGregor was being questioned about his confidence going into the bout as it's been a long time since he last stepped into the octagon (many fighters are said to have 'ring rust' after long periods of inactivity), having just finished a phenomenal training camp McGregor states that "doubt is removed by action".
That's powerful.
That statement doesn't only apply to a combat athlete preparing for a fight.
This is relevant to all endeavours in life.
This is relevant to you.
Whether you're a writer, a runner or even an entrepreneur...
There's Only So Much Theory You Can Do
Planning and theory is great, but there comes a time where you must take action and put in the work.
You can brainstorm a blog post in your head, but eventually you must write your first paragraph.
You can watch tape of your opponent for hours and hours, but at the end of the day you must call up your sparring partners and get in the ring.
You can plan out your pacing and mile split times for your upcoming half marathon all you like but eventually you must lace up your shoes and bank those training miles.
You can spend months researching products to dropship, but eventually you must launch your first store.
Theory will not breed confidence, action will.
“It is one thing to study war and another to live the warriors life.” - Telamon of Arcadia
The less action you take towards your goal the more doubt you'll allow to creep into your mind.
If a guy that spends his entire training camp focused on theory comes up against an opponent that has been putting in action day after day regardless of how much more technically sound Mr. Theory is the odds are stacked against him. Unless you've taken action and pulled the trigger in the training room you'll find it damn hard to do so under the bright lights, whatever those lights may be in your endeavour.
As doubt begins to fill your mind with hesitation you know what you should do but because you've failed to drill it over and over again you don't do it.
As a consequence of this, you come up short.
As Bruce Lee said, "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times".
You Don't Get Better At Something By Not Doing It...
If you want to master a skill or set a new personal best on an exercise you must perform it.
This is specificity.
A boxer requires fast footwork to evade and trap his opponent in the ring, but a boxer doesn't acquire fast footwork by running.
The movement patterns are entirely different.
Running builds cardio endurance, but you won't find the speed and precision of your gallop, side step and pendulum increasing as a result of this.
It's not building mastery and skill in the required movement pattern...
In order to increase the speed and fluidity of your boxing footwork you must continually practise boxing footwork.
- To increase proficiency with the pendulum footwork pattern you must practise the pendulum footwork pattern.
- To increase proficiency with the side step footwork pattern you must practise the sidestep footwork pattern.
- To increase proficiency with the gallop footwork pattern you must practise the gallop footwork pattern.
You must practise X to get good at X.
Performing Y will not work the same movement pattern.
This isn't a boxing specific training principle, training specificity is apparent everywhere.
You may be able to squat 415lbs but in order to do a pistol squat you must start from the most basic variation of the pistol squat and become familiar with the movement pattern, there's no other way.
What's Your Take On Doubt Is Removed By Action? Let Me Know Below!
