Tag Archives: boxing

Inspiration

You Can’t Knock Me Out

By David Tepera, November 16, 2017

Sylvester Stallone became a famous, wealthy man for being known as one of the world’s greatest boxers as an actor. The character Rocky Balboa always fought his way back to the top after a multitude of negative life circumstances.

When very few people supported Rocky during times of trouble, he always believed in himself and fought back in the game of life. The journey to the championship ring was tougher than the fight itself.

In case you didn’t know, Stallone’s real life was turbulent and defeated before the Rocky sagas.

One of the many famous quotes taken from the Rocky movies is “Life’s not about how hard of a hit you can give. … It’s about how many you can take, and still keep moving forward.”

Now, let that sink for a moment. There’s not one person reading this article that hasn’t either gone through or is currently going through some difficulty. We all would like to think we prepare ourselves for the worst, but somehow, life comes out of nowhere and sucker punches us.

It could be a life-threatening diagnosis, unexpected unemployment, death of a loved one, or as many of our neighbors experienced — loss of a flooded home.

But really, the question is “what are you going to do about it?” Are you going to just lay there on the canvas while the referee counts you out? Did you give up on yourself because you felt worthless?

Stallone knew he could grab the hearts of his viewers if Rocky was beat to a pulp, and then somehow gathered himself to fight the last round because pride was on the line.

One of the most gruesome scenes from Rocky I was when Rocky told Mickey to cut him. His eye was swollen shut from taking a pounding and could no longer see. Mickey slices his eyelid, and Rocky proceeded to stay in the fight.

Yes, I know these are fictitious movies, but there are so many circumstances that are motivating to dig deep within ourselves and realize we can take punches, too.

Now, join me with a new determined mindset, “Yesterday was the last day that life held me down. You can throw punches and knock me around, but I refuse to get knocked out. I will keep pushing forward and believe in myself, even if others don’t. Every day is training day because eventually I will be standing in the ring putting on the championship belt because I am the heavyweight champion of the world.”

Inspiration

When the bell rings, it’s go-time

5 Comments
March 15, 2017 by DAVID TEPERA
In the sport of boxing, when the bell rings, you better be ready. You must be 100 percent committed. There’s no time to relax and go at half-pace, otherwise you’ll get knocked out.
Boxers prepare themselves for each individual fight. They’ve studied the competition and put a strategy in place. You not only have to be prepared physically, but to outsmart your opponent as well.
Intelligence, along with brute force, will almost always dominate the competition.
 You can give the same example for all other sports. When the horn sounds or the whistle blows, it’s “go time.” All the long days and hours of practice should prepare an athlete to compete at their highest level.

Now, how about you? When your alarm goes off in the morning, are you ready to conquer the day? Or, do you hit the snooze button multiple times dreading to get up and go to work?

There are many of you who punch a clock at work to start a paycheck. Are you the employee you would hire? Are you known to be the most productive person in the building?

If you’re lazy, a complainer and full of excuses, everyone at your job knows it. No one likes to work with someone who doesn’t hold up their end of the load. Believe me, your days are numbered, which will give you more excuses to point the finger.

Keep in mind, once the day is over, you can’t re-ring that bell. What is done — is done.

The good news is, this happens to be your day to turn it around. You’ve recognized that slacking is not getting you anywhere and it’s time to step up your game.

You’re determined to bring more income and security to your family by working your way up the command chain.

 

You’ll arrive 15-30 minutes early to work to show enthusiasm. You’ll have the fastest pace with every responsible task required. You’ll leave 15 minutes after your supervisor. You’ll be the person who’s seen the most by everyone.

There’s a distant relative of mine named Patty who lost an executive position when her company had to downsize. Patty searched to find another job with same title and income, but nothing was available.

After a few months and money running low, she became desperate and was hired as a clerk at the local Wal-Mart. Patty continued her work ethic and felt fortunate to be employed.

That was two years ago, and now, Patty has worked her way up to accounting manager and is making some serious money.

Remember, today is a new day. The alarm has sounded, so get up because it’s “go time.”