Don’t make McGregor’s Mistake
Going down with a broken leg in the first round, Conor McGregor lost his second UFC mixed martial arts fight to Dustin Poirier as millions watched around the world. I’m sure there are countless fight experts analyzing every move each fighter made, but I have a decidedly different perspective of what went wrong for McGregor — and it’s a mistake every single one of us can fall victim to in business and in life.
Conor McGregor is about as famous an athlete as you can find. The Irish mixed martial artist, boxer and businessman has held multiple fighting titles (some at the same time), has founded several successful businesses and was ranked as the highest paid athlete in the world by Forbes in 2021, reporting earnings of $180 million. Massive achievements that I’m sure afforded him the best training, the best equipment and the best facilities that money could buy — so what went wrong?
Whether you or your business have millions in the bank or not, there has likely been a point for you where you achieved “success” at some level, whatever that means to you. You’ve established yourself in a comfortable position, with a nice title, a nice bio on LinkedIn, maybe even driving a nice Rolls Royce like McGregor, if you’ve been particularly financially successful. From the safety of that comfort zone, for you personally and for your company culturally, there are only incremental improvements you can make. Linear advances in a non-linear world. Maybe you see the problem already.
The mistake it looks like McGregor made is a mistake we’ve all made: thinking that you can buy, force or strong-arm meaningful change. That you can achieve breakthrough success (or continued breakthrough success) without paying the price of admission.
The price of a real breakthrough is taking a trip. Not to the wonderland of sunshine, smiles and positive reinforcement, but rather a trip to the depths of the unknown; the dark night of the soul, rock bottom. #NoMatterWhat. It’s only within the darkness of rock bottom are we given the chance to give up unworkable beliefs about ourselves and the world, grieve losses, and surrender who we thought we were for who we could become.
It’s available to us at any time. But as unappetizing as the experience is, it’s often easier to be lured away with promises that come with buying better software, services or data. All of which might be necessary, but that’s not where the real difference will be made. Taking a trip to rock bottom becomes increasingly hard to do as you’re surrounded by the comfort of success. McGregor's recent string of losses is no surprise as he has continued the pretense of winning and training in opulent conditions, making it impossible to take that trip, no matter how much money he threw at it.
We have a misconception about hitting rock bottom. We think it’s something to avoid, evade, or be embarrassed about. When it does happen, we might take it as a sign to quit, give up or wish we never tried at all. The truth is exactly the opposite. It’s only because of rock bottom that we’re given opportunities to achieve transformative success for ourselves, our companies and even the world.
If you have something you want to achieve, I invite you to share it HERE. The bigger the better. And don’t worry, I won’t leave you hanging. Once you drop in your goal or dream, I’ll share a series of emails guiding you on the steps to take to visit rock bottom, even if only in a small way, to achieve what it is you want to achieve. Over the last decade, or so, we’ve come up with a workable, effective system for it. #NoMatterWhat isn’t always about winning the fight. #NoMatterWhat is being willing to take that trip to the underworld of your being, explore the depths, and then come out better for it on the other side.
To be clear, I don’t wish ill on anyone. And at the same time, I know it’s those dark moments of introspection and soul searching, whether in our careers, our lives and/or our human experience, that can shape us to be better in the face of anything that comes up. I also know if you avoid taking it for too long, it will eventually take you.
At any moment, we all have the same opportunity McGregor now has: to rectify the mistake and take that trip to rock bottom and piece ourselves back together faster, smarter and stronger than ever. Approached this way, rock bottom can be the best thing to ever happen to you.