Last week I had a tremendous challenge.  Now this was not the physical training sessions I went through with the fighters, my judo training or the mma class that I attended.  This challenge involved me speaking for 14 C-level executives of a 3.7 billion dollar company!  

Although I have been doing a good bit of professional speaking over the years, this challenge was unique.  Not only would I be there to present and motivate, but I was also being counted on to help develop the culture and leadership to help right this company in our country’s difficult economic situation.  On top of the fact it would be difficult, I was also only given a handful of days to prepare the presentation.  As I have always said, however, great challenges are what forces us to do great things.

I drove up in the pouring rain outside Providence, RI, got warmed up in the parking lot as if it was a UFC title fight and entered a luxurious country club to present.  The group, all of which greatly exceeded me in both age and income, looked tired after a full day of business strategy, and it was my turn to inspire.

I presented for over an hour and by the applause, warm handshakes and thanks afterward, I knew I had hit the mark.  I could have been satisfied with the result and left, but I didnt,  What I did do is one of the most important things a warrior can do, I asked for feedback.  I asked them how I could get better.

"Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfills the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things.”

 Winston Churchill

Feedback, whether positive or negative is essential for growth.  Get an armbar, it’s feedback. Get tapped by an armbar, it’s feedback.  Scale says you are 10 pounds overweight, it’s feedback.  How you respond to the feedback is up to you.  But first you have to get the feedback’s message before you respond.

Most people unfortunately are either too afraid to ask for feedback thinking it will be negative (which is important to get) or respond incorrectly when the feedback they do ask for isn’t what they wanted to hear (still important to get).   In both cases, warriors, we cant be cowards.  Time to face the facts and become more as a result.

When was the last time you asked either your instructor, teacher, spouse, friend, or family for feedback about how you were doing?  If its been a while, you are probably not getting as good as you could.

 "We need very strong ears to hear ourselves judged frankly, and because there are few who can endure frank criticism without being stung by it."

Michel de Montaigne

This week’s mental challenge is actually tougher than some of the physical ones featured on this site.  You see, the pain of a physical challenge is decided by the weight, the time or the opponent. In this challenge the pain is all up to you.  My advice is to ask some people you trust (that is important) to give you some feedback in areas that are important to you.  Ask them honestly how you are doing and what you could be doing to get better.  Although there will be the initial sting, I promise the info will change you for the better.

  "If you have no critics you'll likely have no success.”

 Malcolm X

So remember warriors, you are going to be getting feedback all the time.  Think of it instead as just great knowledge that is there to make you better.  Take that mindset and you will move forward faster.  Finally, if you cant handle it and don’t want criticism, here is a great quote that should let you know how to handle your life.

"Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing”

 Aristotle