Muhammad Ali, once known as Cassius Clay, was the greatest sports figure of the 20th century.
He lost the prime years of his boxing career because he refused to be drafted into the United States military. Ali refused to go to war on religious grounds. Many people expressed strong support for his decision to oppose the Vietnam War. There were also many people who reviled him because of his decision and his personality.
Despite that circumstance, he reclaimed the heavyweight title in a dramatic return to the ring. But whether you liked or disliked Ali, there are three lessons you can learn from the Greatest.
1) Believe In Yourself
If you have no belief in your abilities, you will be going nowhere fast.
When Muhammad Ali went by Cassius Clay, he was scheduled to fight Sonny Liston on February 25, 1964. Liston was the feared heavyweight champion of the world.
No one believed that a 22-year-old Cassius Clay could win except for Cassius Clay. Clay was vocal with the media about his determination to beat Liston. But the media dismissed him as a joke.
On fight night, the predictions of Clay would come true. He completely outclassed Liston. At the start of the 7th round Liston did not rise from his stool. He flat-out quit.
None of this would have occurred if Clay did not have a deep belief in his ability to succeed. Many people around you will not believe in your ability to succeed with your health and fitness. But what they think does not matter if you believe in yourself.
2) You Have To Have The Will To Win
Your will to win must outweigh the inevitable pain you will face on the road to reaching your goals. As a younger man, I failed in this area.
Muhammad Ali faced his toughest fight at the Rumble in the Jungle in Zaire (now the Congo). The fight was against George Foreman. Going into the fight, virtually no one thought Ali had a chance to go toe-to-toe with Foreman. Foreman was the hardest-hitting and strongest boxer that Ali would ever face.
The pundits were right. Ali could not go punch for punch with Foreman, but he had a plan. He was going to get Foreman to punch himself out. This plan, known as the “Rope-A-Dope”, would require Ali to absorb the brunt of Foreman’s best punches.
This plan required Ali to become friends with pain. But it was Ali’s will to win that outweighed the pain of Foreman’s hardest punches. In the 8th round, Foreman ran out of gas, and Ali knocked him out in dramatic fashion.
Whatever fitness battle you are facing right now is your George Foreman. You will take some hits. But, if you stick to the plan, you will eventually knock out your Foreman.
3) You Must Stand For Something
Most people in America at the time saw Muhammad Ali as controversial for joining the Nation of Islam in the 1960s.
Ali candidly discussed his intention to be the champ on his own terms. This caused many people to feel uncomfortable. His decision at the height of his boxing career defined him: he did not want to fight in the Vietnam War.
Ali made sure that folks knew how he felt about the war. He questioned why he should fight in the war when Black people in America were being treated as if they were subhuman.
His strong beliefs resulted in the loss of his boxing license for taking this stand at the peak of his career. Ali was willing to derail his boxing career to stand for his beliefs, despite what others said.
Many people in the fitness industry do not stand for anything. They ride the wave of what is popular, even if it’s bad. When you take a stand for something, you might become unpopular, and others may ridicule you for it.
But if you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything.
Conclusion
Ali showed us that we can achieve great things if we apply the above lessons to our lives.
I’ll holla at you next time.
The People’s Trainer,
Fitman
