Randy Couture on sleeping before fights

Jay Glazer in this UFC roundtable with legends speaks with Randy Couture before about how he took a nap before his fight with Mark Coleman. Couture makes an interesting point about how conserving energy, relaxing, and "unplugging" can be a great way to save all your force for fighting and not waste any mental and physical energy beforehand with nerves and anxiety and overthinking:

We get there so early, three hours, we were there early. Sit there in a little room. You've got to relax and unplug; if you're keyed up that early you're spending energy you're going to need when you have to walk out there. You learn to unplug.

Jamie Varner on Sharing his Gift with the World

When you do a job just for the sake of doing a job and you hate it, you have a certain energy which goes into it that which is flat. There's a passionless expression which is translated into sub-par work. Basically you're functioning at a real low capacity and not scratching the surface of your potential. The opposite of this is doing something you love, where you're energized, motivated, excited, and really in the zone when you're engaging in your work to the point where it doesn't seem like work at all. Taking this up another notch is when someone believes that what they're doing was what they are meant to do and feel compelled to share that gift with others.

That's something that UFC lightweight Jamie Varner has experienced in turning his life around and moving in more positive directions. He considered stepping away from fighting and shifting back to a "normal" job and living a "normal" life; but decided that he was gifted at combat sports and felt it was his purpose and responsibility to share his talent, expression, and art to the millions of MMA fans worldwide. You can imagine the type of consciousness and quality of work which emerges when someone takes that type of approach to the work they do. 

Someone else who this reminds me of is Randy Couture. Couture was able to fight to the age of 47 against the elite in the UFC. This is a rare feat and something that was achieved by Randy through taking care of his body, being smart with his training approach, good dieting and genetics; but also a very strong sense of purpose. There's a Sanskrit word Dharma, which translates into English as purpose of life; and for Randy Couture fighting was his purpose in life. So when Couture mentions in his book, The Way of the Fight, how much he loves and appreciates fans, he's being totally sincere. "When fighters say they couldn't have done it without the fans, they do mean it", writes Couture in his autobiography. "If not for our crazy, hardcore fan base, mixed martial arts would have died during its dark years, and I might never have found my purpose in life."

Passion and purpose can take you miles further than you could possibly think; and those miles which you travel along will be of the highest quality, and filled with extreme joy.

The Power of Gratitude

Gratitude is actually something can enhance your performance in athletics and beyond. Gratitude can become a habit and can flow through you naturally after some time. Like riding a bike, driving a car, walking, or any other act that becomes unconscious through repetition, gratitude can become a default state which emerges effortlessly.

The one fighter in mixed martial arts which really embodied the spirit of gratitude was Randy Couture. He'd have a perma-smile on his face because he really was extremely grateful for living a dream, finding his passion, and living out what he felt was his life purpose. He had a very enhanced level of gratitude for what he did for a living and that was one of the reasons why he was able to fight until 47, and actually had some of his greatest accomplishments after the age of 40, on route to becoming of the greatest fighters in UFC and MMA history.

The following quote is from the book The Best Tennis Of Your Life: 50 Mental Strategies For Fearless Performance, but can be applied to any sport and any discipline of life:

Randy Couture camp on Bellator's Fight Master

Not only was Randy Couture an incredibly legendary fighter, winning titles in both the UFC's heavyweight and light-heavyweight division and fighting until the age of 47; but he's also a great coach. This stems from the depth of his insight into mixed martial arts, as well as the positive attitude he brings to everything.



More quotes from Randy Couture

Randy Couture on the Fear of Failure

Randy Couture's sage advice on taking things into perspective and not letting the fear of losing and all the other emotions which come along with that overwhelm your being leading up to and during competition.

3 MMA books worth checking out

These three books are worth checking out for any mixed martial arts fan:

1. The Way of the Fight, Georges St-Pierre

Georges St-Pierre is not only one of the greatest mixed martial arts fighters of all time due to his skill and hard work, but also his brain. He is highly intelligent and generously shares his secrets to success in his book The Way of the Fight.



2. A Fighter's Mind, Sam Sheridan

In this book, you really get into what makes a fighter tick and be successful. Samuel Sheridan interviews and gets great information from people such as UFC legend Randy Couture, Frank Shamrock, Greg Jackson, Ricardo Liborio, Marcelo Garcia and more. Very valuable and insightful information.



3. Laws of the Ring, Urijah Faber

Reading this book you realize that Urijah Faber is one of the most positive and inspirational people in mixed martial arts. He is the type of person you want to surround yourself with and in this book his gives tips and information on how you can incorporate your passion into your entire existence. In essence how to truly be living the dream.