..The sooner it gets done.

If I get to choose the epitath on my tombstone, this might be the one.  The sooner you do it, the sooner it gets done.

As a fighter and as a entrepreneur (after all, in both cases, you only eat what you kill) there is only ever one guarantee: there is work to be done.  Glory, fun, fame, riches, and all the trappings of success are always hungered after.. but, hell, most aren’t even on the table for the lot of us.

Hard work, though?  That’s a guarantee, no doubt about it.

At any given moment you are staring down the barrel of a dozen difficult and uncomfortable things that, simply, need to get done.

You can sit there and worry about them all (and, trust me, I’ve done my share of that), but at the end of the day, the sooner you do it, the sooner it gets done.

I was lucky to learn this lesson as an athlete first, where the stakes are generally lower (e.g. you don’t lose your house by tapping out at Grappling Industries).  And I think this is a great lesson that everyone can learn if they challenge themselves to compete.  You have to do your road work, you have to get your rounds of rolling and sparring in, and you have to stay on top of your food prep, sleep, and — of course — LAUNDRY.  There is just no time to slip up because the work keeps piling up.

But the sooner you do it all, the sooner it gets done.

And competitor or not, you can still glean this lesson from the mats if you hold yourself to a higher standard than most.

So make sure to get after it and just get it done.

If only to make space for the next round coming down the pipeline.