Relationships: Is Boxing Like Love?

Love Can be TOUGH.

Love can feel AMAZING.

1. To be able to "Win", you must stick your neck out there. With very few exceptions, you must risk going inside, and getting close to the other person. Only then can you make a significant impact. Too often, people remember a time when they got too close to someone, and they got hurt. They spend the rest of their lives, dangling around the ropes, trying to avoid another "hit".
2. Relax and remain flexible. Too many young boxers remain very tense when in the ring and someone is across from them focusing on them (i.e. a first date or at the beginning of a relationship). Being too stiff will get someone knocked out. Like in boxing, others will test you in the love game (usually unconsciously). They will test your congruency, your character, your spine, and your values. The key is to not be too stiff, but to also not be too flimsy. BE HUMAN. Know how to "roll with the punches" when a potential mate tests you.
3. Find a good coach. There is not a boxing champion in the world, nor has there ever been, who didn't have a wise, dedicated, and caring mentor. If you haven't seen the documentary "Tyson", its worth a look. Similarly, with love and relationships, the quickest and most effective way to get the most out of it is to find others who have done so successfully, and use them as mentors. Ask them advice. Learn from them. Don't reinvent the wheel.
4. You must practice. Whether you are a professional fighter, or design collectible figurines in your basement, you must work at it. The greatest fighter in the world will easily lose to someone who outworks them. Lasting love takes practice and work upfront. Breakups don't happen over a week's time. They happen months and even years before the actual event. Similarly, boxing matches aren't won or lost the day of the fight, they are won and lost in the months that went into training for the fight. Laziness causes 80% of poor relationships.
5. Be in the moment. The human brain is designed to build habits and routines and "go through the motions". While practice is important for boxers, it is also important that when it is fight time, they are mentally, emotionally, and spiritually present. They must adapt in real-time to the person in front of them. Similarly in love, spontaneity is key. Do something you've never done; say something you've never said; feel something you've never felt before in that moment. This is what makes a true champion inside or outside of the ring.