The School of Greatness - 638 Train Your Mind to Win with MMA Champion Mike Chandler

Episode Date: May 9, 2018

"SOMEBODY HAS TO BE THE BEST. WHY SHOULDN'T IT BE YOU?" - MIKE CHANDLER Have you ever looked at the best in the world and wondered if you could be that? I have. I think a lot of us do when we're kids. We are amazed and inspired by the very best examples we find. But often we grow up and discover all kinds of reasons for why we can't be as good as the best. We fail at things. We struggle. We get knocked down, disappointed, hurt. I got to connect with someone this week who has experienced all of that. Many times. But he still decided he could be the best in the world at what he does. And he became that. Mike Chandler is a Bellator Lightweight Champion fighter. He was an All-American wrestler in college. He's overcome extraordinary opponents to win titles again and again. But he's also faced losses. Failures. Setbacks. At one point, after winning the world championship, he didn't win another fight for 688 days straight. So when we had a minute to sit down to record a podcast about the mindset of champions, I had to know what his self-talk routine is like. It really impressed me. Mike told me that self-image is actually one of the most important things he has cultivated. He has to believe he can be the best in the world, or it's not going to happen. I loved his insights on why it's so important to talk to yourself instead of listening to yourself, and so many more nuggets. Whatever you're aspiring to, I know you'll find his wisdom very helpful in Episode 638. Some questions I ask: What lesson did you learn in order to win the world championship? (8:23) Who taught you that you could become anything you want? (11:05) What do all world-class fighters have in common? (14:47) What happens when you believe you deserve great things? (18:03) What's your greatest gift in your sport and what do you need to work on the most? (19:10) In this episode you will learn: Why settling for your mediocre circumstances is unacceptable (9:20) What loss can teach us about what our potential is (11:15) Why your self-image is so important to your success (14:55) Mike's pre-fight self-talk and rituals (21:10) Plus much more...

This is episode number 638 with world champion MMA fighter Michael Chandler. Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, a former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin. George Bernard Shaw said,

Some men see things as they are and say, why? I dream of things that never were and say, why not? I love this short interview that we have with Michael today because he really talks about something that I think so many of us can relate to, which is why should I be able to achieve what I want? Why should I be able to get that job, the career? Why should I be able to have that dream relationship? Why should I be one of the that dream relationship? Why should I be

one of the best at what I want to do? Why should I be able to achieve something so great and something so ridiculous sounding? Why me? And am I good enough to make it happen? Do I have the gifts? Do I have the tools? Do I have the skill set? Am I smart enough? Am I fast enough? Am I big enough, strong enough, whatever it may be? Am I talented enough? Why should I be able to be world-class at anything I want to do? Why should I be able to make the money I want to make? Why should I? And we're going to talk about that because Michael had that question his entire childhood. Growing up, he wasn't sure he was destined for great things. He didn't think he could be a world-class champion athlete. He didn't know

that these things were possible. He thought that he was destined to live an average, mediocre style living based on his upbringing. And it took a shift in the way he thought. It took a certain moment where he realized when he started to look at things differently, when he started to believe in himself differently and see that his gifts were able to perform great things in the world, that he was able to be world class and he did deserve to win and achieve what he wanted. That's when things started to shift. And for those that don't know, Michael Chandler is an American mixed martial artist fighter in the lightweight division he's currently under contract with the Bellator MMA where he is a former two-time Bellator lightweight champion and world champion

and he was a walk-on at the University of Missouri for wrestling ended up making his mark by being a four-time NCAA qualifier, collected 100 career wins, and also earned Division I NCAA All-American honors from being a walk-on to being an All-American. And immediately after his wrestling career was over, he began training MMA, and throughout his professional career, he won his first victory,

then won 12 consecutive wins after that, again, becoming the lightweight tournament champion for season four with Bellator. And the title fight was nominated by many as the fight of the year. So again, Michael grew up thinking that his life was going to be average because that was his surroundings,

that was his belief system. Then things shifted and his entire life has changed with a little shift in his belief. And we're going to dive into some of these things specifically, how to shift your mindset from mediocre to champion level. Also why your self-image is so important. And so many think that you shouldn't have an ego or a self-image, and we're going to talk about exactly what that means. Also, his pre-fight mental routine and also in between rounds, exactly what he thinks

about before he's going back out there to fight against someone that wants to destroy him. Also, how to come back mentally after multiple, multiple losses in a row. When you think that maybe I'm not good enough anymore, how do you come back and get back to the top? That and so much more. This is a powerful episode. Again, make sure to share it out with your friends.

If you want to support your friends and elevate your friends' mindset and beliefs and positivity and their growth towards achieving what they want in their lives, then send them this episode. It's going to really support them. Again, lewishouse.com slash 638. Take a screenshot of this.

Tag me, at Lewis Howes, on Instagram, and Twitter, and Facebook, and tag Mike Chandler, MMA, as well. Before we dive in, Michael Stalsmith left us a review, who is the fan of the week over on iTunes and says, I've been on the School of Greatness train for well over a year and a half now, and it has helped me change my life in so many ways. Not until I had to face some low moments of my own did I truly realize the lessons I'd been learning and the powerful mindset I'd been creating thanks in part to this podcast. and the powerful mindset I've been creating thanks in part to this podcast.

And since then, the School of Greatness podcast has only magnified in its impact on my life. Thank you, Lewis, for continuing to bring on such diverse group of guests. It can be easy to listen to and read the same content every day that we're the most comfortable with, but you pushing the boundaries is making all of your listeners better people. So Michael Stahlsmith, thank you so much for leaving your review.

You are the fan of the week. And if you guys haven't left a review yet, go ahead over there right now. You can do it on your phone. You can do it on the computer and leave us a review at the School of Greatness. All right, guys, this is all about elevating your mind, helping you get to the next level in your life, overcoming obstacles that come your way. So without further ado, let me introduce to you the one and only Michael Chandler. Michael Chandler is in the house. Good to see you, man. How are you doing, brother? Good to see you, man. I am wonderful. We made this happen last minute. We were just DMing each other and you're in town and we got to leave in 30 minutes. So

tell me about your, your fighter, MMA fighter. How did you get into that first off? I actually, I wrestled in high school, college. And then actually two guys that are doing very well in MMA. Tyron Woodley was the UFC welterweight champion. Ben Askren, who's undefeated, just retired, but he was a champion in multiple organizations. Both of those guys were like my big brothers who used to beat up on me. And then they started fighting and I figured I'd give it a chance. I fought my first fight three months after I graduated in 2009. College? In college and haven't looked back since. Where did you go to school? Mizzou. Oh yeah. Yeah, I wrestled at Mizzou. It's like a legendary wrestling school too, right? Yeah, doing well. I mean, we're always in the top 10 now

in these last almost decades. It's like Iowa, Mizzou, right? Ohio State. There's got a guy at Ohio State that's like the world champion.

Yeah, Kyle Snyder. Penn State's been... I met that guy. He's so strong. He's a machine. Yeah, and the sport of wrestling is really starting to evolve

where, I mean, guys are coming into college at young ages and just and doing really, really well. You know, I mean, guys are coming into college at young ages and doing really, really well. I mean, guys are starting. That's why I just opened up my gym. We were talking earlier. I want to build a wrestling club where kids can start wrestling at five

and really be poured into and get high, high-level coaching so by the time they get into high school, they're already well-advanced. By the time they get into college, they're 100% prepared and ready for that high-level competition because I didn't really get that opportunity really i didn't see my first college wrestling match till i was about to go into college you know and you just want to start kids younger the ones that the ones that really have the hunger really have to get the technique down early because if you just go on with the athleticism you're not going to be able to develop at the highest level because i might be stronger than some people but you could probably pin me

even though i'm 100 pounds more than you or something right it's like because you have the technique and all the angles and everything yeah and that's the thing about wrestling it's technique it's leverage it's positioning I mean it doesn't matter if you win the position by a quarter of an inch or a mile you win you win it you know um and then each each wrestling match isn't it's a series of positions that you have to win you know, when the majority of the positions wrestle out of those positions, you win the match. You win the match. So,

and so what made you, when did you first realize I wanted to go, you wanted to be a professional? I think, uh, I just got done and my buddy Tyron Woodley was like, you know, you should really give this a shot.

And I, I went up to, I actually went up to Canada with Ben Askren and, and trained with him, um, and another guy and, you know, got my butt kicked.

And I was like, but I was like, I wasn't half bad. Yeah, I was like decently athletic and putting the combinations together and started having a little bit of success and then had my first fight, like I said, and won by TKO in the first round. Really? You got the bug. And then second and then third and then fourth and then ended up becoming world champion like 16 months into my career, ranked in the top three in the world and then went all the way up and then lost three

fights in a row and then came back and then now i've learned six of my last six out of my last seven it's just like crazy emotional roller coaster and managing those emotions and coming back from losses and then continuing to try to believe in yourself after you've lost and trying to stick to the process and stick through the course, you know, and it's a, it's been a rollercoaster ride, but it's, it's an enjoyable career. I'm making it,

making a good life for myself. That's good, man. What was the world championship in? 155 Bellator lightweight. So a guy like UFC Bellator. What's another, is that the main two?

Yeah. Those are the main two, same sport, same rules, different organizations, same cage, same, same cage. I k i mean the

ufc fights in an octagon shaped cage bellator fights in a boxing ring circular shaped cage so they're still cages um but the same rules of same rules yes the unified rules of mixed martial arts same thing as like if there was two different football leagues they still play under the same same rules yeah maybe there's one or two different rules Like the Canadian League's got a couple different rules or whatever. Yeah ours are ours are ours are governed by boxing Commission So it's not even about the organization. That's the same the Commission that governs each So why go to Bellator not UFC it's it's all it's just like being under contract I years ago I saw a better path when I was younger

and wanted to get my career started. I thought Bellator was a great opportunity. Back then they used to do tournaments where we would fight an eight man tournament three fights in three months. Like blood sport. Yeah. Three fights in three months.

So I fought like March, April and May of 2010. You know or 2011 it was. And then if you did that you won $100,000 and you won and you got an opportunity To fight for the world title. So I won the tournament got the fuck got the fight for the world title So I saw on the world title Yeah

So I saw that path and I said that's an easier path or a better path to get Great exposure and fight a really top top-ranked guy then just hoping that the league will say we're gonna match you with yeah World title fight. Yeah. Which is UFC. Yeah, which takes years. Or Strikeforce. Oh, Strikeforce. Strikeforce was a different organization back then. And you get thrown into the mix and it's like you've got to build and build and build and build.

Whereas this was like three fights, three months, get the world title shot. You win and you keep going. Yeah. That's it. So you're in control of your destiny as opposed to hoping someone else likes you pretty much and even more these days

it's so much of an entertainment sport now now it's like the fans speak and the promoters speak of who's the most

entertaining guy who's got the best trash talk who looks the coolest or the funniest or the most intriguing or who's going to sell pay-per-views

who's going to get eyeballs and butts in seats but you don't have to worry about that in your league in in Bellator. You do. I mean, you're still, you know, you want to build your brand.

You want to continue to build the brand, man. I mean, you're a master at it. You always think about the brand, and you always think about making that big impact. I mean, that's what it's always been for me, which is always the tough part because UFC is the bigger organization, bigger platform, bigger platform. Bellator takes really good care of myself and we have a son now that we just adopted

six months ago. So now I'm starting to think like a father and not just like an athlete. So I've always thought about building my brand, always thought about building my following, building my platform because with that platform comes impact. With the impact you just move people and you do what you were called to do. What I really feel like I was put on this earth to do. And that's to motivate people through the gifts that I've been given, you know, and what's your gifts, man. I just, I mean, well, the gifts athletically, I mean, to be able to do what I do as, as an athlete, as,

as a guy who fights in a cage for a living and a lot of people watch, you know, um, but even just to be, to be pumped up, inspired, excited about life, I mean, really waking up every morning realizing that I've been given some really great gifts, and to not give myself, or not to give the best of myself every single day is a sacrifice, those gifts, you know, and I think people, that resonates with people, I think people in my sport, it's embarrassing, I mean, I've been knocked out in front of a million people, you know, on TV, sport it's embarrassing I mean I've been knocked out on in front of a million people you know on tv like it's embarrassing and people see you down in the dumps and they see you pick yourself back up and dust yourself off and come back from ranked 100 in the world back to like

the top 10 again you know and it's those kind of triumphant those kind of triumphant kind of comebacks that really get people motivated and move people. And someday I'm to the point now where I'm 32, just turned 32. I know I've got many years left of fighting. Not many, but probably five years of fighting left. And there's going to come a time where I'm going to be in the back in some arena somewhere. I'm going to take my gloves off for the last time. I'm going to be in some arena showering off. And I've got to look at myself in the mirror when I'm about ready to go to my last press conference

and say, Michael, did you give everything that you possibly could with the gifts that you were given? And I just hope when that time comes that I can answer truthfully and without regret, you know? So it's like every single day is what can I do today to get a little bit better? What can I do today, not just physically, but mentally, you know, what can I do? And this podcast right here that we're talking about, your books,, to be able to just, in 2018, there's so much more available at our fingertips than there was a generation before us to be able to stay built up, build ourselves up, and just listen to stories of people, listen to what they bring, your gifts, the next guy's gifts, the next guy's gifts, and then just kind of take

it all and just learn through it all and learn all about it and become a better person better man yeah what's uh the lesson you learned when you were a world champion and you won that title was there something you did differently from two years previous or three years previous or was it just applying the same things over and over until that opportunity came i think it was just applying i mean i've always lived my life by the principle that if i work hard and I surround myself with the best people possible, that good things are going to happen, you know, and I've always done that. I always, I was the guy who walked onto the Mizzou wrestling team. I was the, you know, the worst guy in the, it was the worst guy on the team. I was the only guy who wasn't really a state champion.

Coach didn't talk to me for the first year. You know, you just feel like an outcast and you're like, does he even notice me? Should I just go ahead and pack my bags but i just kept working and kept working um you know and then eventually i won the starting spot started beating all these state champions and then became a four-time starter and an all-american but so it showed me that if i worked hard good great things were happening what happened and my parents showed me that my dad was a carpenter my mom was a secretary and worked at a restaurant They both worked two and three jobs to make sure myself and my brothers had every opportunity to do something great But what I wasn't taught was that Michael you deserve great things you deserve to be a champion You don't deserve to just be mediocre

I think so many so many people in life through no fault of their own Have a bar set for themselves a glass ceiling set for themselves that they don't even know is there own have a bar set for themselves, a glass ceiling set for themselves that they don't even know is there until they just keep hitting it and hitting it and hitting it and hopefully they have a breakthrough like I did. I finally realized, man, why I do everything right. I do the right things. I work hard. I'm the first guy in the practice room.

I tell everybody I want to be a national champion. I tell everybody I want to be a world champion. But when it comes down to it, I somehow find a way to lose Because I don't truly believe that I was put on this earth To be that big of a winner, you know, you were taught that right? Yeah, I think I was just taught I grew up in a very mediocre setting not mediocre, but just limited mindset. Yeah. Yeah, just limited mindset not that outside world you know the the LA's and the Hollywood's and the New York's and the rich get richer and the poor get poorer and like the you know

The money might money isn't and it isn't necessarily a great thing and like, you know all this like this this small limited mindset of that now I just have that Abundancy mindset where I there is no limit to what I am capable of. And it really is through the extreme, through taking extreme ownership of literally every single day seeking out people to admire. Like listening to the words that you speak, listening to the other podcasts, or the other sermon, or the other pastor, the other motivational speaker, and realizing that if I can see that, then I can become some of that. Maybe I won't get, you know, maybe I won't be the greatest motivational speaker of all time or the

greatest athlete of all time, but I can shoot for it and end up somewhere a lot further along than I would have normally been, you know? And I think... Who taught you that you could be anything you want, that you could become a world champion? I mean, I think it was... When did you believe it for the first time? I finally did, honestly. Even though I had won the world title, I won it all through just hard work and like stick-to-it-edness and like an indomitable spirit. But it actually took three losses in a row. I lost three losses in a row and lost three fights in a row. 688 days I went without winning a fight. After the world championship?

After that world championship. After the world championship, I won two more fights and then I lost six hundred and six hundred eight days I lost three for two years almost two years almost and that's a long time I mean you think like you think about your career like if you got a game you lost a game you're down in the dumps But then next week, yeah, you can you can redeem yourself in fighting It's tough because sometimes a six months goes by eight months months goes by, and that's a lot of days. That's 180 days of, hey, remember that time you got knocked out on national television? Maybe I'm not good enough.

Maybe I'm... Yeah. And I think we focus so much on trying to be perfect when really we just need to be successful. Every single practice now became another opportunity to be perfect or be a loser. And each day I kept reminding myself through every punch that got landed or every takedown that I couldn't get or every practice where I wasn't exactly perfect that I was a loser. And each day I kept reminding myself through every punch that got landed or every takedown that I couldn't get or every practice where I wasn't exactly perfect that I was a loser. Hey, Michael, you're not as good as you thought you were. You know, it just,

it really keeps continuing to build upon itself until you realize you need to stop being perfect and just try to be successful in that. Even if you failed, that failure was an event. It's not who you are. It's not a person. And I think that has really resonated with me. That has really built this, it's not bulletproof, but this armor that we have around us, and that armor has chinks in it. We all have our own insecurities, our own fears,

our own limited beliefs, and our own limited mindsets. And I have thousands of them, but the more I can just pile positivity on it and more more armor adding more our armor and even more, you know You know seeing those commercials with the Flex seal where he like of course We are imperfect humans with these fears and these doubts and these these cracks in in what you see Even though I look like the most confident those things still come up and you just got to throw a little patch on there throw a little patch and you do that by One chapter in a book or one video or one minute or five minutes of visualization and seeing yourself winning, seeing yourself being wildly successful and being okay with that.

Because there was a time when I would close my eyes and I would think about myself being rich and famous and wealthy and making a ton of impact and people looking at me like a huge leader and that would make me feel weird because I don't want those people to think that I'm better than them I don't you know so we have this like cognitive dissonance of of I think our our true belief in ourself not lining up with the reality you know of what's going on. So I would always somehow find a way to dummy myself back down to less than I actually am. Yeah, I hear you. To not feel like you're better than everyone else. Yeah, and that's tough because I was always taught that.

And I came from a background where I was like, oh, those are those kind of people and these are these kind of people. And you never want to make people feel insecure around you, like the quote, the Nelson Mandela quote. I think it's not about making people insecure, it's showing them what's possible for their own lives. By you setting the example, say, hey, if I can do this, then you can do this too. It's being a symbol of inspiration.

That's what really moves people. Not when we say, hey, I'm better than you. Look what I've done. But look at how I've created the hard work I've taken. And here's a process you can take as well for your own dream. What would you say is the thing that all world class or all world championship fighters have in common? About the way they think or the way they train, what are the things they have in common? I think it's your most prized possession aside from my faith and my wife and my son is my self-image. And I never used to think about a self-image because I never inwardly reflected.

I never thought about me. I was always thinking about, okay, this practice, what can I do in this practice? What can I do in this sector of my life? What can I do for this person? The way that I look at myself and when I look into the mirror, instead of just seeing this guy who has failed a thousand times or had a kind of a mediocre mindset, I look at myself like a champion. I look at myself like someone who can really do some really ridiculously great things. And I also take time to pat myself on the back when I do have successes and I do have victories. I think we all get caught up in this somewhat no man's land of, well, I won that match or I won that fight or I got that business deal or I got that book deal,

but I was supposed to do that because that was my goal for myself. Now on to the next one. You ever hear of Sean Atcher? The happiness guy? Yes, the positive psychology. And he talks about success is not a prerequisite to happiness because once we set that bar,

now we're not going to be happy because now we just set the bar a little bit higher. So if we can be happy with ourself, we can be inwardly happy with who we are and look at ourselves like something way more than we actually are, kind of fake it till you make it type of scenario. There's some sort of truth to that.

And as long as you continue to be a hardworking, good person, you know, positive self-image. In sports psychology growing up, it was for me, it was like the alter ego. And I would imagine my alter ego in the mirror or when I'd step on the field, I stepped into Jerry Rice or whatever the alter ego was at that time for me. And I just put myself in that embodiment of who I wanted to be. Whether it was another person or the greatest version of myself, I just said, this is what I'm going to become and I'm going to act as if I am that today. I'm going to play like that.

I'm going to practice like that. I'm going to compete like that. It sounds like that's similar to what you're doing. It's just like looking at yourself in the mirror, just imagining your greatest self. Yeah. And even just looking at those people like they aren't any better than you. Looking at Jerry Rice, like he literally put his pads on, he put his cleats on the same way you did, you know.

Instead of just putting it out like he's some alien or some rock star, superstar, he's just a normal guy with a heartbeat and a soul and insecurities and fears. And it comes with so much maturity I mean I I think like this because I've had so many years to think about and mull it over and fail and then triumph and then fail and triumph and you know And just looking at it and almost kind of just making it not such a big deal I used to put so much pressure on myself and

Make this sport so much bigger than it actually is when really we're all just trying to wing it we're all just trying to figure it out you know work hard be a good person surround yourself with the right people and good things will happen but ultimately most of all just continue to believe that you deserve great things not that you're better than anybody else but you do deserve probably more than you think you do what happens when we start to believe that man you things just become easier i think you know things become easier because you think you do. What happens when we start to believe that? Man, things just become easier, I think. You know, things become easier because you're constantly not putting limits on yourself. And then you start to see little successes.

And then you pat yourself on the back for having that success. Because now you are having the self-awareness to say, A plus B equals C. It's black and white. If I continue to believe in myself, this practice, good things happen. This business deal went through because I had the confidence to see it through. And things just like life just opens up and it becomes so much more colorful and so much more vibrant because now instead of looking at yourself with that kind of small mindedness, putting that ceiling right above yourself. You just see,

you see it, nothing but blue sky and the sky's the limit, you know? And it really is crazy. And there's, it's never a, it's a constant battle. Like I said, I mean, I might, we might try to put this bulletproof armor on yourself, but you're a human being and you have, you have your fears and your doubts and your insecurities. They're always going to be there. It's constant. It's going to be there. Sorry, go ahead. No, but you just got to have to get used to it. Yeah. Yeah. What would you say is your greatest gift in your sport and the thing that you need to work on the most? My greatest gift is, I mean, I think I really am, my wife would hate to hear me say it. I really am not afraid for bad things to happen to me inside the cage. I feel like God led me into this sport, so I can't be fearful of what might happen.

I could get knocked out. I could have brain trauma. I could have a broken leg, whatever. Bad things can happen. It's a crazy, violent sport. But with that risk comes the huge reward, the huge impact that I can make. So I think my greatest gift is the fact that I'm not afraid to work circles around anybody in the entire world. I'm not afraid to just get way outside of my comfort zone and with complete disregard to bad things

that may happen to me. Um, and I think still to this day, my biggest, my biggest weakness is trying to be perfect. You know, I mean, I think, I think I, I, I, I think I work hard. So I overanalyze the little bitty shortcomings. I could win a round is five minutes, so maybe I'm sparring. Me and you are sparring, and I win four minutes and 53 seconds of that round, but you beat me for seven seconds. All of a sudden, I feel like all I focus on is the three seconds that I lost when really there was four minutes and 53 seconds that I was just dominating. It it goes back to that, try not to be perfect, just try to be successful. This is such a marathon. We try to act like it's a sprint, but it's such a marathon. And here I am almost 10

years into the sport, the best I've ever been with a career that I'm proud of. And it doesn't matter that I've had those losses and I've had those shortcomings and I had those people write me off and those people say mean things and try to tear me down and say I wasn't as good as I thought I was now they have to eat crow because I'm continuing to build and continuing to do great things in the sport you know yeah walk me through final couple questions walk me through uh what you say to yourself on a fight day or either in the morning or leading up to the fight couple hours before when you're in the locker room getting on to the mat what do you say to yourself on a fight day, or either in the morning or leading up to the fight, a couple hours before when you're in the locker room, getting onto the mat,

what do you say to yourself leading up to it? And then in between each round, what do you say to yourself? I think, that's actually, I'm glad you asked that, because honestly, the biggest thing that I changed too once I started to have kind of a mindset shift is I really started talking to myself instead of listening to myself. Talk to yourself, because the more you're talking to myself instead of listening to myself. Talk to yourself

because the more you're talking to yourself, the less you can hear yourself. If I just, if you just sit there and I'm about to step into a cage in front of millions of people, stand across the cage with a man who wants to rip my face off, you know, I mean, if you just sit there in silence, you start to listen, you start to hear, you start to hear things that aren't even, they're not even rational. I mean, they're not, you know, there's no way that you're gonna, in my mind I was like, there's no way I'm gonna lose to this guy.

But if I sit there in silence, I'll sit there and, even this last fight, just in this last fight, I was sitting there, I was waiting to warm up, they're like, oh, let's wait a second, we got a little bit of time. And I was just sitting there silently, I'm like, well, I don't know, like, Evan, get up, let's go, hit some,

I needed to hit some pads because I wanted to stop the silence, like stop the voices, you know? So I find myself, if I talk to myself, Michael, you deserve to be a champion. Michael, you're the hardest worker in the entire world. You're the best light in the entire world. You were made in the image of an almighty God who deserves to go out there and do amazing things in front of millions of people and have people inspired and motivated and pumped up to see you triumph.

As I'm talking for 10 seconds straight, there is no negativity that can pop into my mind because you're human. That's what happens, you know? Um, and then between rounds, really, I'm just, I really just want to center myself. I'm going to grab a couple of nice, big, deep breaths. Cause I just got done fighting for five minutes and I want to listen to my coaches, have them inject like small little techniques. And then there's about 10 seconds where you're standing there, you're looking at each other. The ref's about to say, okay, round two fight. And then in that time i give myself a couple little nuggets too you know like what i deserve to be here continue yeah yeah oh yeah kind of just like yeah same thing you deserve to be a champion this guy has no idea what's up you know give him the

old wink like you're ready to do this thing you know make it you know and just be present in the moment and just be be in the cage and be excited to be competing You know, they're so what I realized too is there's so many there's I'm I'm in a small pool of point zero zero zero zero zero One percent of the population that and so many people out there wish they could have the opportunity that I have, you know so for me to to not take advantage of these opportunities and for me to take this this life and this gift that I For granted is just it's robbery granted is just, it's robbery. It's robbery from the gifts that I've been given.

I think we got a few minutes left. Yeah, couple minutes. It's called the three truths. Oh boy. I think you've heard this maybe. So this is your last day many years from now and you can only share three truths with the world and you have to take everything else that you've created with you on your last day on this earth but three things remain

that you could share with the world what would be your three truths um three things yeah three lessons or truths i mean i think i think we've covered a couple but but to like bring bring it back i mean at the end of the day somebody has to be the best. Why shouldn't it be you? If you work hard, if you can truly say that you work hard and you try to be a good person and a man or woman of character, of good reputation, of someone who really is trying, why shouldn't you deserve to be the best? Why shouldn't you see that goal, visualize it, and then take it? Because somebody else is going to if you don't. And so many times in life, people get things that they don't necessarily deserve. But if you deserve it, why shouldn't you take it?

Don't let your own limited mindset rob you of that opportunity. I'd say the other thing I have really meditated on over the last couple years, Zig Ziglar said it best. He said, failure is an event, not a person. Every single person that you look up to, your favorite person in the entire world, is a failure, has been at one point or another a failure, right? But that was an event that happened to them, and because of that, it made them a better person.

So failure is an event, not a person. Every single person that we've looked up to has gone from failure to the next failure to finally triumph you know and i think that's something that rings true to me because i had those failures and i failed so many times but that doesn't mean i'm a failure i'm actually a champion who has had some failures in his past um and the last one um i think there's nothing more important in this entire world than your self-image. And it's yours and yours alone. She can tell me I'm great. He can tell me I'm great. Everybody around me can tell I'm great.

But when it's just you and yourself and you are there by yourself, you have to truly believe that you were put on this earth for awesome things, for great triumphs, for awesome opportunities, to take those opportunities and just do amazing things.

And there is no limit to what you can do. I mean, I think we constantly see the negative or we constantly hear the negative or we constantly are making excuses of why we can't achieve things. But those are all just, you know, like they say, fear is a liar. It really is. Every single thing that you are fearful of is so many times just a fallacy, you know, and every single thing that you've ever wanted to achieve in the greatest version of yourself is right out there, right out there

waiting for you on the outside of your comfort zone. We all get in these little, in this little bubble, this little box that we put ourselves in, but that's not where real growth is. That's not where the rubber meets the road. The rubber meets the road outside of your comfort zone to be able to go out there and do great things and just challenge yourself and just surround yourself with the best people you possibly can. And and through that continuing to look at yourself like a champion in life not just not in sports not in business not in everything just a champion in life to really be put on a platform to just inspire those people yeah that's great man um where can we connect with you online um i'm very active on social medias at mike chandler mma my instagram is my my main source because i like to do like

videos and tons of inspirational stuff, workout stuff, MMA stuff, wrestling stuff, all kinds of stuff. Mike Chandler MMA. Mike Chandler MMA. Twitter, Instagram.

Same thing, at Mike Chandler MMA. I have a Facebook fan page. Where can we watch you fight? I fight on the Paramount Network and CMT currently. That's the Bellator? Bellator, yeah.

That's where bellator is viewed gotcha when's the next fight i don't have anything scheduled i just fought um a couple weeks ago so i'm healing up and hanging out getting my gym get my gym going um trying to get all those classes up and running and get all the programs going so we can hopefully inspire some people change some lives awesome man well i want to acknowledge you for shifting your belief in your mindset because it sounds like growing up you didn't have that championship mentality and then you learned how to develop it. And that's fascinating for me because it's something we can all learn.

And if you were able to develop it coming from humble beginnings where you didn't think it was possible, so you know what, it is possible. And that self-image, which I think is really key for people, is developing that self-image and being an example of what's possible for other people. So I acknowledge you for everything, man, for all that you've done, for getting to the top of your sport, losing and sticking it out to continue to rise back up.

Final question, what's your definition of greatness? Impact, just impacting people. I mean, I think we can all be great athletically, business, wealth, fame, all that kind of stuff. But how many people did you, how many hearts did you touch? You know, how many people said because of that man and that circumstance, because of that happening, it made my day better. It made me want to believe in myself more. It made me want to do great things because I saw him, whether he won, whether he lost, I admire that. And I think that's greatness.

That's greatness to me. My man. Thank you, brother. Appreciate it, man. Appreciate it, man. There you have it, my friends. If you have enjoyed this, the mindset of a world-class champion and how to really believe in yourself and create a more positive self image

every single day when we create this self image it's hard to be stopped it's hard to be knocked over because we realize that failure is not about us it's just an event that happened and it doesn't affect our self image so make sure to work on that. Practice that. When you get up in the morning, really talk to yourself in a positive way. Look yourself in the mirror in a positive way. It's more than just positive self-talk. It's positive self-image. And when you see the difference, I can say things to myself constantly. But if I don't believe in them, and if I don't see myself as those things, through hard work, consistency, dedication, following through on the things I say I'm going to do and delivering results, then it's hard to believe in that self image. and the link for this is lewishouse.com slash 638. Connect with me on Instagram.

Take a screenshot of this. Tag me over there. I try to reply to as many people as possible. Connect with Michael Chandler, MMA as well, over on Instagram and let him know what you thought about this. Very powerful stuff, guys, and I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know if you did and we're always having the conversation

over on social media as well. Again, don't ask yourself why. Ask yourself, why not me? Why not now? What can I do to improve my life, to improve my skill set, to improve my mindset, to improve my relationships, health, finances, to get to that next level? We're all in this together and we're all looking to grow and impact and find meaning and fulfillment. And we can't do that when we're talking negatively

about ourselves. We can't do something great when you don't see yourself in a positive light and you don't believe that you are supposed to be here. You're meant to be here. Whether you think it was an accident because your parents had an accident and you were here, whether you think that you weren't supposed to stay alive after there was almost a near-death accident that happened, whether you think you weren't supposed to make it through a certain situation, whether you're not sure why you're here, there's a reason you're here and you must believe in it. You must believe in the greater vision for your life. Whether you think it was an accident, it's planned. Whether you had everything in the world

or you had nothing in the world, you're here for a reason and you're listening to this right now. You continue to listen to this right now because you know you want more in your life. You've got to continue to follow through. Simple steps leads to big results. Simple steps every single day will lead to big, powerful results.

I love you guys. I hope you enjoyed this. Make sure to share with a friend and you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great. Oh, yeah. I don't want to let go.