Some will say that being motivated is easy, and on some level it is. You’re motivated to get up in the morning and go to work, you’re motivated to get to the gym, you’re motivated to start a new diet. But most of us fall by the way side at some point. The amount of gusto we start a project with slowly disappears and then we’re back to where we started. Slowly but surely we will find something else that takes our interest and we’ll start the cycle all over again. Getting motivated, in my opinion, is easy. Being driven is a whole different ball game.
The two are closely linked but miles apart at the same time. The motivated person will eventually fail when interest wanes. The driven person will succeed, or if they fall, will get back up and keep going. They want to make success a habit. They will go that extra mile the motivated won’t. And that is what sets them apart from each other. This is how success is formed, not by the motivated but by the driven.
Why am I talking about this? Well this past Easter weekend, two of the most driven men I have ever met stepped into a boxing ring and succeeded. Two men I have had the pleasure of training for almost two years. Two men who have never given me an excuse, never hold back and who have never said I can’t. Two men who I am proud to call friends.
Michael Mcgoldrick made his professional boxing debut at the age of 33. To me he looked a seasoned pro. His movement was thought out and he didn’t waste energy, his combinations were clinical and his defence (when needed) was on point. The fitness was there in abundance, 4×3 minute rounds is a step up from his days in the amateurs but his boxing brain got him through it without expending too much energy. It was a unanimous victory and one, which I enjoyed watching from start to finish. If I say I wasn’t nervous I’d be lying but Goldy rose to the occasion and delivered a brilliant debut performance and I can’t wait to see him in that ring again soon.
The main event of the night saw Liam Conroy make his second defence of his light heavyweight title. The training camp for this fight was without a doubt the best. The first of our 7 camps together where we haven’t had an injury or niggle to deal with. People kept asking me ‘how is he looking?’ with my reply always being ‘Strong and powerful’. Liam has trusted in the process and stuck to it and it’s paying off. He carries that power into the later rounds which is where he needs it if called upon. Only this fight he didn’t, dispatching of his very experienced opponent Miles Shinkwin, a former Bristish title challenger, well inside 2 rounds. It was a clinical and lethal stoppage. As soon as Liam sensed that Shinkwin was hurt, that was it. Closing in and finishing him off with a barrage of power punches that left him out on his feet. It’s amazing to see how far he has come in the two short years in which I’ve known him. But if he wasn’t driven to succeed this wouldn’t have happened. Only Liam can get himself to the gym, only he can get himself to work and then to Preston to train every night. No one else will. The future is bright for this young man and the entire region is behind him and I can’t wait to see how far he will go and I’ll be with him every step of the way.
So what ever you plan on doing next, plan on sticking to it. Plan on doing whatever it takes to succeed and don’t take failure as an option, learn from it if you need to but move forward towards your goal. Because we truly can do anything we want, you just have to put your mind to it.
Be driven, not motivated.
