I am sharing what I consider to be 3 essential pillars of resilience that I learned and implemented on my journey to becoming a champion.

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1. Accept that there will challenges and own your response

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As a fighter, I understood by the very essence of the sport that it would be HARD, and that I would have to face adversity on a regular basis. The acceptance of this as a part of the contract was essential to have any chance of enjoying the journey.

This is also very true of life. In the words of the great philosopher Rocky Balboa, 'Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are; it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it.'

Accept this, and you can begin to own your outcomes.

Ownership is taking full accountability for decisions you make and actions you take. It is looking for feedback and information about how YOU could have done things differently when faced with defeat. It is apologizing for your part in disagreements or failures within a team. Ownership allows you to build incredible trust with the people around you.

In the gym, I received a lot of support from coaches and training partners, but I had to take ownership of my results. In the fight, there were many parties involved in how the fight might play out - the referee, judges, crowd and of course,your opponent. However, the result was mine and mine alone. If a fighter is pointing fingers after a defeat and looking for reasons outside of themselves as to why they lost, they have lost an opportunity to learn and grow.

This holds true for any walk of life. Accept that the journey will have difficulties and struggles, own your preparation and own your outcomes.

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2. More than a practice, gratitude is an attitude

A training camp for a fight can begin up to 8 weeks ahead of the competition. The fight camp involves 10-12 training sessions per week, dieting down to within a few kilograms of fight weight (you then dehydrate the last few kilos on fight week), and all of this while still working full time, maintaining relationships and dealing with the curve balls life can throw at you. It is very, very easy to slip into a mindset of frustration and create an inner friction in every moment of the day.

In my experience, this is why so few who take up the challenge of a professional fighting career will make it past a few fights before calling it quits. I knew that if I wanted to have a long, successful and enjoyable career, I would need to flip that switch and develop my resilience.

I was introduced to the concept of gratitude as a teenager by a lady who trained in the gym. As I was speaking with her before a session at the end of the week, I was complaining about how tired I was from that week's training, and she simply replied, “Be grateful that your body is capable of pushing so hard”. I took those words with me and felt relief from the aches and pains. I felt energized and capable. This led me to investigate the idea further and develop a conscious habit of being grateful and expressing gratitude. When I was eating cod and asparagus for dinner for the 5th consecutive night, instead of yearning for a more palatable meal, I felt grateful that I had food on my plate. I felt grateful that I was in a position to choose what I was eating, and it made the meal taste better.

The practice of gratitude involves more than being grateful for the things in your life but, it also entails expressing thanks to others. The simple act of saying “thank you”, not only strengthens relationships but also has a positive effect on you, the person expressing gratitude, as you witness the acknowledgement register on the other person's face. We can be very busy in life and often fall into a rhythm within our relationships. Taking a moment to say thank you to a loved one, friend or colleague can be just what they need to continue the push.

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3. Small commitments to test your body help build self belief

In the course of my martial arts journey, I began to realize the profound impact the physical training had on my self belief. Making a commitment to engage in challenging activities, such as waking up early before school to go for a run, and then following through with that commitment, cultivated a trust within myself. Gradually, I was fostering a belief that I could undertake and excel in demanding tasks.

How challenging must it be? This does not imply the imperative to adopt a professional fighter's training regimen to foster self-esteem. On the contrary, what is required is a commitment to physical exercise and a willingness to endure discomfort consistently. This regimen not only contributes to enhanced physical well-being but, as previously stated, instills a heightened sense of capability, fortifying one's readiness to confront challenges.

Fighters are similar to ordinary individuals in their appreciation of a warm bed on a cold winter morning, the luxury of heading straight home after work, or the respite of a leisurely lunch break. However, none of these comforts prove instrumental in extricating us from challenging situations within the realm of combat. The crucial factor that propels us through moments of despair lies in the realization that, even when lacking the motivation to act, we persist in accomplishing the necessary task.

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To wrap this up: Acceptance, Ownership, Gratitude and Commitments to test your body are in my experience the most powerful ways to enhance your resilience and helped me on my path to becoming a champion.

When you are in adversity, it is not just you struggling. I live by the motto “Facing adversity with a smile” because it improves not only my state and my sense of the experience, but also impacts the people around me and enhances their experience.

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To learn more about the topic, watch the 30’ interview with Sophie Vurpillot.

To discover more about Shane, watch this inspiring 13’ documentary about his journey to become a champion.