“A rising tide lifts all boats,” an adage you may or may not have heard. It means that success benefits all those around it, just as a rising tide will lift all boats, not only one. Sadly, in the competitive world we live in, we may often feel that others have to lose in order for us to win. However, the opposite is true in our training philosophy. We believe in the values of teamwork and in the power of encouraging and supporting one another. You will find that as you help others achieve the goals, it will help you succeed in ways you did not anticipate.

How Success Breeds Success

Before your rising tide even begins to lift others, it lifts you up first: your success breeds more success. As you work to achieve a goal, you transform as a person. You may not realize it at first, but you are also grooming yourself for success in the future.

You will have to learn the skills surrounding goal setting and personal qualities such as greater focus, discipline, persistence, positive thinking and self-motivation. Although these qualities may have been developed while achieving your original goal, it’s nearly impossible to keep them isolated to one area of your life. Like we’ve said before, your goals transform you.

These qualities will inevitably carry over into other areas of your life, and you will find that you start becoming better in many other endeavors. Boxing is more than an exercise: it’s a mindset and a lifestyle. This is how boxing develops your mind, body and spirit.

Confidence and Success

Confidence, self-belief and success are inextricably linked. They affect each other and can form either positive cycles of success or vicious cycles of failure.

Self-doubt can be incredibly debilitating. It can cause stress, depression, performance anxiety and lower motivation. All of these factors can then damage your performance. This is why consciously nurturing self-belief is crucial to long-term success.

People with higher levels of self-efficacy are more likely to succeed and stay in a confident, positive cycle. On the flip side, this is also how we can become stuck in a vicious cycle of failure and low confidence, as failure can damage our self-confidence which can hinder success. If we do not recover mentally from failure in good time, this vicious cycle can snowball quickly.

The way to reverse the negative cycle is to start with smaller, more attainable goals to get your momentum going. Every small accomplishment you achieve contributes to your overall sense of self-belief. Over time, these mini achievements can help you attain that self-belief and the confidence needed to take on bigger accomplishments.

Success Is Contagious

If you look back into your fitness journey, there are sure to be those who inspired you to get started. Whether witnessing their success made you want it, or witnessing their entire journey made you believe you could do it achieve it too, their story made an impact on you. Realize it or not, your success will have this ripple effect on others. You set the example, showing them that they can do it too.

It doesn’t stop there: when you realize how others are looking to you for inspiration, your confidence boosts further and you feel more accountable. Thus, another positive cycle if formed.

You Become the Company You Keep

Many successful people, when asked for advice, have said the same thing: If you want to groom yourself for success, surround yourself with the kind of people that you seek to become.

There is even the saying, “if you surround yourself with nine (successful/unsuccessful) people, soon you will be the tenth.”

While we are all ultimately accountable for who we become, our surroundings influence us. You naturally model those around you to an extent. Your habits and thoughts can become affected by others, and vice versa, just as your accent may change when you have lived somewhere for a long time.

This is why it’s important to make a conscious decision about who you want to surround yourself with, as much as you can help it. You also need to think about how you may be influencing those around you for the better or worse.

A Tribe Is a Tide That Raises All Boats

The Gloveworx coaches and contenders are always encouraging you to find your tribe. Boxing training is a lifelong commitment. Having a support system of people with the same goals, lifestyle and mindset as you can go a long way to help you stay on track.

Make a Conscious Decision

It’s almost inevitable that you will form some friendships with others in the studio when you are spending that much time working out together. Most people in training are there with positive intentions and have the right attitude.

However, finding a tribe means making the conscious decision to surround yourself with the right people who have the same vision and making an effort to support and push one another.

Mental And Practical Support

Boxing can get competitive. It can be tempting to see other boxers as your rivals and to want to keep your training secrets to yourself to gain an edge. This will only limit you. You never know, your rivals may be the ones to help you in the end.

The GWX Community

Gloveworx is about so much more than just boxing. We believe that boxing is incredible in and of itself, but it’s also a means to a greater end. Boxing serves to develop a growth mindset and improve the lives of contenders, whose personal growth will then have a ripple effect on those around them. In this way, we aim to be a tide the raises many boats.

Our success stems from our continued commitment to creating an environment of support, encouragement and positivity. We always welcome new tribe members to be a part of this! Find your tribe at one of our beginner-friendly Gloveworx 101 sessions.