Winning at boxing is about mental strategy as much as physical endurance.
When Cam was 14 years old, it was explained to him how calories and fat loss work. He wanted to lose weight and started exercising to burn more calories. He tried to sign up for sports teams, but he wasn’t very athletic and never made the teams.
So he decided that every morning he would go roller blading for 2 hours to burn more calories. He expected results after 2 weeks. But when no one notices a change, he didn’t give up. He decided to give his plan 2 months. And it worked. People started telling him he looked thinner.
He decided that he wanted to take up boxing because he wouldn’t have to “try out” for a team. He went to the boxing gym and planned to just do the training. He wanted to look like
a boxer so that bullies would leave him alone and he would look good enough to get a date to the prom. But he didn’t want to actually get in the ring and box. He was there every day to train. He was motivated to follow his plan and look like a boxer.
After 6 months he was in better shape than all the other boxers. The coach called him out and embarrassed him in to sparring. He was so afraid of getting hit that his sole focus was not getting hit. And he didn’t get hit. He figured out that if he could keep from getting hit he would win fights.
He followed this strategy, and within 2 years he was the number one ranked boxer in the country.
He qualified for the 2008 Olympic boxing trials. He lost in the first day. He was disappointed, but then he realized that all the boxers he was competing against were going to turn pro. All he had to do was stick around and he would be one of the best boxers. And because he didn’t quit, he won Nationals later that year.
he decided not to go because all those boxers were going to go on to be professional boxers and he was going to be the only one left So he thought if he stayed he was going to be one of the best boxers Because all the experienced guys were gone And so he was because in 2008 he won the Nationals.
He continued winning Nationals the following years and has won more National Championships than anyone else in the history of the sport.
In 2012 he went back to the Olympic Trials and won the Olympic Trials and became the first to be suspended and kicked off the Olympic team for not filling out paperwork. Because he forgot to tell the drug testing agency that he was leaving the country for a boxing tournament so they showed up at his house in Kansas to give him a random drug test and he wasn’t there. And even though he tested negative this same week to compete in the tournament they, kicked him off. That was a very bad year for him.
He had the only thing he was good at taken away from him. He fell into depression. And he gained weight.
He got out of his depression because he lost a bet on a boxing match. As a result he had to go vegan for 28 days. He was training boxers, and one of his clients was vegan. As a result of the lost bet he also had to give up processed foods as well as alcohol. After 28 days he lost 30 pounds and he also realized what a negative person he had become.
He read the book, Think and Grow Rich, and decided to put the principle of focusing his mind on the pursuit of happiness. He decided to not start out the morning by looking at the stream of news and information on his phone. He started each morning by making a list of 10 things that he is grateful for. And his rule is that he can’t repeat any item on his list.
This conditioned him to look for things each day that he was grateful for and put them in his memory so he will remember them the next morning. Also, he has a rule that you cannot add a person’s name to the list unless you first reach out to them that day and tell them you are glad they are in your life.
He challenges everyone to try this for 90 days, and if it doesn’t change your life to call him and let him know.
Bridge Questions:
What is the most important piece of equipment you use in your training?: His mouth guard.
What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever seen while boxing?: He told us that one time he was in a fight that he was winning in the National Gold Gloves final, and the person he was fighting throws a punch and he goes to block it and he felt like he was falling for a long time and when he opens his eyes he is out of the ring on his back. The entire boxing ring had collapsed.
What is your word or phrase that sums up your philosophy of life?: If you can fail without getting discouraged, success becomes inevitable.
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