A Tale Of Two Wolves — The Champion & The Critic Within

Simon Boulter
Jul 23, 2017 · 7 min read
A fight is going on inside me, the same fight is going on inside of you.

There is an old Cherokee legend, where a wise old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life and explains ‘A fight is going on inside me, it is a terrible fight between two wolves. One is evil, negative and destructive, he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, superiority and ego.’ He continued ‘the other wolf is good, productive and beneficial. He is joy, peace, love, hope serenity, humility and kindness. The same fight is going on inside of you and every other person too, these 2 wolves fight to gain influence and control over us.’

The grandson pauses for a minute to think, then asks curiously ‘Which wolf will win?’

The grandfather replies ‘The one you feed.’

Picture: Zen Pencils

We’ve all got an inner champion and an inner critic, it’s often like we’ve got an angel sitting on one shoulder and a devil on the other, one telling us that we can succeed and to keep going, and the other telling us to quit because we’re not good enough and we can’t win. They’re like two wolves fighting for control and influence over you, and just like the story, the wolf that wins is the one you feed. You can either feed the wolf of fear, or the wolf of courage, whichever one you choose will become the loudest.

When you’re working hard and struggling through a tough training session or a tough competition, at some point you’ll hit a wall of challenge that feels like getting hit by a truck. You get hit with fatigue, pain and discomfort, you’re so tired physically, mentally and emotionally, you feel sick and it hurts all the way down to your bones. These moments test your spirit, they ask more of you than you’ve been asked to give before, they ask whether or not you have the heart of a champion. When the pain is utterly unbearable and you can’t stand anymore, that wolf is whispering negativity in your ear, you have the choice to feed the wolf of courage and embrace the grind, or feed the wolf of fear and negativity and just throw in the towel when it matters most. You must learn to listen to that little angel on your shoulder, the champion within.

Picture: Zen Pencils

In these moments when the pain is intolerable, champions recognise that it doesn’t get any worse, at this point the pain of fatigue is already as bad as it gets, so they embrace the suffering and get through it with enthusiasm and tenacity. You can either suffer through it, or quit, since you’re already suffering, since you’ve made it this far and the pain can’t hurt any worse than it already does, you might as well lean hard into the challenge, keep going and get the job done.

Don’t feel bad for yourself, don’t have a defeatist attitude, don’t feed the wolf of fear and negativity. This is what it means to have a championship work ethic, to carry on when you’re in so much pain, that your body and mind are telling you that you want to quit more than anything. Going that one more round when you don’t think you can, that’s what makes all the difference in sports, and in life. It takes practice, the harder you work the more you’ll get used to feeling discomfort and pain, the harder you work the more you become comfortable being uncomfortable. It gets easier with time and practice, as you begin to realise that in those spirit shattering moments, when you know that the pain doesn’t actually get any worse than this and that you can handle it, you learn to embrace the suffering and you get through it.

Picture: Zen Pencils

That’s what champions do, they’re always the hardest working person in the room, even when they’re in agony they do more than anyone else could ever expect of them. Through hard work they’ve gradually become more tolerant to pain and discomfort, building a tremendous amount of mental toughness.

A championship work ethic is not reserved for the genetically gifted, Olympic or World Champions, it is within you if you are willing to develop it, push yourself, stay in the arena and suffer through the pain, and lean hard into every challenge you’re faced with.

If I’ve learned one thing from enduring the hard training involved in preparing for professional fights, it’s that sometimes you just have to gut it out and get through it. Almost daily your aching, tired, in pain, hungry from cutting weight and you have to get through arduous training sessions that truly test your mental toughness. You just have to suffer through it, when it hurts too much and you want to quit, you soon learn what you’re really made of.

Picture: Zen Pencils

When you’re cutting weight, you’re miserable because you haven’t eaten much, your weak, low on energy, low on patience, your mind plays tricks on you to get you to quit and that negative wolf seems louder than ever. Your mind looks for any excuse or interruption, to not go through with the workout. You get moments like this, in sports, in the gym and in life. You’ve just got to grit your teeth, bite down on your gumshield, get your head down, suffer through it and keep moving forwards.

Sometimes there’s no way out but through, sometimes straight through is the best way, because of who you become once you reach the other side. When you’re too tired to breathe and life or the workout is shitting on you, and you’re getting your ass kicked, you just need to grit it out and suffer through it. At a certain point, it just doesn’t get any worse, at the peak of fatigue and pain when your heart is beating out of your chest, your lungs are on fire and the wolf of fear is in your ear telling you that you’re worthless, the worst thing you can do is listen to that voice. Because it usually doesn’t get any worse, if you can just grit it out and take it, and you can, then you can get through it and come out the other side stronger.

Picture: Zen Pencils

Going through hell? Then keep going. You’ve already made it this far and suffered for this long, it’d be such a waste to quit now, what you need is to push through to the finish and find out what’s on the other side.

What’s on the other side?

You. The Champion within you is on the other side of all your struggles, setbacks and adversities that you face. Each time you suffer and overcome them, you discover a little more about that champion’s spirit inside of you, you learn that you’re capable of more and you’re stronger than you thought. That’s why when things get shitty, you can’t give up, because quite often it doesn’t get worse and you have what it takes to get through it and unleash the champion within.

That place that you have to go to when you dig deep to get through it, that place inside of you that refuses to quit, that place that champions go to deep inside that few others can go to, THAT place is exactly what I mean when I speak about the champion within, and it is inside of you.

Picture: Zen Pencils

Things get bad for all of us, we get knocked down, and it hurts. But it ain’t how you hit the mat, it’s how you get up, how well you walk through the fire, that matters.

You know what that is? That’s life, motherfucker.

Life’s the toughest opponent you’re ever gonna face, it’s always gonna be able to knock you down. But it’s not about never getting knocked down, it’s about finding the strength to get back up. Life is a fight, everyone gets knocked down, what matters is how fast you get up.

Remember, the wolf you feed is the wolf that wins. As long as you feed it, when things get tough, that brave wolf’s gonna be like an angel sitting on your shoulder. Whenever you get knocked down, whenever you get hurt, feel like you want to quit and you think you can’t get up, that little wolf is gonna whisper in your ear, he’s gonna say ‘Get up you son of a bitch, and keep moving forward.’

Photo: Open Road Films (The Grey)

Simon Boulter

Written by

Author, Fighter, Trainer, Nerd. Crazy Cat Lady.

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