Win or Learn

Win or Learn explores the philosophy of life and the secrets behind peak performance in MMA of John Kavanagh, the trainer and friend of superstar Conor McGregor, and their journey to success which started in a modest gym in Ireland and ended up with McGregor having a net worth of 100 million dollars.

There are two types of people out there: those who have a fixed mindset, so they only engage in activities they know they’re good at, and those who live by the growth mindset, and don’t fear trying out new stuff. Being a beginner at something isn’t always the most fun thing to do, but here’s the catch: you get to learn!

People who adopt the growth mindset know that they’ll encounter many failures down the road as they try out stuff they’re not good at, but they don’t see them as losses. Rather than viewing them as such, they choose to turn them into lessons. However, with a fixed mindset people will only stick to their comfort zone.

They know what they’re good at and choose to stay in that safe zone, even though they’re sacrificing future skills, opportunities, and relationships. John Kavanagh was a big fan of the growth mindset, and he viewed McGregor’s losses as chances to improve and do better next time. Needless to say, this mindset projected them both to the top performers worldwide.

Before Kavanagh and McGregor became famous and successful, they had to work hard and keep each other’s spirits up. There’s a long road ahead from social welfare to millions in the bank, but John and Conor always knew that they’ll be champions.

Conor always kept his head high, even when he was living off of his wife’s earningsand social unemployment benefits. You’d always hear him say that he’ll be a world champion. Kavanagh owned a small gym that was so poorly maintained that it had a tree growing inside of it, yet he’d always dreamed of owning an MMA club.

Not too long after their first victories, John wanted to move to a better location. Everything looked perfect, but it all seemed too expensive. However, he took a leap of faith and believed that no matter how big of a space he has to pay for, it’ll eventually fill up with members, and that became his mantra.

They believed in the goldfish effect. No matter how big the tank is, the fish grows in size enough to live there comfortably. Put it in a lake, it can grow hundreds of times more. That was Kavanagh’s philosophy, and it’s all because they both adopted a champion’s mindset.