Georges St-Pierre

In case you don’t have time to read or don’t feel like reading the whole book, at least remember this: pick a goal, make a realistic plan to reach that goal, work through each step of the plan, and repeat.

My life isn’t very exciting most of the time... I get up and I go to the gym to work out. Then I eat. Then I work out again, get a therapeutic massage—so I can work out again later—and then I eat more. Then I go back to sleep. That’s it for most days, and I love it. In fact, I wouldn’t know what to do other than follow this routine.

The thing I had to learn, and I keep learning this lesson in my life every day, is how to take fear’s power and use it to become better.

This is how I get better. I pick small things and I practice them until they’re perfect. I have no choice, because there are two kinds of people who do martial arts: those who practice a thousand different kicks one time each, and those who practice one kick a thousand times minimum. You can guess which group I belong to.

So the question is: What happens when you accept and embrace your fear? Fear becomes your weapon.

One of the lessons I learned in all those years of practicing karate is that progress only comes in small, incremental portions. Nobody becomes great overnight. Nobody crams information if he wants to be able to use it over the long term.

When you’d rather die than relive an error, and when you’re truly committed to finding a better way to live your life, this is when the world opens its arms, welcomes and rewards you with opportunity. This is why we innovate, or we die.

When I go to sleep at night, I’m a better martial artist than when I woke up in the morning.

You always recognize a great champion ... [by] how they come back from a loss.