The circle is a simple yet powerful geometric shape.    
    
    A bad circle is one that represents the endless frustration of a person who can’t escape a destructive behavioral pattern or perhaps a soul-depleting job.
        
    The price paid for an inability to get to the other side of a circle can be a life of demoralization. 
    
    So it’s really thrilling when a person or team breaks out of a bad circle. Reading the sports pages, nothing excites me as much, or more elevates my spirits, than to learn of a turnaround. People who rise up to break out of a circle of mediocrity or even failure. It doesn’t happen often, but when it does there’s magic and hope for all of us.

    A perennial 3-13 football team makes the playoffs. A previously slumping mma fighter is now consistently winning and rocketing up the UFC hierarchy.  Young entrepreneurs, Dana White and the Fertitta brothers, take a nearly bankrupt sports cult and turn it into a cultural phenomenon. You can’t help but stop to look behind the headlines. What’s the explanation?

    Often it’s a new coach or manager acting as the agent of change. Circle-breaking is more likely when there is input from an outside source. The new energy allows for a revitalized, empowered perspective.

    In 1999, the UFC was trapped within many concentric circles. Lawmakers were working to ban it, while attacking mma as “human cockfighting.” Religious leaders denounced the “senseless violence.” The media characterized it as a sideshow for the immature. Pay Per View and Blockbuster yielded to public pressure and ended distribution.

     Dana White began promoting the UFC for the Fertittas in 2001, and he tirelessly implemented their bold vision. White quickly transformed the UFC into a legitimate sport by working closely with, not against, regulating officials and lawmakers. You won’t find a larger-scale or more sensational inertia-ending story. The UFC’s current success dramatizes how vitality, coupled with fresh strategy, can triumph over circular barriers.
    
    For the individual seeking his own, personal breakout - getting feedback from a trusted advisor is often the missing key. If change is later accomplished, relief and new respect from family and friends is realized. They are left with an appreciation that an imprisoning circle can be broken. A new one can be created in its place - a winner’s circle.

    The breaking-free process, however, often involves a change in how we relate to those with whom we share our closest relationships. Friends and family need to understand the time, energy and commitment needed to help promote a major breakthrough. The initial stages of the turnaround process can be especially awkward, as old patterns get altered.
        
    The loser’s script (“I hate that things are always this way”) gets re-written, erasing the victim language. Optimism must pervade. I’m referring to a blast-furnace type of powerful expectancy.  The resolve that there will be a transformation.
     
    A true turnover is a process of stops and starts. The path is always littered with distractions, set-backs and mistakes. But the defining moment already took place when the major decision was made to create a turnaround, through force of the will.

    Our destinies are played out either inside or outside the circles that make up our existence. Making all the sacrifices, as the gauntlet is run, it’s possible to change the shape of our lives.

    Fooling the other guy is not only psychologically uplifting, but has another benefit as well. When a fake-out results in a punch or kick, the impact is at least twice as severe.  There’s a multiplier effect at play, increasing the damage that paves the way to your adversary’s defeat. This is true simply because the other guy isn’t expecting what’s heading his way. 

    After defeat and severe pain, surprise is the third biggest fear of most fighters. 

    It generally can be said that the better a fighter is, the less likely he will be taken by surprise. This rule can be equally applied to those who make their living outside the octagon. The sharpest individuals I know are those who exercise consistently good judgment in the daily management of their private lives. Life doesn’t often catch them in a chokehold. When it comes to common sense, humanity seems to be divided into those who usually see trouble coming and those who don’t.
    
    Many surprises in life are not happy ones. So there’s an ocean of heartache awaiting those who often find themselves in painful predicaments. In the fight arena and out, there are some who never develop the ability to read danger. They’re always vulnerable to getting blindsided. 

    Those who are unaware seem to experience their on-going, unpleasant surprises as coming from some invisible, tricky nowhere. They fail to appreciate the role they play in allowing disaster to enter their lives. Leaping from frying pan to frying pan is a lousy way to go through life.

    UFC pros, and those who are professionals in the art of living, often see the shape of things quickly and clearly - before a guillotine choke locks on them. I well know that not all surprises can be avoided, inside or outside the ring. Sometimes I get sandbagged, whether I’m fighting or just trying to navigate through my personal life. But having a knack for anticipation goes a long way towards keeping hazards fromroutinely dropping you to the mat.    
    
    Exercising good judgment is the ticket to a peaceful life. And at the heart of good judgment is the ability to anticipate problems before they happen. Anticipation is the hallmark of the clever fighter and the intelligent person. 

    Consequences that are foreseen and avoided are the best kind of all. Often, a simple dodge is all it takes to escape. 

   We often hear the term “ripple effect.” It creates the impression of tiny wavelets spreading out from the source – a small stone thrown into a pond. The illusion contained in this phrase is the suggestion that only small effects flow out of small causes.

    In the Red River Gorge wilderness, not far from Cincinnati, two men were hiking in the high hills. Darkness began to overtake them as they descended to their campsite. Sharing a flashlight, there was enough illumination for them to stay on the narrow trail. But then the flashlight got dropped, flickered, and went out. They decided to continue on their way. Four steps later, the hiker in the lead misjudged the trail and went over, falling hundreds of feet to his death. 

   As far as hostile environments go, the octagon would have to qualify as one of the more fearful. On that tiny bit of earth a lot happens: to bodies, to psyches, to egos, and to reputations. Every fighter I know, including myself, walks toward the cage’s open door with controlled anxiety.   I’ve been in 27 professional mma fights, and many others before that. Of all the foes I’ve had to tangle with, one stands out - far and away - as the most lethal. That would be me.

    Aging has taught me that our biggest battles take place in a silent place within ourselves. I’ve become more finely tuned to the undeniable reality that it is free will that defines us as humans. With our choices and our actions we stand alone. Accepting the burden that comes with this awareness has helped me as a fighter.  

    When I was teaching math at Oak Hills high school in Cincinnati, I daily encountered a stream of reasons for undone homework and blown tests. There were always some students who had an inability to blast their way through the hard demands. Faced with a math concept they couldn’t readily grasp, they’d turnagainst the academic challenge. Those students are like bad drivers who, when into an icy skid, can’t resist the impulse to turnagainst it. As a teacher I learned that in tough situations, you have to go with and not against in order to prevail.

    Whether it’s learning new mma techniques, understanding math principles, or any daunting task, failing to master it keeps a person from forging ahead.

    After all my years of fighting, I am well aware that I can’t confront my octagon opponent if I can’t first control myself. It remains a struggle for me to accept my free will, and the responsibility that comes with it. But it’s either that or avoid those tasks which I know I need to be doing.  

    Not creating my own impairments is what’s on my mind, especially two months before a fight. When I was a coach on The Ultimate Fighter series, I was always surprised at how some fighters gleefully sabotaged their own fight goals. They even seemed to work towards making a wreckage of their entire lives. Other fighters on TUF displayed some of the finest qualities of my best math students. These were the guys who had an integration ofthought, feeling and action. They maintained a balance between their strong emotion to succeed, coupled with clear thoughts about how to go about their work. And they turned to action – shutting out distraction and getting down to it.

    I often visualize myself standing on the canvas, the bell has sounded, my arm is in the air. This helps me bypass defeating images of disaster unfolding inside my head. A fighter who steps up to fight and who isn’t mentally focused and emotional contained, will soon find himself trapped in a world with which he cannot deal.

    If I find myself training in a mechanical way, I try to quickly short-circuit this mediocrity. Then I work towards a more spirited use of my energies. I know there’s a man out there training hard so he can cause me a lot of hardship. I won’t make his job any easier.

    Getting trapped in ruts is an ongoing hazard, whether fighting is your business or anything else. Surrounding yourself with skilled trainers helps keep you from losing your spirit because of a numbing routine. Sometimes all it takes is a creative approach to experiment with alternative ways. 

    Although I rely on the experts around me, I never lose sight that I am the bottom line. I’ve got the freedom to get it right or to fail. If I’m bewildered by anything in life, or paralyzed with indecision, I accept that I’m engineering my own defeat. 

    We don’t want to be driven by forces we can’t grasp or that are beyond our control. If we fail to make smart choices, then we’re surrendering to the power of others. That’s true whether it’s a fighter riding your chest while pounding your skull, or some other predicament in life. 

    Some days, when I’m worn out, I feel it’d be a lot easier to just passively let outside forces control my existence. Then I think about it again and I say to myself “No, I don’t think so.”

A few people seem to float through their charmed lives, getting lots of breaks. Most of us aren’t so fortunate.

We live in an extremely competitive society with scarce resources. We compete for everything – grades, making a team, spouses, jobs and money.

Some people are strongly dissatisfied with the direction of their life. They are drawn out to sea by a strong current. They’re on their own Titanic, and it’s already left Southampton port. It’s only a matter of time before they collide with their personal iceberg.

There is, however, a way off this collision course - grim determination. When a person regroups and works with a sustained, frenzied purpose – it is a tremendously empowering force.

Grim determination is an adamant refusal to accept what is coming your way.

When I observe someone working furiously to prevent their collision with inevitability, I am impressed. Taking fate by the throat, they vow something powerfully simple: It’s not going to happen.

Whether you’re inside or outside the octagon, life is a fight – often against bad odds. What stands between you and defeat is all your will being brought to bear.

When Matt Hughes fought Frank Trigg the second time, Hughes got hit hard in the groin. The referee did not see this illegal blow. Trigg quickly moved in to finish off Matt with a flurry of brutal punches and elbows. Frank followed up, catching Matt in a vice-grip rear naked choke. But even with his face turning purple Matt was able to escape, carry Trigg to the other side of the octagon, slam his body down, and choke him out.

With grim determination, excuses evaporate and distractions wash away. The usual clutter in life - of time-wasting activities, non-supportive acquaintances, of destructive temptations – are filtered out. When you’ve reframed your life’s mission, you’re less susceptible to those forces that are always working to undercut your efforts. An uncompromising and urgent focus is a force that will not be denied.

I’ve felt my ship going down a number of times inside the octagon. I broke my hand early in the second round of my fight against David Loiseau. I was seeing my iceberg - but I maintained my determination to keep standing and continue the combat for three rounds. When the fight ended with my victory, I knew I had stubbornly confronted inevitability and won.

With grim determination you will rise to meet your difficult circumstances. Later you will look back, with a defiant fist in the air - knowing it was you who changed the outcome.

I recently returned from another rewarding USO experience in the Middle East, visiting our military. Like my other trips to our fighting men and women, this exposure to their world was as informative as it was emotional. 

Many Americans think a lot about those who are serving us during this war. But the members of our Navy usually do not come first to mind. Their presence in the Persian Gulf helps to keep us from the unthinkable prospect of defeat by our enemies.

The first thing I realized when I stepped onto each ship is that they are designed for function, not comfort. Even the officers sleep 4 to a room, in a space smaller than my bedroom. And the younger sailors, they sleep in rooms which house up to 80 men! Everything is small – hallways, stairwells, fitness facilities, and chow halls. It’s an existence in miniature - human sardines packed into tiny metal containers while working and living.

I know it would be difficult for me to cope with this constant “in your face” world, if I lived in it for months. I marvel at the ability of America’s sailors to accept their circumstances. Everywhere you go on a ship, respect for others in not just a social nicety, it’s absolutely necessary. As a result, everyone lives together and is able to perform their vital duties. And so we here at home can go about our daily lives without having to worry about our nation’s security.

Military food was never intended to be 5 star, but I actually found some of it to be delicious. I’m on a strict same-thing-every-day diet, so it actually was difficult for me to eat food items that are not part of my nutrition regimen. For these guys, though, 3 meals a day and no more is not uncommon on some ships. If they wake up at midnight and are desperate for a meal, they are left to rely on snacks from an on-board store.

Military ships would be the perfect place to film a reality show. There are always simmering tensions that must be dealt with smartly, or emotional explosions would take place every hour. The coping skills of sailors allow ship life to go on, so that those on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan are protected.

The most unnerving experiences for me on this trip were those spent out on the oil platforms. These could drive any civilian to madness, and I certainly came close. I would walk out of my tiny room and see nothing but…ocean. And more ocean. It’s a scene out of the movie Waterworld. And I could feel the danger. Lots of vulnerable lives are on these platforms; all of them are dependent on each person doing his job with utmost precision.

The heat – it’s so intense that within minutes it buckles you. The temperatures often run in the Fahrenheit mid-130s! One step outside and, from your scalp all the way down your face, sweat forms into rivulets; at first dripping, then pouring.

Where are you going to go? These oil platforms are, like the ships, clearly not concerned with your comfort. There is very little walking space when you’re captive in this watery universe. It was a strange environment to find myself, and I was left wondering how these people can function under these harsh conditions.

America, rest assured - we are in very good hands. Our sailors have taken on the awesome responsibility of protecting their people back home. They are smart, tough, dedicated and determined.

These sailors must know they don’t get the attention they deserve. But they’re out there - on floating cities that never sleep.

They’ve got our backs, and because of that our nation will always have a future.