I tend to find lessons hidden everywhere, including the 1974 fight between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman… yes, the “Rumble in the Jungle”. Ali was 7 years older, had been stripped of his title, and was considered the underdog in the fight. Foreman was, by far, favorited to win the fight and everyone knew it.¹ Not a single respected critic spoke up for Ali, and every expert voiced their concerns for his safety.² The bookies had 40-1 odds against him. He needed something more valuable than size or brute strength – he chose strategy. He chose wisely.

Ali devised what would be called his “Rope-a-Dope” tactic³, tiring Foreman until he was ready to strike. In other words, he identified his strengths and weaknesses vs. Foreman’s, and gave up first-mover advantage in the ring. He let Foreman hit him again and again, deflecting many of the punches. He let Foreman burn up his energy by throwing hits round after round, as Ali took each opportunity to hit Foreman in the face to further wear him down until he knew the time was right for the most famous moment in boxing history.

You don’t have to be first.

You don’t have to be the strongest.       

You have to have self-awareness enough to tune out those who would have you doubt yourself.

Most of all, you need a strategy.

Ali leaned on Foreman at every opportunity and taunted him at every chance, “jabbing” at Foreman’s belief in his own ability to throw a good punch, and making him carry Ali’s weight with every lean. Foreman played right into the plan, allowing himself to be tired out further by carrying Ali, and throwing more punches to prove that he could.

Keep pressing. Your competition or opposition will feel you, waste resources and grow tired.

Find a way to use your opponent’s strengths in your favor.

This was the first time Ali used the “Rope-a-Dope” strategy; until the Rumble in the Jungle, Ali’s fighting style was to counter his opponent’s every movement. While he deflected many of them, Ali allowed – even encouraged – Foreman to throw punch after punch after punch. Ali was going for the long game, not the fast win.

You have to be willing to see the value in being able to adapt, to change your strategy for the one that will achieve your goal.

Ali’s strategy was to win the fight by using Foreman’s ego and favorited status against him. He meant it literally when he said he would “float like a butterfly and sting like a bee”. Those who are familiar with the three-time World Champion’s career know that psychological tactics were the norm; he used visualization techniques before every fight and even wrote down the number of the round in which he’d knock out his opponent on his taped hands. An entire book is dedicated to Muhammad Ali’s psychological strategies and tactics, and it’s no surprise that at the time of writing this, the book is sold out.

Scroll back up and read the points in bold… then carry them with you everywhere and in everything you do. Not everything is a fight, but the point is to make everything a win – even failure. Failure is only fuel for something greater to come, so long as you have the right strategy for turning it into a win.

Strategy is something that has been a critical theme throughout my career. It’s not some intangible, philosophical concept. It’s a plan – the right plan that takes into account the resources at hand and how they’ll come together to form the necessary tactics, the actions that will bring success, just like the Rope-a-Dope. It’s something I devise for every client, and thus far my record is undefeated. If there’s one surefire way to make a winning investment in whatever it is you do, hire someone who can help sketch out the winning strategy that’s right for you, someone who can outline everything from the goal you envision to the tactics, tools and resources needed to make it a very tangible reality. Have that, and everything else comes together – growth, product launches, sales, and often more than you ever even thought possible. See how Muhammad Ali regained the title, and when you need someone in your side of the ring, connect with me…

[1] https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=CHhQAAAAIBAJ&sjid=khEEAAAAIBAJ&pg=7464,2927695&hl=en

[2] http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2014/oct/29/rumble-in-the-jungle-muhammad-ali-george-foreman-book-extract

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rumble_in_the_Jungle