On this week’s episode of the WarriorU podcast, Bram is joined by experienced martial artist, published author and keynote speaker, Nadine Champion. Pulling on the life-changing lessons provided by her own teacher, the renowned Sensei Benny Urquidez, Nadine discusses the importance of discipline and consistency to everything she has achieved in her life – from her wins in the ring to defeating cancer. By the end of the podcast, you’ll understand how simple shifts in mindset and behaviours can enhance your happiness, focus and success in business, sport and life.
A Glimpse of the Guest
Name: Nadine Champion
What she does: Nadine Champion is a highly skilled martial artist and undefeated World Champion Fighter. Through her work as a high-performance mindset coach and her famous TedTalk ‘10 Seconds of Courage’, Nadine encourages people to ‘change their thinking’ in order to find success. Over the past 30 years of study and training in martial arts, Nadine has developed her knowledge of resilience, mindset and courage. She has learnt how to utilise the power of consistency to develop the strength to keep fighting, even when times get tough. Her book, 10 Seconds of Courage, documents her life lessons to date, and includes actionable steps to help individuals reach their highest potential.
Nadine Champion online:
Tools: Nadine on Instagram
Food for Thought:
[43:47] “Its whether you have that thing in you…when push comes to shove, when someone hits you…you are either going to defend yourself or not. You’re either going to have that fighting spirit or not.”
Top Tips from this Episode
Nadine’s definition of consistency: “Consistency, for me, has been a lot around discipline, respect and becoming the best version of yourself. Because if you are consistently not being the best version of yourself, that becomes just as much who you are as those daily practices or consistent decades that shape such a large part of what you become.”
Make peace with your fear, so you can control it: You can enhance your resilience by consistently acknowledging your fear and executing a skill despite it. Don’t ignore your weaknesses or emotions, but instead actively experience them and train yourself to control them under pressure. That way, when it comes to crunch time – be it in an MMA ring or in a boardroom – you can execute the skill set and be completely present in that moment. “You need to make peace with it before you are in the moment, so that you can allow yourself to ‘show your love for what you do’.”
Discipline has a flow on impact: For Nadine, discipline and consistency are a demonstration of respect – not just to your teachers, but to yourself. And when you respect yourself and what you do, it impacts your mindset and how successful you are. Even small habits such as making your bed every morning or ironing your shirt, count. “If you consistently teach yourself to be respectful of what you are doing, of yourself and of them, I think you can win at pretty much anything in life.”
Trust the process through reflection: Acknowledge that ‘the process’ is not linear and you might not always be able to see how much you have improved straight away. Instead, do the work (even when nobody is watching), collect data and reflect over time. The most important thing is to never give up. “You have to trust whenever there is that downswing – as long as you don’t give up – there’s an upswing.”
Episode Highlights
How to become emotionally watertight: At [22:36], Nadine talks through one of Sensei Benny’s beautiful analogies that describes the power of consistency and self-reflection. Sensei Benny likens a person learning a new skill to a lump of clay that needs to be moulded and shaped, glazed, and then placed in a kiln. With each consistent act – or each layer of glaze – you get tougher and wiser, until you become ‘watertight’. “That glaze is so thin, you might not see it. But over years of practice, all of a sudden you turn around and think ‘how did I get tougher than I used to be’.”
Saying yes to the opportunity, despite the fear: At [15:47], Nadine explains that the inspiration behind her book title, 10 Seconds of Courage, is the adrenaline-fuelled moment in the dressing room just before a fight. This moment is challenging not because she fears getting hurt – that’s taken care of through her mental and physical training – but because she is about to step out and discover the limits of her potential. “Am I going to stay in my comfort zone or am I going to, when my moment comes, walk out the door and face my fear?”
Top quotes:
[51:41] “It’s the little things that we all do in our lives that signal to other people what you are made of, more than any trophy ever could.”
[26:02] “Nothing is a straight line. Over time, logically, of course you’ll get better. But if you stop, it’s fixed.”
[36:25] “The way to build character is through consistency. It’s doing your training when nobody is there to supervise you.”