A Key Life Lesson From A Friend

Meet Jun Matsumoto. Not only is he one of my favorite training partners, but his martial arts story is truly inspiring. He was a white belt for an astounding 6 years, training consistently almost every day. (The average white belt is typically promoted to blue belt after 2-3 years of consistent training). In his first 5 years, he was submitted 100% of the time and never landed a single submission on any of his rolling partners. Let that sink in for a minute. Imagine losing to everyone every day for 5 years straight.

He could have easily quit, but his love for jiu-jitsu was bigger than his ego. He was willing to suffer for what he loves most in life. After 11 years of training, he is now one of the most technical purple belts at Evolve MMA. He doesn’t look like a beast, but I can tell you that he is a legit technical monster. Jun and I have had our fair share of wars on the mats.

There is a precious lesson that we can all learn from Jun’s story. There will always be someone who has more talent than you have. There will always be someone who makes more money than you do. There will always be someone who is better looking than you are. There will always be someone who has more luck than you do. There will always be someone who is smarter than you will ever be. Be it money, looks, intelligence, social status, material possessions, circumstances, or anything else, there will always be someone who has more of everything.⁣

It does not matter.⁣

You see, I learned a long time ago that life is not a race against other people. Life is a competition with yourself. One of the greatest achievements in life is to outperform yourself and to live your greatest life possible. For me, life is an endless quest to evolve into the best version of ourselves. What matters most is the love in our hearts and the fire in our bellies. Greatness lives in all of us. It really does. However, we must all find what it is that ignites our souls and we must suffer for our dreams. In our suffering, we will discover our greatness.⁣

Thank you always for the great training, Jun! #gratitude

Chatri Sityodtong is a self-made entrepreneur and lifelong martial artist from Thailand. His rags-to-riches life story has inspired millions around the world on BBC News, CNN, Financial Times, Bloomberg TV, CNBC, Channel NewsAsia, and other major media. He is the Founder, Chairman, and CEO of ONE, Asia’s largest global sports media platform in history with a broadcast to over 150+ countries around the world. He is also the star of the first-ever global edition of The Apprentice, the award-winning reality TV series on Netflix. Sityodtong was named “Asia’s King of Martial Arts” by the Financial Times and was ranked the “2nd Most Powerful Person in Sports in Asia” by FOX Sports. Sityodtong was also selected as one of “Asia’s Top 100 Business Leaders” by Business Insider. He is an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at INSEAD, Europe’s top business school. Inducted recently into the Black Belt Hall of Fame, Sityodtong is a Kru in Muay Thai under Yodtong Senanan and a Purple Belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Renzo Gracie. Sityodtong holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a BA from Tufts University.