How to recover from a knock-out

In life and work, sometimes you get knocked out.  A knock-out in life or work is not at all different as a knock-out in boxing.  How so?  And how do you recover?  Can you recover?

Part 1 - The initial shock

When you get hit by the other boxer you feel the speed of the punch, the weight of the other guys fist, the force he used and immediate pain at the spot he hit you.  All together they force you to crumble and fall down flat on your face not knowing, and forgive the pun, not knowing what hit you.

It's the same in life or work....  

It's about the moment in time, the severity of the news given, who is giving you the news and the manner in which the news is being told to you, the pain you feel immediately after being notified.  You are left gob smacked and unsure how to react or if you could react, or if you could, what would you say or do?

It's the severity of the initial shock that will prove to be the key to how you react.

Part 2 - The reaction

In boxing, the initial shock is followed by a state of confusion where you are not sure what was happening to you, caused by a momentary lapse in memory and loss of balance.  You flail about trying to grab a hold of something, anything, the rope or your mental awareness.  You look for an anchor to stand on.

In life, or indeed work, after the shock, you are also left confused and unsure as to what was happening.  Almost always you bow down with your head, lose colour in your face and collapse on the nearest sitting fixture.  You start nodding your head left to right to express your disbelief at what had transpired. You try to make sense of it in these first few minutes.

Part 3 - The realization

A boxer, down on the floor, ringing in his ears, the ref counting down, has to decide at that point if he is to get up and fight or if he was to give up and concede.  In those few seconds, he has to figure out how to get up or how to, well, stay down.  And if he was able to.

At work or in life, you realize that this had to come, surely it was inevitable.  Suddenly, it is all too clear what has happened and how it will affect you.  You find yourself back in real life and back in the view of others.  Others who are waiting to see how you are going to act.

Part 4 - The reply (the "give up" scenario)

A boxer sometimes decides that he can't take any more blows to the body, that he has been beaten, that he was better off waiting for the ref to blow the whistle.  After the count, he breathes a sigh of relief.

In our lives, at work, we also sometimes make peace with the fact that we can't influence or change anything and that we have been beaten.  That it would be better to accept your fate and move on.  That it would be better if we retreated at this point.  Heads down, tails between our legs.

Part 4 - The reply (the "fight back" scenario)

A real fighter will not give up until he was made unconscious.  A fighter grabs the nearest piece of rope, struggles himself up, steadies himself, turns around and says to the opponent "Is that all you got?"  He smiles at the prospect of either throwing in a few punches or, to be honest, smiles in the face of another knock-out.  Nevertheless, he got up and he's fighting again.

In real life, it is the same.  The decision is yours.  You can take it or you can learn from it, adapt and dish out some revenge.  You can hit the wall near you until your fist bleeds, you can grit your teeth, make a determined face, you can breathe deeply in and out and summon all the strength you have.  In life of course this can happen in the moment or over a period of time.  But when it happens, you have a clear vision of what you need to do with your life.  You see the light.  You fight back, one way or another.  You try and try until you succeed and then... then you smile in the face of success and know that you will be much stronger the next time.