Win or Learn

John Kavanagh is one of the best MMA coaches in the world. He runs Straight Blast Gym Ireland and has been coaching the superstar Conor McGregor—one of the best MMA fighters in history—since the day he got into MMA and arrived in his gym. John was also Ireland’s first MMA fighter and its first Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt. Plus, he’s a down-to-earth, humble guy. This is his inspiring story about his journey to the top and it reads like a case study in the growth mindset and grit. Big Ideas we cover include the fact that “Win or Learn” is literally THE PERFECT mantra for the growth mindset, Conor's path from welfare to $100m, the goldfish-bowl effect (need to hop out of your bowl?), standing up and falling down (and then getting back up!), loving what we do as the secret sauce to awesome (science says!!) and remembering that there's no easy route to any destination worth getting to.