- Cover of Rocky III
If you have ever seen Rocky III, then you know that the major difference between Rocky Balboa and the other men that he faced was that he had the ultimate will to win, no matter what it took to do so. Rocky did not win with his muscles, but with the incredible amount of heart that he put in to both his training and his fights themselves. Apollo Creed summed it up very well when he identified that Rocky had what was called “the eye of the tiger.” And while most people know almost none of the lyrics to the accompanying song to their subsequent training montage, there is rarely a gym in which playing that song does not inspire a set to get just a little bit more intense than it would have otherwise.
After all, what could be more intense than having the gaze of a vicious, jungle dominating predator guiding you along? The eye of the tiger is a level of motivation that goes beyond focus, and it goes beyond just wanting to win. It is the absolutely unbridled, unstoppable need to win, no matter what you have got to do in order to reach your goals. With the eye of the tiger on your side, there is pretty much nothing that you can not do. Of course, actually having the eye of the tiger is not that easy to get.
The eye of the tiger is an obsession with accomplishing your goals. When you are absolutely encompassed with getting what you truly desire, you have got the eye of the tiger. It is about far more than just training hard. When you have got the eye of the tiget, your focus is absolute. When you have got it, you make Winston Churchill look like a little wimp. And when you train, you do not just train hard. You practically destroy your body, because your training reaches into the level of spirit.