In 2008, Ronda Rousey became the first American woman to win an Olympic medal in judo.
In 2012, the year after UFC president Dana White decaled that women would “never” fight in the UFC, Rousey became the first female fighter to sign with UFC. Shortly thereafter, she became the first female UFC champion. On July 5, 2018, Ronda Rousey became the first female fighter inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
Again and again throughout her career, Ronda Rousey achieved what the experts said could not be done. In the process, she became one of the most popular athletes in the world.
What made the difference? What made Rousey refuse to believe the experts and the naysayers? What made her so certain that no goal would be impossible for her?
Her mentality was shaped by an incident that happened on her third birthday.
Rousey was born with the umbilical cord wrapped around her neck. It cut off her circulation and her heart stopped in the delivery room. She was lucky to be alive, but the incident would significantly delay her speech development.
As she approached her third birthday, Rousey could not communicate like other kids her age. More than anything else, she wanted a Hulk Hogan Wrestling Buddy for her birthday gift. The problem was, every time she tried to pronounce “Hulk Hogan,” it came out sounding like “Balgrin.” Her parents could not understand what she was trying to say.
On the day of her third birthday, Rousey remembers her mother taking her to one toy store after another, trying to find the toy she wanted, but no one could understand what toy she was referring to. The frustration Rousey felt, unable to communicate, was excruciating to the three-year-old. She felt trapped and helpless.
When her father came home from work, he refused to give up on finding the gift she wanted. He took the young, heartbroken Rousey to one last toy store where a salesman patiently asked her to show him what the toy did. Rousey demonstrated wrestling moves on the toy-store floor and the salesman put it together.
“You mean a Wrestling Buddy?” he asked. Rousey was overwhelmed with joy as the salesman handed her the toy she so desperately wanted.
That incident might not seem like a monumental event to most, but Ronda Rousey says it was a life-changing experience for her…
For a kid who couldn’t communicate like all the other kids, being understood by a stranger on my third birthday was a major breakthrough. This was an early lesson on the importance of always believing that if I wanted something bad enough and tried hard enough, I could make it happen.
Often I’ve accomplished things people said were unrealistic, unlikely, or, my favorite, impossible. I never would have been able to do any of those things without hope.
The kind of hope I’m talking about is the belief that something good will come. That everything you’re going through and everything you’ve gone through will be worth the struggles and frustrations.
The kind of hope I’m talking about is a deep belief that the world can be changed, the impossible is possible.
The day of my third birthday was an early introduction into never giving up hope, never giving up on myself, and surrounding myself with people who saw in me things I might not see in myself. It was the first time I felt like I had won.
— Ronda Rousey, from her book My Fight/Your Fight
You never know where you’ll first see the power of hope in action. It could be watching your favorite team come from behind to win a big game at a young age. It could be seeing a relative overcome a major illness. It could be an inspirational book or movie that changes the way you see the world. Or, as in Ronda Rousey’s case, it could be seeing the power of perseverance play out in a toy store on your third birthday.
Wherever it comes from, we all need to remind ourselves what a powerful force hope is. We need to replay those events in our lives where we saw unrelenting hope pay off—where we saw the supposedly “impossible” become possible.
When life gets tough, it’s easy to lose hope and feel helpless. It’s easy to drift into self-pity and assume that things can’t turn around. But during those tough times, it’s helpful to revisit old memories of the times when hope and perseverance paid off. It’s important to remind yourself that if it happened before, it can happen again.
Fill your mind with hope and never listen to the naysayers who tell you that your goals and dreams are unrealistic, unlikely, or impossible.
And take time often to remember those moments in the past when hope paid off big. Replay them in your mind. Those memories will drive you forward.
