Starting your boxing career as a scholar is a daunting task. Boxing is a vicious sport that comes with high risks and high rewards. Moreover, a vast majority of boxing professionals don’t reach the pinnacle of the sport.
Celebrity boxing is picking up steam while portraying the art of boxing as a part-time entertainment anybody can do. Far from reality, boxing is a demanding sport that calls for extreme work ethic to be cut.
On top of the academic workload, it becomes hard for a learner to juggle both sides to find the perfect balance. Some might turn to a paper writing service, or others fail to continue with their training due to the physical demands. Therefore, it calls for a highly focused individual willing to go the extra mile to achieve greatness on both fronts.
If boxing remains your passion, it is difficult to explain why you shouldn’t. Here are some things to know when venturing into this route:
Effective Time Management
Poor time planning is among the most common challenges young athletes face while carving a name for themselves. With multiple assignments, boxing sessions, and a social life to maintain, it is crucial to develop strong management skills.
We highly recommend young boxing potentials to create a schedule for planning your week—set time for studying, training, relaxing, and socializing.
If it’s hard to plan each activity, create priorities depending on the emergency of each task. Allocate studies and training as high priorities on your list. Moreover, it breaks down large tasks into small manageable chunks to easily complete them.
Use Weekends Wisely
College life is all about busy weekdays and lazy weekends. Therefore, it is wise to effectively plan your weekends to allocate time for your studies and boxing talent. Start by creating a weekend timetable that allocates time for both priorities. Moreover, set aside time to relax and avoid burnout.
For example, you can schedule your Saturday mid-morning to cater for pending academic assignments. These mid-mornings are perfect for studying, especially when your centration levels are high. You must allocate time to your studies to avoid running on last-minute studies or opting to pay for essay from an assignment writing service.
In addition, ensure that your timetable is flexible to accommodate any unexpected changes in your schedule, such as pending academic assignments, boxing tournaments, or training. Make contingency time slots to cater to these spontaneous opportunities.
Develop Study Skills
After creating a time management plan focusing on your studies, it is time to develop stellar study skills. Gradually improve your study sessions into an effective, organized, thorough session with good study habits.
Start developing your study skills by setting realistic and achievable goals for each study session. Find a conducive study environment void of any distractions. Drop any traditional study habits such as reading long hours and memorizing content. Make it effective by adding new study techniques such as mind mapping, visualization, and note-taking.
Maintain Good Academic Records
Pursuing a career in boxing doesn’t mean compromising on your studies. Over time, the boxing world received a bad rep, with people thinking anybody without an academic background could make it. But, having a good educational background makes navigating the tricky career path easier.
Remember that a lustful boxing career isn’t sustainable in the long run. You might get concussions, muscular injuries, lacerations, elbow tendonitis, and cuts that might pause your boxing career. Therefore, you need a solid academic background for alternative career paths.
On other occasions, your boxing career might take off and elevate your status as an upcoming talent in the boxing scene. The new opportunity calls for financial literacy while managing your earnings wisely. Boxers have various income sources, including fight fees, sponsorships, brand ambassadors, licensing and image rights, and PPV. All this calls for a financially literate boxer capable of handling their finances.
Assemble a Skilled Group
Boxing is a skill-based sport. Hence, you need experience from experts to grow your basic skills and become an expert. Therefore, start working with a skilled coaching team for expert guidance on your technique, punching power, agility, and physical conditioning.
Moreover, there are different boxing coaches with various specialties. Some coaches might be good at strength training, striking, balance, or defense. You need an all-rounded coach to impart all these skills into one ensemble.
Other professionals to include in your training team include a nutritionist, sports physiotherapist, or a sports physician.
Seek Help and Support
Sometimes, balancing an academic workload and a growing boxing career takes perseverance and dedication to the course. It might take a toll on your mental and physical state. It becomes necessary for such professionals to seek help and support.
You can consult your instructor for more help with your course material for academic support. Most highly supportive instructors will appreciate taking extra time to seek their advice.
On the sports side, you can consult your coach or seek moral support from established boxers. You can get precise tips on how to grow your boxing skills while marketing yourself to promoters.
Lastly, remember to stick close to your family and friends. This support network is highly beneficial for emotional and practical assistance. These peers can listen to your struggles while encouraging you with your challenges.
Manage Stress and Burnout
Long sessions spent studying for exams or tests can cause burnout. Also, last-minute rushes for work on your assignments can tire you out. Moreover, intense training sessions with regular exercises can cause physical fatigue.
A tired mind increases laziness. Therefore, you need more time to complete daily tasks on your daily schedule. This only postpones these activities for later and ends up causing stress while trying to complete them with limited time.
We recommend young professionals adopt effective stress management techniques such as plenty of sleep, guided meditation, deep breathing, and mindfulness.
Growing Your Career in Small Bits
Along the journey of balancing studies and a thriving boxing career, it is essential to acknowledge and celebrate small victories. Whether it’s submitting your homework, finishing a training session, or learning a new technique, recognize these achievements.
