If you would’ve told me as a kid growing up in Saint Paul, Minnesota, that I’d one day be writing about how boxing and meditation made me a better leader, I probably would’ve laughed. Back then, I was just focused on staying active—football, basketball, baseball, whatever kept me moving. But boxing stuck. It gave me focus, discipline, and a way to release stress. Later in life, meditation became the balancing act I didn’t know I needed. Together, they’ve been two of the most powerful tools for developing what I call the “mental edge”—a mindset that every leader needs if they want to thrive in high-stakes environments.

Why Boxing Is More Than a Physical Sport
Most people see boxing and think it’s all about punching power, endurance, or toughness. But if you’ve ever stepped into the ring, you know boxing is a mental game just as much as a physical one. You have to read your opponent, control your breathing, stay calm under pressure, and make quick decisions in real time. There’s no room for panic, no place to hide. You either bring your focus or you pay the price.

That mental control—staying clear-headed when everything around you is chaotic—is exactly what business demands. As a founder, you’re constantly facing unexpected challenges, tough conversations, and high-pressure decisions. The ability to slow things down in your mind, even when everything is speeding up around you, is one of the most underrated leadership skills out there. Boxing taught me how to stay composed. It taught me how to stay in the fight, even when I felt like I was losing. And most importantly, it taught me that mental preparation beats raw emotion every time.

How Meditation Keeps Me Centered
On the flip side of the intensity of boxing is meditation, a practice that helps me quiet the noise and stay grounded. I started meditating a few years into my entrepreneurial journey. At first, it felt like a weird contrast to the high-energy, always-on pace I was used to. But the more I leaned into it, the more I realized meditation wasn’t about slowing down my business—it was about sharpening my focus so I could move faster with intention.

Meditation taught me how to be present, not just physically but mentally. It gave me space to observe my thoughts instead of reacting to them. That’s a huge deal in leadership. When you’re running a business, people are looking to you to make clear, thoughtful decisions. If your mind is constantly racing, if you’re reactive instead of proactive, your team feels that. Meditation helped me build the emotional control and self-awareness to lead with clarity—even when things go sideways.

Discipline Is the Bridge Between the Two
What boxing and meditation have in common is discipline. They both require consistency. You don’t get better by showing up once in a while—you improve by showing up daily, even when you don’t feel like it. That’s the same mindset I bring to business. Whether I’m reviewing strategy, building culture, or making hard calls, it’s all about disciplined execution.

Leadership isn’t always flashy. It’s often about doing the boring things well and doing them repeatedly. Training for a fight is the same way. You don’t step into the ring and become a champion overnight—it’s the hours of sparring, footwork drills, and conditioning that prepare you. With meditation, the practice might look still on the outside, but inside, you’re training your mind to be stronger, more focused, and more resilient. The real progress is invisible until it matters most.

Handling Pressure Like a Fighter
One of the biggest lessons from the ring is how to handle pressure. When someone is throwing punches at you, you have to keep your composure. In leadership, the punches are different—they come in the form of missed targets, unexpected competition, hiring challenges, or internal conflict. But the principle is the same: you can’t freeze. You have to keep moving, keep thinking, and keep leading.

When I’m under pressure as a leader, I remind myself that discomfort isn’t the enemy. It’s a signal that growth is happening. Boxing taught me to lean into discomfort. Meditation taught me to sit with it. Together, they gave me the mindset to navigate stress without being consumed by it. That mental edge has helped me stay steady while building Pinnacle Health Group and leading my team through the inevitable ups and downs of entrepreneurship.

Leading by Example
At the end of the day, leadership is about showing people what’s possible—not just through words, but through action. My team knows I box. They know I meditate. And it sends a message: mental toughness and emotional clarity aren’t just personal habits, they’re professional advantages. I lead better because I train my mind and body to be at their best. That kind of energy is contagious.

When your team sees that you take care of your mental game, they start to do the same. They make sharper decisions. They communicate better. They handle challenges with more resilience. That ripple effect is one of the most rewarding parts of leadership. It’s not about having all the answers, it’s about showing others how to stay focused, stay grounded, and stay in the fight.

Final Thoughts
Boxing and meditation might seem like opposite ends of the spectrum, but for me, they’re two sides of the same coin. One pushes me. The other centers me. Together, they’ve shaped how I lead—calm, focused, and disciplined. The mental edge they’ve given me is something I bring into every meeting, every challenge, and every opportunity.

Whether you’re an entrepreneur, a manager, or just someone looking to get better at life, I’d challenge you to train both your body and your mind. Build the discipline. Embrace the discomfort. Find your center. And when the pressure hits, you’ll be ready—not because you’ve avoided it, but because you’ve trained for it. That’s the real edge.