Mental and physical toughness are inextricably linked. To have one without the other is to live an underdeveloped life. This is the belief of Firas Zahabi: a master of mixed martial arts with a degree in philosophy…

At his training center in Quebec, Zahabi teaches the likes of former UFC welterweight champion Georges Saint-Pierre to blend reason with creativity. The idea is that you find success by becoming more well-rounded. These are his guiding principles…

When life is easy, the mind softens. Zahabi believes in the ancient tradition of building people from the outside in. Plato once said that the correct way to raise a human being is through a foundation of physical exercise (like wrestling) and then wisdom.

Emotions are necessary, but they skew reality. The better you are at keeping them in check, the more you’ll lower biases and see the world as it truly is. The beauty of martial arts is that it’s BS-free. Having no safety net forces you to take emotion out of the equation.

If you can live a life based on principles and virtues, free from corruption, then you have a solid foundation to keep you centered. If your life is based around status, wealth, or relationships, then your existence is frail – as those things can be taken away overnight.

Be proactive, not reactive. Your power lies in your decisions. If you lose your business, for example, the right mindset is: “Here’s an opportunity. I have more free time; there are so many possibilities; things are probably going to work out even better.”

You have the exact same brain that Leonardo da Vinci and Albert Einstein had to work with. The world’s most powerful computer is sitting between your ears – and you can program it to learn anything. So what’s stopping you?

Find out what your strengths are – and exploit them to the max. Zahabi’s strength is to solve problems by breaking things down into the smallest components. Increasing your potential increases your worth, which in turn increases the likelihood of being rewarded.

In the “hierarchy of selves” (a concept developed by bestselling author Steve Chandler), death is the lowest state of existence. The highest? Enthusiasm. For Zahabi, sharing knowledge passionately is the definition of a life well-lived.

Find flow in everything you do. Even the most strong-willed people run out of gas eventually – because willpower is finite. If you can reach a state of ‘flow’ in any activity, you will be so energized that you perform it better than anyone working on sheer willpower alone.