SUMMARY
- Today, I want to share three success secrets from the late Kobe Bryant, which were inspired by something that I read in the book, Raise Your Game
- The greatest player in the game at the time would start to practice at 4:00 a.m. ahead of everyone else.
- During this time, Kobe would practice the most basic offensive moves, the most basic drills. Basic footwork, basic shooting, layups, just the absolute most fundamentals.
- The author of Raise Your Game asked Kobe, “Why does the greatest player in the game need to practice such basic moves?” Kobe responds with a big smile “Well, how do you think I became the best player in the game?”
- There are three success secrets baked in there that I wanted to share today that we can all really learn from:
- #1. If we want to achieve our fullest potential in whatever it is that we’re doing in our business or our life, then we need to have a schedule. We need to commit to practice. When is it that we’re going to show up? What time? Try to make that the same time every day.
- #2. After we have a schedule, when we show up, we need to show up at our best. Our highest, most deliberate, most focused, most genius attention and effort.
- #3. Whatever it is that we’re doing, whatever skill it is that we’re trying to build or work on, we can never forget the fundamentals. We can never forget how important it is to do the basics.
- Have a schedule. Show up with your best. Practice the fundamentals… So that brick by brick, you can build the house of your success in your business or life.
TRANSCRIPT
Today, I want to share three success secrets from the late Kobe Bryant, which were inspired by something that I read in the book, Raise Your Game. In the book the author shares a story where he asked Kobe if he could join him in one of Kobe’s morning practice sessions, and Kobe said yes and he said, “Okay, well, I’ll see you tomorrow at 4:00 a.m.” That’s when he would start his practice sessions. Now this is the greatest player in the game at the time still getting up every day to practice at 4:00 a.m. ahead of everyone else. The author joins Kobe that morning and watches him practice, and is obviously super impressed by his commitment to his schedule.
Then he also notices that during the practice, Kobe is just practicing on his own, that Kobe is just doing the most basic offensive moves, the most basic drills. Nothing advanced, just basic footwork, basic shooting, layups, just the absolute most fundamentals. But he’s doing them with laser-like precision and a high degree of energy. He’s just blown away, though, by what the routine is. It just wasn’t what he was expecting at all. Kobe was there actually practicing before everyone else would start practicing for the day. He was just practicing on his own, his own session, and he asked Kobe, “Why does the greatest player in the game need to practice such basic moves?” Kobe responds with a big smile – Kobe always had that amazing smile – he says, “Well, how do you think I became the best player in the game?”
There’s three success secrets baked in there that I wanted to share today that we can all really learn from. Kobe was such an amazing player, such an amazing person, and the three things that I gleaned from that story is if we want to achieve our fullest potential in whatever it is that we’re doing in our business or our life, then we need to have a schedule. We need to commit to practice. When is it that we’re going to show up? What time? Try to make that the same time every day. Number two, after we have a schedule, when we show up, we need to show up at our best.
Remember that Kobe was apparently doing these very, very basic moves with laser-like precision and a high degree of energy. How do we show up at our best? When we’re on, how do we be intensely on and really give, whatever is our highest, most deliberate, most focused, most genius attention and effort? Then number three, during that practice, whatever it is that we’re doing, whatever skill it is that we’re trying to build or work on, we can never forget the fundamentals. We can never forget how important it is to do the basics. Quick example with the videos that I do on YouTube, this is going to be video 70 something, and I never had done videos before on YouTube. I only started a few months ago, actually, but I thought, “Okay, well, how do I get better at making videos? I have to just stick to the basics and keep filming videos. Just keep doing it over and over and over and over.”
Do this for whatever skill you’re trying to develop. If you’re trying to be a writer, you need to write. You need to sit down and do the writing. If you want to be better within your fitness routine or for a particular sport, what are the basic drills that you can be practicing over and over and over to master those repetitions, master the skill sets so that you have that very, very strong foundation from which you can operate from? Remember those three things from Kobe; we have a lot to thank Kobe for. Have a set schedule, show up with greatness and show up at your best.
When you’re in your practice session, remember to just distill things down to the most basic fundamentals and make sure that you’re drilling those things over and over and over. So that brick by brick, you can build the house of your success in your business or life. I hope you’ve enjoyed that, and if you head over to my website at ericpartaker.com, you can also subscribe to my weekly Peak Performance Insights newsletter.
