THE MINDSET OF BEING THE BEST YOU CAN BE

Here is an excerpt from a book that shows the mindset of competitor -- someone who is serious about being the best they can be.  It also shows the mindset of a coach that recognized greatest in someone and was determined to get the best out of that athlete.  It's a story of Dean Smith and Michael Jordan.

If anything, some thought, Dean Smith was a little harder on Jordan every day in practice then he was on other young players, as if accepting his greater possibilities and his own limitless ambition and holding him to it, setting higher standards for him than for the others. Roy Williams was also always pushing Jordan to work harder in practice. “I’m working as hard as everyone else,” Jordan answered.

“But Michael, you told me you wanted to be the best,” Williams once reminded him. “And if you want to be the best, then you have to work harder than everyone else.” There was, Williams thought, a long pause, while Jordan pondered that. Finally he said, “Coach, I understand.”

From "Playing For Keeps" by David Halberstam

STAY WITH IT UNTIL YOU GET IT

Kevin Eastman once asked Kobe Bryant how long did he work on a move.  Kobe's reply? "Until."  Meaning there was no time limit. It is rumored that Mamba might work on the same move for two or more hours straight -- until he had reached the level of execution he desired.  The best stay with it until they have it.  Or as David Foster Wallace said, "If you are immune to boredom, there is literally nothing you can't accomplish."

Hall of Fame Coach Marianne Stanley once shared a story of talking to Coach John Wooden and asking him what made Bill Walton such a great player. His response was "He didn't get bored with the repetition that you need to be great." 

How many players are good but don't work at something long enough and hard enough to excel at it?  The word Marianne used was "mastery."  She said the great ones didn't mind the constant repetition because their goal was to master the parts of their game.

I love this passage from one of my players Seimone Augustus:

“The most common questions I get asked as a professional basketball player is, ‘What drills do you do to get better? How many shots did you take a day? What all did you focus on to be a better player? I hate being asked that.  My answer is the same — I can’t count the number of shots I took, I can’t tell you what drills I did because I used everything from a lawn chair to a bowling ball glove to help with getting better, as well as watched a VHS tape of Pistol Pete until it didn’t work anymore.  An still when you reach what you think is your goal or dream, people will still doubt you and will be uncertain of your success at the next level.  But all you can do is keep working, believe in yourself, stay focused and let the universe take you on an amazing ride!”