Thursday, September 07, 2006, 1:05 AM
I Can't Accept Not Trying : Michael Jordan on the Pursuit of Excellence
Goals
Step by step. I can't see any other ways of accomplishing anything. When I got cut from the varsity team as a sophomore in high school, I learned something. I knew I never wanted to feel that bad again. Each time I visualized where I wanted to be, what kind of player I wanted to become and I gained a little confidence every time I came through. Take the small steps. Otherwise you are opening yourself up to all kinds of frustration. All those steps are like pieces of a puzzle. They all come together to form a picture
Fears
I never looked at the consequences of missing a big shot. Why? Because when you think about the consequences you always think of a negative result. I realized that if I was going to achieve anything in life I had to be aggressive. I had to get out there and go for it. I don't believe you can achieve anything by being passive. I know fear is an obstacle for some people, but it's an illusion to me. Any fear is an illusion. You think something is standing in your way, but nothing is really there. What is there is an opportunity to do your best and gain some success. Failure always made me try harder the next time. Sometimes failure actually just gets you closer to where you want to be.
I think fear sometimes comes from a lack of focus or concentration, especially in sports. If I had stood at the free-throw line and thought about 10 million people watching me on the other side of the camera lens, I couldn't have made anything. So you relax and perform. After that you can't control anything anyway. It's out of your hands, so don't worry about it. I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying. It doesn't matter if you win as long as you give everything in your heart and work at it 100 percent. Game is not about winning or losing it is about whose heart is bigger
CommitmentI don't do things halfheartedly. because I know if I do, then I can expect halfhearted results. That's why I approached practice the same way I approached games. You can't turn it on and off like a faucet. I couldn't dog it during practice and then, when I needed that extra push late in the game, expect it to be there. My sophomore season at North Carolina turned to be my best in college because of that there were all kinds of expectation during my junior year. What I tried to do was come out and live up to those expectations.
Coach Smith called me in one day and showed me two films, one from the beginning of my sophomore season, the other from the beginning of junior. They were totally the opposite. I was looking for shortcuts and that wasn't how I got there. I still had the desire, but I had lost my focus. You have to stick to your plan. A lot of people try to pull you down to their level because they can't achieve certain things.
TeamworkTalent wins game, but teamwork and intelligence win championship.
It seems our society tends to glamorize individual levels of success without taking the entire process into consideration. There are plenty of teams in every sport that have great players and never win titles. Most of the time, those players aren't willing to sacrifice for the greater good of the team. I would rather have fine guys with less talent who are willing to come together as a team than five guys who consider themselves stars and aren't willing to sacrifice.
FundamentalsFundamentals where the most crucial part of my game in the NBA. Everything I did, everything I achieved can be traced back to the way I approached the fundamentals and how I applied them to my abilities. I don't care what you are doing or what you are trying to accomplish. You can't skip fundamentals if you want to be the best. The minute you get away from fundamentals, whether it's proper technique, work ethic, or mental preparation, the bottom can fall out of your game, your schoolwork, your job, whatever you are doing. When we understand the building blocks, you begin to see how the entire operation works
LeadershipI've always tried to lead by example. That is just my personality. I never led vocally. I never really tried to motivate by talking because I don't think words ever means as much as action.
If you don't back it up with performance and hard work, talking doesn't mean a thing. A leader can't make any excuse. There has to be quality in everything you do.
