Greatness

Diving into the lessons and stories from the career and life of Kobe Bryant
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1:10  - The Mamba Mentality

"If you see me in a fight with a bear, prey for the bear". I've always loved that quote. That's "mamba mentality" we don't quit, we don't cower, we don't run. We endure and conquer.

2:40 - Three Stories on Self-Belief

Kobe had dreams of making it to the NBA and a counselor told him, “Only one in a million make it to the NBA so you have to plan on a future other than basketball.” Kobe responded,

"I’m going to be that one in a million."

5:05  - Obsession

“I wanted you to know  that it doesn’t matter how hard you work, I’m willing to work harder than you.” - Kobe to Jay Willaims 

8:45 - Focus

A reporter asked Kobe about what he would do during the 1999 summer after the season,

"Basketball. There is nothing else."

10:15  - What is the Mamba Mentality

The most important thing about it is curiosity…do you have a curiosity to learn more. It’s not good enough to just understand that something worked or didn’t work, but you have to understand why it worked and why it didn’t work.


16:30 - What Does Losing Mean to You?

It’s exciting because it means you have different ways to get better.


17:50 - What’s your definition of Greatness? 

To inspire people next to you

22:00 - Non-negotiables 

I don’t negotiate with myself…when I told myself you know at 13 that I want to be one of the greatest to ever play, that's the deal I made. I shook hands with myself. That is the deal, that is the contract that is non-negotiable. I don't wake up three years from now and say oh you know this really hurts. I don't want nope uh-uh i don't negotiate with myself in that regard.

One Final Note

High school’s teacher advice to kobe,

“Rest at the end, not in the middle.” 

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Check out my new book Chasing Greatness: Timeless Stories on the Pursuit of Excellence

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Resouces

Books
The Rise
ShowBoat

Interviews
Lewis Howes and Kobe Bryant
Danny Morrell and Kobe Bryant
Alex Rodriguez and Big Cat Interview Kobe Bryant - The Corp
Jay Shetty and Kobe Bryant

Diving into the story, lessons, and greatness of  Thomas Edison from Edmund Morris'  book:  Edison

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3:20  - Childhood Adversity

His greatness was clearly to be seen when difficulties arose. They always made him cheerful, and started him thinking; and very soon would come a line of suggestions which would not end until the difficulty was met or found insurmountable. 

6:20 - Turning Point

I am twenty one. I may not live to be fifty. Can I get as much done as he did? I have got so much to do and life is so short, I am going to hustle.

9:40  - Obsession

In the early 1870s he had a rush order for thirty thousand dollars worth of the Edison Stock printers, then being manufactured according to a much improved model he had lately developed. But these new instruments turned out to have “bugs” in them and refused to perform as they were supposed. Edison then called together a half dozen of his devoted helpmates, and informed them that he intended to shut himself up with them in the laboratory on the top floor of the Ward Street Factory until they had located the cause of the trouble. “Now you fellows. I’ve locked the door, and you’ll have to stay here until the job is completed. Well let’s find the ‘bugs.’”


13:15 - On Genius

Genius is “99 percent perspiration and one percent inspiration.”

14:00 - Impact > Money

“I don’t care so much about making my fortune as far I do for getting ahead of the other fellows.”


16:30 - Facing Failure

Why man, I’ve got a lot of results. I know several thousand things that won’t work.

One Final Note

“The problem with other inventors is that they try a few things and quit. I never quit until I get what I want.”

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Check out my new book Chasing Greatness: Timeless Stories on the Pursuit of Excellence

Diving into the lessons and ideas music producer, Rick Rubin, can offer us in our quest of becoming a great artist from his book: The Creative Act: A Way of Being

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3:15 - The Power of Awareness

The universe is only as large as our perception of it. When we cultivate our awareness, we are expanding the universe. This expands the scope, not just of the material at our disposal to create from, but of the life we get to live.

7:30 - Submerge

In service of this robust instinct, consider submerging yourself in the canon of great works. Read the finest literature, watch the masterpieces of cinema, get up close to the most influential paintings, visit architectural landmarks. There’s no standard list; no one has the same measure of greatness…The goal is not to learn to mimic greatness, but to calibrate our internal meter for greatness.

9:50  - The Artist Mindset


The artist’s goal is not merely to produce, but to make the finest work they are capable of. The business thinks in terms of quarterly earnings and production schedules. The artist thinks in terms of timeless excellence.

Fear of criticism. Attachment to a commercial result. Competing with past work. Time and resource constraints. The aspiration of wanting to change the world. And any story beyond, “I want to make the best thing I can make, whatever it is,” Are all undermining  forces in the quest for greatness

11:40 - On Rules

So rather than climbing the five tallest mountains in the 80 days, what was stopping me from topping all 14 death zone mountains in the quickest time imaginable? I struggled to think of too many pitfalls. Only politics or money. Or maybe an avalanche or a crevasse, if I’m really unlucky

The goal of shaving off an entire seven years from the world record was wildly ambitious, but I quickly embraced the idea. The bottom line was to climb as quickly as possible, whatever the weather, Nims style

14:40 - When is The Work Done?

How do we know when an idea is flourishing? Often the most accurate signposts are emotional, not intellectual. Excitement tends to be the best barometer for selecting which seeds to focus on.

The call of the artist is to follow the excitement. Where there’s excitement, there’s energy. And where there is energy, there is light. 

16:30 - How an Artist Defines Success

Success occurs in the privacy of the soul. It comes in the moment you decide to release the work, before exposure to a single opinion. When you’ve done all you can to bring out the world's greatest potential. When you’re pleased and ready to let go. 


19:15: Why Create Art?

The reason we’re alive is to express ourselves in the world. And creating art may be the most effective and beautiful method of doing so. Art goes beyond language, beyond lives. It’s a universal way to send messages between each other and through time

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Check out my new book Chasing Greatness: Timeless Stories on the Pursuit of Excellence

Diving into the story, lessons, and greatness of  Nims Purja from his book: Beyond Possible

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1:20 - The doubters

In 2019, an article on the Red Bull website said my goal as an unknown climber was as likely as a “swim to the moon.” Still, I believed it.

2:00 - Why do the impossible?

But for me, it was an opportunity to prove the world that everything, anything, was possible if you dedicated your heart and mind to a plan

7:20  - Make your goals your God


15:20 - The Impossible Goal

So rather than climbing the five tallest mountains in the 80 days, what was stopping me from topping all 14 death zone mountains in the quickest time imaginable? I struggled to think of too many pitfalls. Only politics or money. Or maybe an avalanche or a crevasse, if I’m really unlucky

The goal of shaving off an entire seven years from the world record was wildly ambitious, but I quickly embraced the idea. The bottom line was to climb as quickly as possible, whatever the weather, Nims style

17:40 - How to make the right decision

The man who wishes to keep at a problem long enough to really learn anything positively must not take dangerous risks. Carelessness and overconfidence are usually more dangerous than deliberately accepted risks.


20:25 - Nine lessons from Project Possible

When trying to negotiate with pain, I often worked to create a bigger more controllable hurt, one that would shut out the first: replacing an agony beyond my control. 

My biggest concern throughout the mission was not finishing, either through weakness or dying. So I used the potential consequences of failure as a way of not quitting. I pictured the disappointed people who had once looked to my project for inspiration, or the joking doubters who could inevitably make comments in inerviews and call me out online. Imagining their faces fired me up.

You’re not going to get to your dream by just fantasizing about it. But if you make it your ultimate goal, or god, and give yourself to it entirely, there’s a good chance it will come your way…The job had become my church, and I invested all my efforts in it. 

Disguising my pain and suffering was a skill I practiced at all times, and I did so by focusing intensely on the job at hand; it helped to shut out the chaos around me.


One Final Note

Whatever you’re after or whoever you’re representing, make it visible

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Check out my new book Chasing Greatness: Timeless Stories on the Pursuit of Excellence

Diving into the story, lessons, and greatness of  the Wright Brothers from David McCullough's Book: The Wright Brothers

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2:50 - Wilbur's Advice

Pick out a good father and mother, and begin life in Ohio

3:20 - Their Greatest Advantage

The greatest thing in our favor was growing up in a family where there was always much encouragement to intellectual curiosity.

4:40  - Wilbur's Turning Point


10:30 - No Excuses, No Problem

In no way did that discourage or deter Wilbur or Orville Wright, any more than the fact that they had no college education, no formal technical training, no experience working with anyone other than themselves, no friends in high places, no financial backers, no government subsidies. 

14:20 - On Unnecessary Risk

The man who wishes to keep at a problem long enough to really learn anything positively must not take dangerous risks. Carelessness and overconfidence are usually more dangerous than deliberately accepted risks.

23:40 - How long are you willing to wait?

It had taken four years. They had endured violent storms, accidents, one disappointment after another, public indifference or ridicule, and clouds of demon mosquitoes. To get to and from their remote sand dune testing ground they had made five round trips from Dayton, a total of seven thousand miles by train, all to fly little more than half a mile. No matter. They had done it.

27:35 - Patiently Persistence

The character trait that described the boys best is they were patiently persistent.


30:10 - On Achieving Flight

More than anything else the sensation is one of perfect peace, mingled with the excitement that strains every nerve to the utmost, if you can conceive such a combination.

Two Final Notes

The best dividends on the labor invested have invariably come from seeking more knowledge rather than more power. 

A man who works for the immediate present and its immediate rewards is nothing but a fool 

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Check out my new book Chasing Greatness: Timeless Stories on the Pursuit of Excellence

Diving into the story, lessons, and greatness of  Howard Shultz and how he built Starbucks into an empire from his book: Pour Your Heart Into It

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0:20- Lead with your heart

We have to lead with our hearts. In business, as in life, we each should have an internal compass that guides our decisions, an instinctive understanding of what matters most in this world. For me, it’s not profits, or sales, or number of stores, but the passion, commitment, and enthusiasm of a dedicated group of people. It’s not about money, it’s about pursuing a dream others think you can’t achieve and finding a way to give something back, to the employees, to the customers, to the community

1:45 - The Power of a Poor Childhood

From my personal experience, I’d say that the more uninspiring your origins, the more likely you are to use your imagination and invent worlds where everything seems possible.

3:00 - The Greatness Mindset
 
I wanted to be in charge of my own destiny. It may be a weakness in me: I’m always wondering what’ll do next. Enough is never enough.

6:45 - Early Starbuck Lessons

Every company must stand for something. Starbucks stood not only for good coffee, but specifically for the dark-roasted flavor profile that the founders were passionate about. That’s what differentiated it and made it authentic....You don’t just give the customers what they ask for. If you offer them something they’re not accustomed to, something so far superior that it takes a while to develop their plates, you can create a sense of discovery and excitement and loyalty that will bond them to you.

15:50 - The Risk

This is my moment. If I don’t seize the opportunity, if I don't step out of my comfort zone and risk it all, if I let too much time tick on, my moment will pass. I knew that if I didn’t take advantage of this opportunity, I would replay it in my mind for my whole life, wondering: What if?  Why didn’t I? 

19:40 - The Entrepreneur Feeling

There’s a fine line between self doubt and self-confidence, and it’s even possible to feel both emotions simultaneously. Back then, and often enough today, I could be overwhelmed with insecurities, and at the same time have an abundance of self assurance and faith.

24:50- Starbucks Competitive Advantage

Our competitive strategy was to win customers by offering the best coffee and customer service and an inviting atmosphere….We built the Starbucks brand first with our people, not with consumers–the opposite approach from that of the crackers-and-cereal companies. Because we believed the best way to meet and exceed expectations of customers was to hire and train great people.

One Final Note

I figure I’ve had to reinvent myself at least three times. I started off as a dreamer. That was the thirty two year old who knocked on every investor’s door in Seattle looking for money to realize his business plan. Then I moved to entrepreneur, first founding Il Giornale and then taking over Starbucks and re-creating it as a fast growth company. Then I had to become a professional manager, as the company grew larger and I needed to delegate more and more decisions. 

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Check out my new book Chasing Greatness: Timeless Stories on the Pursuit of Excellence

Diving into the story, lessons, and greatness of the greatest of all times, Muhammad Ali from Jonathan Eig's book: Ali

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2:30- Cassius' Reality

"Why can’t I be rich?"hHe asked his father

Look there, his father said, touching the boys walnut-colored hand. That’s why you can’t be rich.

4:20 - Misfortune to Fortune: The Stolen Bike

7:20- The Goal

His goal, he said, was to be the youngest heavyweight champion in the history of boxing. Clay was only eighteen, which meant he had three years to break the record of Floyd Patterson, who had become the champ at the age of twenty one years and ten months. 

10:20 - Having a Plan

I got a fight plan and I will do it when I can. But it would be the worst thing I could do to go in there with my mind all made up. I have been fighting since I was a child, and I do everything on instinct. Sometimes I wonder at myself when I see a big fist coming at my head, and my head moves without me thinking and the big fist goes by. I wonder how I did it.

11:20- Fighting = Forgetting

The great fighter lose themselves in the void. They don’t think about it. They ride the rush.

17:50 - Champion Mindset

Maybe I can be beat. I doubt it. But the man is going to have to knock me down and then I’ll get up and he’ll have to knock me down again and I’ll get up and he’ll have to knock me down and I’ll still get up. I’ve worked too hard and too long to get this chance. I’m gonna have to be killed before I lose, and I ain't going to die easily.

22:30 - Stand on Your Beliefs

Who wants to go to jail, he said. I’m used to running around free like a little bird. In jail, you got no wife, no freedom. You can’t eat what you want…being in prison every day, looking out of the cell, not seeing nobody…A man’s got to be serious in his beliefs to do that.

35:00 - Getting Kicked in the Face

Best thing that ever happened to me. I needed that. Thank you very much. Losing that fight was just what I needed. It made me humble. I’m going into the woods and will train at my camp. No more fooling around.

Three Final Notes

Ali spoke of the meaning of his life,

God is watching me. God don’t praise me because I beat Joe Fraizer. He wants to know ho do we treat each other, how do we help on another.”

On being scared,

Years later, he would admit to friends that he had been frightened before every one of his fights. But he hid it beautifully. And once the bell rang, his fears vanished.

On your purpose

I got a feeling I was born for a purpose. I don’t know what I’m here for. I just feel abnormal, a different kind of man. I don’t know why I was born. I’m just here. A young man rumbling. I’ve always had that feeling since I was a little boy. Perhaps I was born to fulfill Biblical prophecies. I just feel I may be a part of something–divine things. Everything seems strange to me.

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Diving into the story, lessons, and greatness of the five women who changed aviation history forever from Kieth O'Brien's book:  Fly Girls

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2:45- Amelia Earhart's Scrapbook

She kept a scrapbook filled with clippings about female achievers making news; she cut out the stories and pasted them on the pages as motivation, perhaps, or proof that anything was possible. 

4:00 - The Dare

As stimulus to the courageous aviators, I desire to offer through the auspices and regulation of the aero club of america, a prize of $25,000 to the first aviator of any allied country crossing the atlantic, in one flight from Paris to New York or New York to Paris, all other details in your care.

6:30 - Ruth Elder Purpose
 
I want to do something that will make people notice me, that may give me an opportunity to get somewhere in this world.

8:20 - Doing something great

I would rather give my life to something big and worthwhile, than to live longer and do less - Frances Grayson


9:10 - The Right Sort of Girl

The publisher was looking for the “right sort of girl.” This women wouldn’t be doing any actual flying, but it would look better if she could–and new york publisher George Palmer Putnam was big on appearances…He wanted to put the first woman over the ocean

10:35 - The Call

 "I might as well lay the cards on the table,” he told Earhart. “Would you like to fly across the Atlantic.”

13:05 - The Derby and Sabotage

Beware of sabotage. The cryptic message arrived via telegram that day, and shortly after dinner that night, the women believed they had proof of it, if not sabotage, then at least tampering. 

17:00 - Setting Records

In early December 1930, Nichols set a transcontinental speed record, flying from New York to Los Angeles with four overnight stops but a total elapsed time of just sixteen hours and fifty nine and a half minutes. Unsatisfied, Nichols turned around, flew back east and set another record going in that direction–thirteen hours and twenty-two minutes, almost an hour and half shorter than Lindbergh’s fastest transcontinental flight…She had proven herself to be the arguably the bravest, frastest, and strongest female flier in America.

19:25 - The Grudge Flight

Earhart–the fourteenth person ever to pilot a plane east across the ocean, the first women ever to do it and the first person to do it solo since Lindenbergh himself–was finished. For once in her life, she felt no need to go further 

24:40 - Speed with Safety

It might have been seven years since she won the powder puff derby, but she remembered why she had prevailed in that long, grueling race: by not getting lost, by not rushing and making mistakes, and by not crippling the engine by forcing it to run beyond its capabilities over thousands of miles. “Speed with safety,” the men liked to say

26:30 - One Final Note

Thaden knew what the men thought of the women and it was hard, at times to keep going, to keep flying. As she said, “it took dedication and the courage to accept defeat, after defeat, after defeat.” 

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Check out my new book Chasing Greatness: Timeless Stories on the Pursuit of Excellence

Diving into the lessons and greatness of Epictetus's teachings and writings from the book:  Discourses and Selected Writings

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0:25 - A Simple Practice

How do you categorize these things, exile, imprisonment, chains, death, and disgrace… Or things like getting fired, ending a relationship, dealing with financial struggles?

It is not the events that disturb people, it is their judgements concerning them…Remember that it is we who torment, who make difficulties for ourselves, that is, our opinions do.

1:55 - On Misfortune

When you don’t have much, you do

4:20 - The Right Kind of Progress

Where is progress, then? If there is anyone who renounces externals and attends instead to their character, cultivating and perfecting it so that it agrees with nature, making it honest and trustworthy, elevated, free, unchecked and undeterred; and if they've learned that whoever desires or avoids things outside their control cannot be free or faithful, but has to shift and fluctuate right along with them, subject to anyone with the power to furnish or deprive them of these externals; and if from the moment they get up in the morning they adhere to their ideals, eating and bathing like a person of integrity, putting their principles into practice in every situation they face - the way a runner does when he applies the principles of running, or a singer those of musicianship - that is where you will see true progress embodied, and find someone who has not wasted their time making the journey here from home."

8:20 - The Only Gift You Need

So it’s only appropriate that the gods have given us the best and most efficacious gift: the ability to make good use of impressions…Don’t let the force of the impression when first it hits you knock you off your feet; just say to it, ‘hold on a moment; let me see who you are and what you represent. Let me put you to the test.

13:40 - On Getting What You Want

This is god's signal to you: if you want, you are free, if you want, you will blame no one, you will accuse no one - if you want, everything will happen according to plan, yours as well as God’s

14:30 - The Two Worst Vices

There were two vices much blacker and more serious than the rest: lack of persistence and lack of self control: The former means we cannot bear and endure hardships that we have to endure, the latter means that we cannot resist pleasures or other things we ought to resist.

19:15 - A daily reminder

When giving your wife or child a kiss, repeat to yourself, ‘ I am kissing a mortal,’ Then you won’t be so distraught if they are taken from you.

20:50 - One Final Note

How long will you wait before you demand the best of yourself?

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Check out my new book Chasing Greatness: Timeless Stories on the Pursuit of Excellence

Diving into the life, lessons, and greatness of John Wooden  from Seth Davis' book, Wooden: A Coach's Life

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2:30 - His Fathers Advice 

Never lie, never cheat, never steal. Done whine, don’t complain, don’t make excuses

7:00 - Early Lesson

When you don’t have much, you do

8:10 - Success Origin

Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming

12:40 - Mistakes = Winning

The team that makes the most mistakes usually wins the game - Peggy Lambert

22:50 - Be an Honorable Man

You have to earn the right to be confident

25:20 - Little Things = Big Things

Little things add up, and they become big things. That's what I tried to teach my players in practice. You’re not going to make a great improvement today. Maybe you’ll make a little but. But tomorrow it’s a little more, and the next day a little more.”

27:30 - Have I Been Fair?

All I want to know is, have I been fair. Not have I been right, because I know I haven’t always been. But have I been fair? I think I have. I always remember to do my best, and I have peace of mind

28:45 - Office Credo

It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts

29:00 - One Final Note

“I’d like to be remembered as a person who tried to do his best.”

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Check out my new book Chasing Greatness: Timeless Stories on the Pursuit of Excellence