Diving into the life and greatness of Billie Jean King from her autobiography: All In

-----

3:40 - Early life lessons


4:50 - How Billie Jean would become a Champion  + Humiliation Become Motivation

9:50 - A key to Billie Jean's Success/how Billie Jean set herself up to be one of the best players ever


11:15 - Playing the long game


12:30 - Denying a chance at fulfilling her dream


14:25 - The practices and methods Billie Jean used before and during tennis matches 


17:00 - On losing and being a champion


19:35 - The powerful practice to make you work harder 


21:40 - Seek to renew yourself when you're hitting home-runs


26:50 - Tennis player to social activist


34:00 - The Battle of the Sexes/match against Bobby Riggs


40:20 - Pre-match checklist/mindset


47:15 - The framework for making decisions + how to make big decisions in life

-----

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

You can get some Chasing Greatness Apparel here

Diving into the life of one of greatest artist the world has ever seen, Alicia Keys, from her autobiography: More Myself

-----

5:30 - Becoming the "Next"

When Alicia Keys was sixteen, she started her own girl group with two of her friends called EMbishion. With hopes of being like the Jackson 5, Alicia quickly realized it wasn’t about becoming someone

I now understand that trying to be the “next” anyone is as foolish as it sounds. The shoes you dream of fulfilling have already been worn ragged through their soles. You’ve gotta step into your own kicks and just do you.


6:25 - Study the Greats

As she was growing up, Alicia started to study the greats before her,

I drew inspiration from the musical geniuses in my mother’s record collection, as well as the collection I’d started for myself. I studied every note of Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going on.”

9:35 - The Performance Mindset

At every showcase, I played my music like it was the only chance I’d ever get to land a contract, because in my view, it was. I’d grown up seeing my life through a single lens: survival. And from that vantage point, opportunity is never a promise. Rather, it is a hope and a hustle.

10:40 - The Battle of College vs Music

18:00 - The Creative Process

I’m often asked where my melodies and lyrics come from. I may never fully comprehend how a song sprouts from nothingness into existence, and truthfully, I’m not tempted to decode the mystery. I hope to be constantly surprised, in amazement of how the tiny seed of a possible chord or lyric miraculously sprints to life…I don’t create from a set of rules or formulas. I tap into my true feelings and experiences and allow them to guide me. 

22:50 - Dealing with Fame

My world was so filled with the steady clanking of appointments and appearances and press interviews and pandemonium, I could no longer even hear my own thoughts. I longed for solitude, for space and breathing room without the thought that someone else might be impacted.

26:10 - Oprah's Lessons

You know what a resounding yes feels like. It’s undeniable Nothing going to stop you from doing it. You’re excited. You don’t have to convince yourself to move forward. You simply know this is the right thing. And that’s what I live by
.

For many years, I looked for someone outside of myself to dream up and create what only I could. I eventually realized that no one else can see your big picture. Only you can know the journey you’re on. Others can contribute, and you should definitely surround yourself with smart people who lift you higher and share in your vision. But the truth is, even with wise counsel, only you know what your next step should be. All my best decisions in life have come when I’ve turned to what felt like the best move for me.”

28:10 - Alicia's Pre-Performance Mindset

Before every performance, Alicia Keys asks herself,

Do you want to be good, or do you want to be great

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

You can get some Chasing Greatness Apparel here

Alicia Keys Grammy Performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPbwJQ1XR4c

Diving into a short story on the Roman Philosopher, Seneca, from my book: Chasing Greatness: Timeless Stories on the Pursuit of Excellence
 

Diving into the life of one of greatest athletes the world has ever seen, LeBron James, from Jeff Benedict's book: LeBron

-----

1:00 - LeBron's upbringing

When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly… 

5:15 - The advice that shaped how LeBron played the game

Lebron paid attention whenever his coach wanted to talk shop about basketball. On this occasion, coach Dru encouraged him to integrate his teammates into the offense. “Bron, if you pass the ball, everyone is going to want to play with you.” Lebrons seized that last part of the sentence–everyone is going to want to play with you…For a kid who has spent so much time alone, there was nothing Lebron wanted more than to be wanted.

6:00 - The Dream

In school, when his teacher passed out a blank note card at the beginning of the year and instructed the students to write down three things they wanted to be when they grew up, Lebron wrote,

NBA Player

NBA Player

NBA Player

8:45 - Make it visible

The last thing he saw before going to sleep each night and the first thing he saw when he woke up each morning were images of Michael Jordan looking down on him from the walls of his bedroom. To Lebron, Jordan was the ultimate athlete. 

10:10 - T-Mac's Advice

When you get on the court, you have no friends. No matter who you’re playing, you gotta kill’em.

15:00 - Playing philosophy

I go for the winning play. The winning play when two guys come at you and a teammate is open is to give it up. It’s as simple as that.

18:25 - The Decision

The world’s most celebrated basketball player couldn’t foresee that by the end of the night he would be the most hated athlete in all of sports.

23:00- Proving vs Improvement

I lost touch with who I was as a basketball player and a person. I got caught up in everything that was going on around me, and I felt like I had to prove something to people, and I don’t know why. Everything was tight, stressed.

23:50 - Losing is Winning

The best thing that happened to me last year was us losing the Finals. It humbled me…I knew I was going to have to change as a basketball player and I was going to have to change as a person. 

29:10 - Make It Visible 

A excerpt on LeBron from my book, Chasing Greatness: Timeless Stories on the Pursuit of Excellence

Diving into the unique journal of Marcus Aurelius when he was the most powerful man in the world from the book: Meditations
-----

2:40 - On a morning practice

When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly… 

7:25 - Protect your thoughts

The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the color of your thoughts.

8:10 - On being harmed

Choose not to be harmed-and you won't feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed – and you havent been.

Nothing that goes on in anyone’s else’s mind can harm you. Nor can shifts and changes in the world around you. Then where is harm to be found? In your capacity to see it. Stop doing that and everything will be fine

9:40 - A couple rules/practices to follow

Ask yourself at every moment, ‘Is this necessary’

When you need encouragement, think of the qualities the people around you have: this one's energy, that one's modesty, another's generosity, and so on. Nothing is as encouraging as when virtues are visibly embodied in the people around us, when we're practically showered with them. It's good to keep this in mind.

14:15 On revenge

The best revenge is to not be like that.

17:00 - Keep your philosophy ready

Doctors keep their scalpels and other instruments handy, for emergencies. Keep your philosophy ready too ready to understand heaven and earth.

18:15 - On asking for help

Don’t be ashamed to need help. Like a soldier storming a wall, you have a mission to accomplish. And if you’ve been wounded and you need a comrade to pull you up? So what?”

19:00 - On worrying about your reputation

Or is it your reputation that’s bothering you? But look at how soon we’re all forgotten.

So many who were remembered already forgotten, and those who remembered them are long gone.

One Final Note/Challenge

Just as you overhear people saying that ‘the doctor prescribed such-and-such for him’ (like riding, or cold baths, or walking barefoot…), say this: ‘Nature prescribed illness for me’ Or blindness. Or the loss of a limb. Or whatever. There ‘prescribed’ means something like ‘ordered, so as to further his recovery.’ And so too here. What happens to each of us is ordered. It furthers our destiny.

-----

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

Diving into the lessons and stories of how Howard Schultz helped turn Starbucks around from his book: Onward
-----

0:00  - Opening

“I’ve come to think that I am at my best as a leader when Starbucks is being challenged or fighting for survival. I’m comfortable with, and in a way enjoy, the rugged, steep ascent. That is my nature. And while I would not want to constantly battle against the odds, the raw feeling of accomplishing something that others did not think possible, or leading people beyond where they thought they could go, is extremely gratifying.”

2:30 - The Goal

As a business leader, my quest has never been just about winning or making money; it has also been about building a great, enduring company, which has always meant trying to strike a balance between profit and social conscience

5:20  - Mastering the Craft

We’re taking time to perfect our espresso. Great espresso requires practice. That’s why we’re dedicating ourselves to honing our craft.

6:55 - Decision-Making

The only filters to our thinking should be: will it make the people proud? Will this make the customer experience better? And will this enhance Starbucks in the minds and hearts of our customers?

11:15  - The Power of One

Like a doctor who measures a patient’s height and weight every year without checking blood pressure or heart rate, Starbucks was not diagnosing itself at a level of detail that would help ensure its long-term health. We predicted future success on how many stores we opened during a quarter instead of taking the time to determine whether each of those stores would in fact be profitable. We thought in terms of millions of customers, and thousands of stores instead of one customer, one partner, and one cup of coffee at a time…We forgot that “ones” add up.

13:45 - On Being an Entrepreneur

But the entrepreneurial journey is not for everyone. Yes, the highs are high and the rewards can be thrilling. But the lows can break your heart. Entrepreneurs must love what they do to such a degree that doing it is worth sacrifice, at times, pain. But doing anything else, we think, would be unimaginable.


18:05 - On Innovation

I’ve always believed that innovation is about rethinking the nature of relationships, not just rethinking products. 

19:30 - No Magic Pills

Our success would only be won by many. Transforming Starbucks was a complex puzzle we were trying to piece together, where everything we did contributed to the whole. We just had to focus on the right, relevant things for our partners, for our customers, for our shareholders, and our brand.


21:00 - Lessons Learned

Grow with discipline. Balance intuition with rigor. InnovaTe around the core. Don’t embrace the status quo. Find new ways to see. Never expect a silver bullet. Get your hands dirty. Listen with empathy and over communicate with transparency. Tell your story, refusing to let others define you. Use authentic experiences to inspire. Stick to your values, they are your foundation. Hold people accountable but give them the tools to succeed. Make the tough choices; it’s how you execute that counts. Be decisive in times of crisis. Be nimble. Find truth in trials and lessons in mistakes. Be responsible for what you see, hear, and do. Believe.

One Final Note

Starbucks is not a coffee company that serves people, it’s a people company that serves coffee. 

-----

Check out my new book

Diving into the lessons and stories from the career and life of Kobe Bryant
-----

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.” 

-----

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

-----
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

-----

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.”

-----

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

-----

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

-----

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

-----

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

-----

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