Everyday Series | Season 1 | Significant Lessons Saturdays | 007 | LeBron James
In this episode, we unpack lessons from LeBron James.
4 National Basketball Association (NBA) World championships, 4 regular season Most Valuable Player Awards (MVP's), 4 NBA Finals MVPs and 2 Olympic gold medals are some of his accomplishments. He is often called the air apparent to Michael Jordan. He is LeBron James and as one of the most iconic sports stars in the world, there are many lessons that can be learned from him.
You don't become great until to chase greatness
"My motivation is the ghost that I am chasing. The ghost played in Chicago...If I ever were to put myself in the position to be the greatest [player ever], that would be something extraordinary."
When LeBron James joined the NBA, he adopted the number 23 (the number Michael Jordan wore) and called himself 'the chosen one' as a sign that he is chasing, and looking to surpass, the greatness or Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan is widely acclaimed to be the greatest and fiercest competitor, not only in basketball but in all sports. It is this stature and acclaim that spurs LeBron to achieve more and to become more. What you focus on, you move towards. Any goal that you set will be the limit that you set for yourself. If you go after a mediocre goal, then that is what you normally get. The greatest tragedy is not that individuals set astronomical goals and miss, it is that people set mediocre goals and win. Top performers do not get to legendary status by chasing the mundane. You do not become great until you chase greatness.
Commitment is Key
Commitment is a big part of what I am and what I believe. How committed are you to winning? How committed are you to being a good friend? To being trustworthy? To being successful? How committed are you to being a good father, a good teammate, a good role model? There's that moment every morning when you look in the mirror: Are you committed, or are you not?
Commitment is the willingness to give your time and energy to something that you believe in, or a promise or a firm decision to do something. Study the annals of history and you will find, without equivocation, that feats worthwhile take intense commitment. The reason we see sub-par results is all down to your level of commitment. If your commitment is high, your results will be high; if your commitment is low, your results will generally be on the same level. LeBron James is already hailed as an all-time top 10 player - this is down to his level of commitment. He studies advanced metrics to improve his game. He holds himself to the highest possible standard that no one else does. He plays every minute possible on the courts and leads and galvanizes his team when it is all on the line. He does all of this because he has the highest level of commitment possible because he always asks himself the question 'are you committed, or are you not?'
Failure is okay, as long as you keep going
"You have to be able to accept failure to get better"
Failure is the lack of success upon trying to reach a certain goal. Failure is a part of everyday living and is normally the next step to succeeding. However, most people accept failure as final hence they never try again. This is not the mindset that LeBron James has, and given his failures and losses, this is remarkable. A criticism James faces when being compared to Michael Jordan is down to how many times he has lost. James has been to seven NBA championship finals and has lost four of those finals. A number of them have been painful losses such as the sweep by the San Antonio Spurs. These losses have been enough to break other NBA players and they remained in obscurity but not for James. When one game away from losing the NBA finals to the Golden State Warriors in 2016, he did not let past failures define him - he chased the greatness of Michael Jordan and was able to commit to coming back to win the finals. Failure is not final and James believes that you have to accept failure in order for you to become better.
