I recently read a great book written by Michael Jordan titled, I Can't Accept Not Trying, Michael Jordan on the Pursuit of Excellence. If you have a chance, pick up a copy of this book and give it a read. It is only 36 short pages long but is packed full of insights from arguably the best basketball player ever to play the sport.
I had the opportunity to see Jordan play several times when I lived in Chicago and it was a treat every time. He just had a way of making everyone else on the floor look like they were a step behind. He understood what excellence was all about and pursued it with an absolute passion.
In his book he tells how his experience of getting cut from the varsity team as a sophomore in high school taught him a lesson about setting goals and creating a vision and then getting after it. He set a goal of becoming a starter the next year on the varsity team and then focused on it as he practiced all summer long. When he hit that goal he set another one and just kept going.
Jordan tells how he visualized where he wanted to be and what kind of player he wanted to become. He says, "I guess I approached it with the end in mind. I knew exactly where I wanted to go, and I focused on getting there. As I reached those goals, they built on one another. I gained a little confidence every time I came through." What a lesson there is in that for all of us.
We can say that Jordan was born with the ability to play basketball and who knows, maybe he was. But the reality is Jordan knew what he wanted and went after it. Think what we could all accomplish in our life and our business if we approached every day the same way he did! I think it's a great life lesson for all of us and one we can all learn a lot from.
There are a lot of great lessons in this book and it will only take you about 20 minutes to read. Pick up a copy and learn a little from Michael. He can teach all of us a lot about how to lead the life we want.
Let me know what you think about it when you're done!
Posted by Coach Dennis Kelley
Sunday, June 24, 2007
A great book by Michael Jordan on excellence
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2 comments:
what a great warrior. He somehow finds a way to not become distracted on any given day. I wish I could never be distracted from my goals. I love the part about seeing the end result. I truly beleive in that. Thanks for your blog and keep it up. Inspiration is always in demand!
Thanks for your comment. I agree he is a great warrior and there is a lot we can learn from him. Jordan is one of those people that has always had a very clear vision on what he wanted and worked hard to get it. For most of us we need to define what we want and then set clear goals to get there. If you are struggling to stay focused on your goals try this. Write them out in a very clear specific way and post them in a prominent place where you will see them every day. Give yourself 2 or 3 objectives you will work on each day that gets you closer to your goals. Do those things first every day. You'll be amazed at how much you get accomplished and success breeds success. Good luck.
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