It’s book review time again, and this time: Michael Jordan, Driven from Within. I was pretty skeptical at first … the book’s very decorous, which is a nice way of saying, it’s largely a picture book. And it has a ghost writer too, which is normally a bad sign.
Having read it, I can say it was truly life-changing. Some of the philosophies espoused in the book are totally paradigm shifting, and seem to come back to me at the most opportune moments.
The book’s written from several perspectives - interviews with the man himself, interviews with his family and people he worked with. It also charts the development of his sneaker brand.
Overcoming Tricks of the Mind
Many of the themes are repeated over and over, one of the most powerful for me being the idea of overcoming adversity using your creativity, rather than letting it get you down:
I remember being at the gym with Michael, and there was this businessman, very successful. He wanted to get back in shape, and he’s laying on the board doing some inverted situps. The guy starts talking about how he’s getrting cramps, and he stops. Michael tells him he has to find a wsay to get past the pain if he really wants to get back in to shape. The guy walks around a little while, comes back, and finally does another set - The mind will play tricks on you.
The mind was telling you that you couldn’t go any further. The mind was telling you how much it hurt. The mind was telling you these things to keep you from reaching your goal. But you have to see past that, turn it all of if you are going to get where you want to be.
Earning What You Want
The entire first chapter is called “Earned”, and it’s another big theme running through the book:
“Players who practice hard when no-one is watching generally play well when everyone is watching”
He talks a lot about greatness. My favourite definition? Greatness is your opponents knowing the have to do their best, when all you’re doing is expressing yourself in the moment, never having to think abuot lifting your game or trying harder - because you’re firing on all cylinders from the core.
No Fear of Failure
Again, best explained by a quote from the book:
There was never any fear for me, no fear of failure. If I miss a shot, so what? You either make it, or you miss it. I could think that way because I knew I have earned the opportunity to take that shot. I had put in all the work, not only in that particular game, but in practice every day. If I missed, then it wasn’t meant to be. There’s no stress in losing under those circumstances - it just wasn’t meant to be.
I was as prepared as I could possible have been for that mooment. I couldn’t go back and practice a little harder.
If you know you haven’t prepared correctly, or you know you haven’t worked hard enough, that’s when the other thoughts and emotions creep in to your mind. That’s stress. That’s fear.
It’s the same process for doing anything, anywhere in life no matter how big or small the stage. Whether it’s running a corporation, taking a test in second grade, or taking a shot to win a game, at that moment you are the sum total of all the work you have put in, nothing more and nothing less. If you are confident you have done everytyhing possible to prepare yourself, then there is nothing to fear.
April 21st, 2008 at 12:57 am
Hmmm…I think I would have liked to hear more directly from Michael himself. But maybe it wasn’t possible for some legal or business reasons. Whichever. The man’s a legend.