Kobe Bryant on The Consistency of Work, Self-Negotiation, and Learning from Great Muses
Episode Description
On this episode of On Purpose, I sat down with Kobe Bryant. Kobe is a five-time NBA Champion, two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and Oscar winner. Kobe created Granity Studios: where his new role consist of being a producer, storyteller and writer.
Here’s a snippet of the brilliance you’ll witness … Kobe: “Now it's different because it's not about the awards, you just wind up trying to create something that's going to inspire someone, that hopefully through that inspiration they can inspire someone else. What I've come to learn as my career went on, that's more significant than any championship."'
Top Quotes
The Consistency of Work
"You just have to figure it out. It's Piece by piece. And it's the consistency of the work. Monday: Get better. Tuesday: Get Better. Wednesday: Get Better. You do that over a period of time. Not just 1 or 2 months. I mean, it's 3, 8, 10 years, and then you get to where you want to go."
Sports as a metaphor for life
"Sports is the greatest metaphor we have in terms of dealing with life...In sports, you have to apply it in the here and now. You're faced with challenges moment to moment. You're faced with pressures and anxiety and communication, or the lack thereof, and all this other stuff. It's in the moment. You have to live it. And when you practice those things, you become better at it."
The Cyclical Nature of Life
"You understand that life has this cyclical nature. What you do on Monday is fantastic, and then Tuesday is a bad day. But guess what, there's Wednesday...So are we just supposed to live our lives like [were on a roller coaster] the whole time? Versus staying [even keel] and understanding it's really just a journey of evolution, everyday is just constant improvement, constant curiosity, constantly getting better, the results don't really matter. It's the figuring out that matters"
Long-Term Approach to his Development
“I had to look at it from the long-term, because I wasn't going to give up on the game. 'This year I'm going to get better at that. Next year I'm going to get at this.' And the next year and so on. And then, patiently, I was able to catch them.”
Kobe on Constantly feeding that flame
"You are just Constantly feeding that flame and learning, and the best way to do that is to learn from the people that have done it."
Evan's Highlights + Takeaways
The Consistency of Work
Kobe's process-driven approach, never focusing on results.
Dealing with winning + losing the same way: Constantly get better.
Kobe + Self-Negotiation: The idea of "Signing the contract with yourself"
Making things non-negotiable for yourself
Kobe on Coaching players: It has to be their "Personal quest to get better"
Kobe on There always is a bigger game being played
Understanding that each teammate has their own journey + baggage they carry with them.
And understanding what those journeys mean to that teammate to help them become better.
Kobe on Constantly feeding that flame
Putting Fuel in the Fire Everyday
Constant inspiration: Reading about successful people, what they were able to accomplish, how they went about accomplishing it.
Learning from Great Muses
Muse Hall: Hallway of pictures of inspiring Muses - "It's important to research them. You can be mentored by people that aren't alive - "Their stories still live" and are applicable*"*
"These muses are still here. It's important to learn from them. These great things that get accomplished can be accomplished by others and beyond."
"And remember that they are human just like us. You realize that they are people just like us and they make mistakes, and they keep going...and we can do the same."
6:45 | "Metaphor that sports has for life"
"It's about the metaphor that sports has for life. Sports is the greatest metaphor we have in terms of dealing with life. Even if you listen to music, music will give you guidance that you can then meditate on and think about how you would apply it. In sports, you have to apply it in the here and now. You're faced with challenges moment to moment. You're faced with pressures and anxiety and communication, or the lack thereof, and all this other stuff. It's in the moment. You have to live it. And when you practice those things, you become better at it."
11:00 | Understanding Life has this Cyclical Nature
Not Being Controlled by Emotion
"What I try and do is I try and be still. Things come and go. Emotions come and go. The important thing is to accept them all, and embrace them all. And then you can choose to do with them what you want versus being controlled by emotion."
Seeing players consumed by a particular fear (even Kobe experienced this).
Acknowledging the fear, but realizing that it is nothing more than your imagination and an illusion.
"It's not really a thing. Like a game winning shot."
"Don't hide from fear. You have to be able to look at it and deal with it head on."
13:15 | Developing the Mentality of getting over yourself
"You understand that life has this cyclical nature. What you do on Monday is fantastic, and then Tuesday is a bad day. But guess what, there's Wednesday...So are we just supposed to live our lives like [were on a roller coaster] the whole time? Versus staying [even keel] and understanding it's really just a journey of evolution, everyday is just constant improvement, constant curiosity, constantly getting better, the results don't really matter. It's the figuring out that matters"
Not being obsessed with Results
Coaches should "focus should be on growing"
15:15 | Taking a Long-Term Approach to Developing his Game Growing Up
Developing the Ability to see Beyond + to Reflect Deeper
Growing up in Italy - Made friends through sports. But a Lot of time spent alone
When he returned to US:
"When I came back to the States, I wasn't the most athletic kid. I was really scrawny. I was really really skinny. Dorky kid with high socks and knee pads...I had to look long term because I couldn't compete with these kids."
“I had to look at it from the long-term, because I wasn't going to give up on the game. This year I'm going to get better at that. Next year I'm going to get at this. And the next year and so on. And then, patiently, I was able to catch them.”
Starting out, Kobe didn't have the physicality or athleticism that meant he was going to make it. But knew he had to take a long-term approach to developing his game.
The Consistency of Work
"You just have to figure it out. It's Piece by piece. And it's the consistency of the work."
Parents failing kids today by teaching them "how to fish"
The consistency of work. Monday: Get better. Tuesday: Get Better.
"You do that over a period of time. Not just 1 or 2 months. I mean, it's 3, 8, 10 years, and then you get to where you want to go."
17:45 | How to Deal with Winning
When you win, what goes through your mind
"It's no different. In basketball, I expected to win. I expected us championships. And when you have that vision in sports, it's a direct competition. Like, 'I know how hard they are working. I know how hard we're working. I know what their strategy is.'
In the NBA, it was like yeah we expected to do that., But know we are going to come back and do it again. It's that constant churning. You win a championship, I'm back in the gym and you're working that next day trying to win the next one."
Now it's different because it's not about the awards. You are trying to create something different that is going to inspire someone that can in turn inspire somebody else. As my career has gone on, I've learned that that is more significant than winning a championship. "How can you connect with somebody that can then connect with another" And then if the awards come or not, that for someone else to decide. For us, it's just trying to create something."
20:50 | Coaching players: "Personal quest to get better"
Coaching players: "Personal quest to get better"
Not giving answers during the games
They either figure things out for themselves or they don't. And then they come back and ask questions. It's about the process
There is no pressure. It's their process to own. I have knowledge I can pass on. but Ultimately, it's them.
24:50 | Why Tennis? Telling the Tale of Tennis
Telling the tale of tennis
Looking more internal, individually. And look at how do you deal with the inner challenges, the self-negotiation that takes place inside of our own heads. And there was no sport better that symbolizes that than in tennis.
You have Golf, but...
"Tennis has more movement, which, to me, symbolizes life in general, because in life there is a lot going on. The elements in tennis that you have to deal with, and then there is the confrontation with the person across the net from you, as well as the strengths and weaknesses in your own movements and how you feel in your own body."
Because of that I wanted to tell a tennis story.
26:00 | Kobe on Self-Negotiation
Example: Running on a track and working out
You can start saying to yourself....
"My knee is really sore right now...
"Maybe I'm doing too much."
"Maybe I should slow down"
"That sort of stuff. That stuff is dangerous. You have to say: 'You know what, I'm not negotiating with myself. The deal was already made. I set out at the beginning of the summer.'"
"Signing the contract with yourself"
"This is non-negotiable" — Making things non-negotiable for yourself.
27:00 | Awareness of Empathy + Compassion as something Kobe wanted to Develop
Teammate told Kobe "I just want to feel that as a teammate, you need me" - and Kobe didn't understand what he meant until later.
He had to think about what he was saying and where that teammate was coming from
It was about his story and his journey and what that meant to him
27:15 | There was a bigger game being played, It's not just basketball.
"That really opened my eyes to there is a bigger game being played. It's not just basketball. It's the emotions of each individual and the backstory that they are carrying with them and the baggage they are carrying with them. And if I really want to be a champion and be a great teammate, I have to understand what those mean to help them become better and, in turn, help me."
Not just basketball, but his journey and his teammates journey
Understanding what those mean to that teammate to help them become better.
41:45 | Kobe was told 'Dear Basketball' was too niche
Kobe was told 'Dear Basketball' was too niche, sports novels are too niche.
"Sports is bigger than that. We made Dear Basketball to prove a point. You don't have to watch basketball to connect to the journey of a dream. Once we saw that connection, it validated our point of view."
Even Kobe was doubted.
Oprah on Re-Uping her 1st Contract
When she re-uped her first deal, 'Don't pay me up front because I want to own a part of the show.'
Told Kobe re: Ownership of her show: "If they thought the show was going to be successful, they wouldn't have given me that."
She eventually owned 100% of the show
45:00 | "Muse Hall" + Finding Mentors
Muse Hall: Hallway of pictures (Muses) in his offices
JK Rowling to Steve Jobs
"It's important to research them"
It's like putting fuel in the fire everyday
Constant inspiration: Reading about them, what they were able to accomplish, how they went about accomplishing it.
You are just Constantly feeding that flame and learning, and the best way to do that is to learn from the people that have done it.
The Importance of Storytelling + Learning from Great Muses
You can be mentored by people that aren't alive - "Their stories still live" and are applicable
Learning from Great Muses
"These muses are still here. It's important to learn from them."
"And remember that they are human just like us. These great things that get accomplished can be accomplished by others and beyond."
"You realize that they are people just like us and they make mistakes, and they keep going...and we can do the same."
"Create from Truth"
What is the one message to all storytellers would be...:
"Create from Truth"
