Michael Jordan is known as a former basketball player. He is distinguished by many as the greatest player ever, and while it all started for Jordan on the court, he didn’t just stop there. While basketball greatness was certainly in his sights, he has demonstrated that he had a lot more things on his list of dreams. Michael Jordan has proven time and time again that he knows what it takes to achieve greatness.
10 Things Michael Jordan Can Teach Us About Achieving Greatness
1) No Fear Of Failure – Jordan made it clear in both his words and his actions that nothing was going to stop him from going after his desires, regardless of failure. Jordan said, “I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” You can’t be successful every single time you do something! Little failures, big failures, it doesn’t matter. It’s inevitable. People tell you it’s okay to fail because IT IS! Keep moving forward! You can learn from those failures and eventually… you will succeed!
2) Stop Listening To The Naysayers – We live in a very competitive world, especially in business. Everyone wants to wear the crown and those who aren’t taking steps to achieve greatness have a tendency to try and drag down those who are going for it. This could be for a number of reasons but one thing remains constant, you have to block them out. So many people told Jordan he didn’t have what it took early in his career and after he won his first championship, suddenly those people started fading into obscurity. Funny how that works! Jordan said this… “If you accept the expectations of others, especially negative ones, then you never will change the outcome.”
3) Work First, Play Later – Jordan was as talented as they come, but if you think for one second he didn’t have an incredible work ethic you are sadly mistaken. His former teammates and coaches will tell you, it always worked first and play later for Jordan. He always put the work in and let the results speak for themselves. When you put in lots of work, it can be scary knowing what it will manifest to and that it will all work out. This comes back to overcoming your fears because if the work is done, the results will show up. This Jordan quote makes it simple, “I’ve always believed that if you put in the work, the results will come.” He doesn’t just believe it, he’s proven it.
4) Taking Action – “Some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen.” Jordan stepped up to the plate, plain and simple. In every facet of his life, both on and off the court, he made it happen. Sitting back and hoping things come to you is a surefire way to never reach your goals. Dreams don’t fall from the sky and money doesn’t grow on trees. You must get out and make it happen. You have to take action NOW!
5) Obstacles Are Just Part Of The Journey – Jordan said, “If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” This quote is incredible. You have to understand that your path to success is not always going to be perfect! You are going to hit some roadblocks and having the ability to adapt to that, overcome those obstacles, and move forward will be a key to your success.
6) Making Weakness A Strength – “My attitude is that if you push me towards something that you think is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a strength.” Jordan made it clear that no weakness would hold him back. He made it clear that he would not only continue developing his strengths, but he refused to succumb to his weaknesses too. No person can be good at everything, but it doesn’t mean you can’t improve. No matter how good you are at something, you can always get better. No matter how bad you are at something, you can always get better.
7) Avoiding Negativity – Jordan did his best to always put a positive twist on things. He understood that a person’s mindset is so powerful it can move the mind, body, and spirit. Jordan said, “Always turn a negative situation into a positive situation.” Like obstacles, negative situations are an inevitable part of everyone’s lives. We are all going to be faced with negativity at some point but the key is, how do we respond? Even a broken clock is correct at some point during the day. Eliminate negativity in your life if you want to achieve greatness.
8) Expectations Of Yourself – What expectations do you have of yourself? Do you doubt yourself or do you truly believe you can achieve greatness? Thing is, as Jordan said, “You have to expect things of yourself before you can do them.” You need to expect that you can do big things! Don’t allow doubt to creep in because doubt is a nasty thing to someone trying to achieve great success! Have expectations for yourself and then go out and meet or succeed in those expectations.
9) Do What You Love – The sad thing is, that many people never get to do what they love. But the option for them to make a change is always available. Live life on your terms and start doing what you enjoy most. Jordan certainly made it clear he believes this when he said, “I want to wake up every day and do whatever comes in my mind, and not feel pressure or obligations to do anything else in my life.” Doing something you have a passion for or that you choose to do is something every person in this world deserves to receive.
10) Embracing Competition – “You have competition every day because you set such high standards for yourself that you have to go out every day and live up to that.” In other words, Jordan isn’t necessarily talking about business or life competition, he is talking about competition with himself. He is talking about setting goals and doing everything you can to achieve them. He means you need to challenge yourself and make yourself the competition. Be your own biggest critic. Nobody else is going to reach your dreams for you, therefore, it’s time to go into competition with yourself to make your dreams a reality.