This weekend I binge watched the series “The Last Dance” which very personally chronicles the amazing career of Michale Jordan and his contribution to the rise of the Chicago Bulls as one of the most dominant NBA teams in the 90’s. What struck me was that when you really look at the character traits of Michael Jordan in this documentary and the books he has written, and you look at how he was able to accomplish what he did in basketball. It is very clear that it was his willingness to set his work ethic so high and fueled by his extreme desire to win that made him an icon. One thing that came across vividly at his level in basketball was that it wasn’t his physical talents that put him so far above everyone else. The talents that made Michale Jordan who we remember today were his attitude toward the work of basketball, and his ability to always create and foster a deep desire to win!
I have always appreciated MJ for his excellence in sport. So It isn’t surprising that for some reason he understood that what you must do in order to succeed at anything is to dedicate yourself to the labor of your passions. Your labor above your goal, your work before your desire to validate yourself with winning. You literally must embrace the pain and suffering that goes hand-in hand with the work and no matter what the outcomes are you continue doing the work. Consequently, you must also embrace the sacrifices that you must face along the way and in the process create new ways of seeing these obstacles so that you want them, so that you need them, so that you love them, and they validate all that you are doing in pursuit of your own bar that you have set for yourself.
The human will is an amazing tool if directed and focused properly toward an objective. There is no obstacle that a solution can’t be found for eventually. The only limiting factor is time. Again, Michael Jordan said it best, “I’ve never lost a game I just ran out of time.” MJ understands that winning is all about never giving in or giving up. If you don’t give up, then your still in the game! I am love. I am joy. I am so very good.
