How did Michael Jordan help lead his team to win six NBA championships? I was surprised to find out that when Michael joined the NBA, he was celebrated only as a high-flying dunker, making a mere 17 percent of his three-point shots! And early on in his career, the Chicago Bulls were consistently knocked off in the playoffs because of their apparent lack of teamwork. So what did Michael have to do, as a leader, to convert winning games into winning championships? The answer is: he had to consistently adjust his game in order to adapt to the changing seasons, strategies, and opponents. Turns out, constant adaptation was the only way to remain successful and dominant.
So are you directing your time and energy to the right areas of your life? Are you focusing on changes that will propel you beyond good...to Greatness? If not, I have the perfect book to help you take your game to the next level.
Read on for an excerpt of Don Yaeger’s What Makes the Great Ones Great: 16 Characteristics of a Champion, in which Don shares basic principles on how great winners set themselves apart by thinking, preparing, working, and living differently.
An excerpt from
What Makes the Great Ones Great
by Don Yaeger
Throughout my career as a sportswriter and author, I have not only witnessed incredible skill, but I have also had countless world-class athletes share with me the behaviors they have embraced, honed and utilized to drive themselves to unimaginable heights. I wanted to know how they were able to do what they did for so long and how they stayed ahead of the competition year after year.
Greatness is unique in that it cannot be quantified the way other statistics in sports can. Numbers are irrefutable proof of a record, such as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's accomplishment as the highest scorer in NBA history or the undefeated record of the 1972 Dolphins.
But does the achievement of those numbers make them the Greatest?
During my interviews, it appeared to me that the truly Great athletes practiced a small set of behaviors that made them dramatically better from their peers. These improvements drove their daily decisions, and the ever-so-slight differences were enough to give them an edge in their ultracompetitive professions.
Among those I interviewed, almost none of them gave credit to their physical gifts; there was always someone bigger, faster and stronger than they were. Instead, the Great ones credited daily discipline and appreciation for what they had achieved–and an even Greater desire to do more. This mindset defies human nature. Most people achieve some level of success and are satisfied with their place, but the truly Great achieve that same level of success and then ask, "What's next?"
Being successful and still asking "what's next?"...I love that! In What Makes the Great Ones Great: 16 Characteristics of a Champion, Don reminds us that if we are not moving forward, we are moving backward. Therefore, I ask you: do you want to just reach the finish line in life, or would you rather strive for the winner's circle?
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