After a preseason workout during his Freshman year at UNC, Michael Jordan went up to Coach Roy Williams (who was the 3rd assistant at that time) and said, ”Coach, I want to be the best to ever play here.”
Coach Williams replied, “Then you have to go as hard as you can every day and do extra work”.
Jordan replied, “But I already win all the sprints. And I get more shots up than my other teammates.”
Coach Williams replied, “Oh, excuse me. I thought you wanted to be the best” and he turned and walked off.
Jordan has often mentioned that that was a defining moment in his career and one that pushed him to do and be his best EVERYDAY in EVERYTHING. Just as many of us do, he realized that although he thought he was working hard, he was still settling.
If we want to be the best, we have to keep asking ourselves, “What else can I do?” In addition, we can’t compare yourself to what others are doing. In the end, it’s about you and you being the best “you”, you can be. As many of you are about to embark on the start of a new season this week, keep this story of what made The Greatest of all Time so great (his never ending drive to improve).
For additional stories and confidence building advice, check out “The Confident Athlete: 4 Easy Steps to Build and Maintain Confidence” online at Amazon or Barnes and Noble: https://r2lc.com/the-confident-athlete-4-easy-steps-to-build-and-maintain-confidence/.
For daily confidence tips, follow on twitter @tamimatheny and sign up for the monthly confidence calendar: https://r2lc.com/monthly-confidence-calendar-newsletter/
Tami Matheny is a Mental Game Coach and Author. She owns and runs, Refuse2LoseCoaching. Follow her on twitter @r2lcoaching and Instagram @refuse2losecoaching.
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