What Playing Basketball And Idolizing Michael Jordan Taught Me In Business

I called a buddy of mine this morning at 6:35 am to talk to him about a marketing campaign I’m about to launch and he said to me in his raspy voice…

“dude, when do you rest? How do you keep on working like that?”

And it didn’t hit me but I started to really ask myself that question. Where did my ability to just work my a$$ off come from?

I had to really think about it since I’ve had so many mentors but… I go back to an incident in junior high…

I had try-outs for my basketball team at Giano Intermediate in the city of La Puente. I grew up playing basketball and learned to love the game because of a childhood friend and his father who taught me the game. I still remember to this day… I was a nervous wreck and missed 7 wide-open lay ups because of the jitters. I wasn’t the only who noticed that I couldn’t make a lay-up that day, the coach noticed as well and I was cut or should I say I didn’t make the team.

This devastated me because I used to practice with my childhood friend and his father every single day for hours. I don’t know till this day if my friends dad did it intentionally but the next day after I told him about how I got cut – he popped in a video. A video that changed me. He put in the video about a player who I watched on tv and idolized. The greatest of all time NBA basketball player, Michael Jordan.

I was amazed at seeing the highlights of all the dunks, game winning shots etc… but what I took away was the story of Michael. The story of how he got cut from his Varsity basketball team and how he channeled that energy to get better.

The next day I hit the courts hard and practiced all summer with my child hood friend and his father doing drills. Some summer days I woke up and started playing from sun rise to sunset until I had blisters on my feet. During that time my friends father was diagnosed with lung cancer for the second time. Yet for some reason he still played ball with us… I guess it was the love of the game (He fought the illness but he passed away a few months later. Thank you Tito RIP – I know you’re somewhere still playing the game you loved).

Now… just today I was sent this video of Michael Jordan that re-ignited some emotions from my child hood.

Now…

What did playing basket and idolizing Michael Jordan taught me in business?

Here’s what I’ve learned…

Be relentless but humble enough to know you don’t know everything. Never have anyone tell you that you can’t do something (especially yourself!) but know that you maybe wrong at times also.
Work harder than anyone else – you as the leader on your team directly impacts the work ethics of the rest of the team AND hard works creates your ability to get luckier
Push your teammates to become better – no business is a one man or woman sport, you’re only good as the last person on your bench.
The Big one – Paying attention to details – how you do the jab steps, pump fakes, cross overs, cuts, etc. This details on how you do anything is what makes a players, a business, and everything less from good to great.

And… anyone who has every played sports will tell you…

At the end of the day -> Nothing beats HARD WORK. Bust your a$$ and push yourself and especially others to get stronger and better. And remember you’re NOT just here to WIN the game but to have an extraordinary career and a lasting business.

Life Free,

Jeff Coga

Ok ok ok… so if you’re curious… Yes I did make the basketball team the next year and I played through high school as well.

And for you non-believers that an asian kid can hoop… let’s go play and I’ll show you a thing or two LOL or click here it’s an article I found that brought back memories as well.