#273 Kobe Bryant (Mamba Mentality)

**David Senra** (0:00)
I want to tell you about a one time only limited event that I don't think you're going to want to miss. I am doing a live show with Patrick O'Shaughnessy from the Invest Like the Best podcast in New York City on October 19th. Patrick has interviewed over 300 of the world's best investors and founders for his podcast. I've read over 300 biographies of history's greatest entrepreneurs for my podcast. We'll be talking about what we learned from seven years of podcasting, sharing our favorite ideas and stories, and doing a live Q&A. There will also be special event-only swag. If you live in New York City, I think it's a no-brainer. But if not, I think it's a great excuse to fly in. I've already heard from a bunch of people that bought tickets, they're flying in from other cities. Some people are flying in from other countries. That's setting the bar really high, so I will have at least four shots of espresso, or four energy drinks, before or during the show, so we can make it a night that you'll never forget. If you're interested in attending this unique live event, I will leave a link down below. I highly recommend you get your tickets today, and I hope I get to see you in New York on October 19th. If you really want to be great at something, you have to truly care about it.
If you want to be great in a particular area, you have to obsess over.
A lot of people say they want to be great, but they're not willing to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve greatness.
They have other concerns, and they spread themselves out. That's totally fine. After all, greatness isn't for everybody.
What I'm saying is greatness isn't easy to achieve.
It requires a lot of time, a lot of sacrifices. It requires a lot of tough choices.
It requires your loved ones to sacrifice too. So you have to have an understanding circle of family and friends.
People don't always understand just how much effort from how many people goes into one person chasing a dream to be great.
There's a fine balance between obsessing about your craft and being there for your family. It's akin to walking a tightrope. Your legs are shaky and you're trying to find your center.
Whenever you lean too far in one direction, you correct your course and end up over leaning in the other direction.
So you correct by leaning the other way again.
That's the dance.
You can't achieve greatness by walking a straight line.
Respect to those who do achieve greatness and respect to those who are chasing that elusive feeling.
That is an excerpt from the book that we talked to you about today, which is The Mamba Mentality, How I Play by Kobe Bryant.
Okay, so let's start with the dedication that Kobe wrote right at the very beginning of the book. And this is really a great way to think about all the books that you and I talk about. And Kobe says, This book is dedicated to the next generation of great athletes. May you find the power in understanding the journey of others to help create your own.
Just make it better than this one.
And so that is a main theme that Kobe repeats probably a dozen times in this book. He dedicates an unbelievable amount of a book that does not take this book is mostly like a picture book. You can read the whole thing in a day. And he dedicates a lot of time in this book to the importance of learning from and studying the great people that came before you. So I want to go to the forward. It's written by Kobe's teammate, Paul Gasol. They won two championships together. And he talks about, Hey, I was traded to the Lakers in 2008, and my life changed. And he says, it was past 1 a.m. when I finally got to my room. And shortly after, I heard someone knocking on my door. It was Kobe. The message was clear. There was no time to waste. The moment was now. Let's go get ourselves a ring. His mindset was unmistakable. It was all about winning. And so I've heard Paul talk in other interviews. They're like, oh, you know, people thought that working and playing with Kobe Bryant was really difficult. And it's like, it wasn't difficult. And I think he mentions this in the actual forward as well. But he's like, if you just understood that he cared about one thing and one thing only, he cared about winning. So then it gives his teammates an understanding why he is the way he is or why he's doing what he does.