What Would Kobe Do

By Lev Novak

Sometimes it’s okay to play the middle.

A B+ is fine; it really is. Heck, it’s good. You can cook a decent stir fry, and you had a good time playing a friendly game of basketball.

But sometimes life gets real. Sometimes a B+ won’t just cut it, and sometimes the games aren’t so friendly. There will come a time where you have to win, where you have an attitude between hunger, fear, and blood-thirst that tells you, down to your soul, that you need to win.

Let’s do it.

1. Pick Your Battles

Needing to win can take a lot out of you. Overcoming facts with sheer force of will is not a given and it is not easy. Use it sparingly.

You’re not getting a 4.0 over four years, and you’re not going to pitch a perfect game. Perfection is an insane, cruel mistress, closer to a myth than a possibility, but it can be narrowed down as needed. You can cram for a final and nail it, and you can get a little extra speed on a fastball to blow away the key batter.

Reasonable measures are needed with ambition, because otherwise you will be overly tired, fatigued, disappointed, and lost.

For absolute victory, commit rarely and only when necessary.

2. Repetition and Devotion

Practice makes perfect, but it also smoothes out nerves.

If you need to write a perfect essay, no amount of playlists are going to change that you need time and dedication. You need to sand it over and repeat the process to the point of inanity. You want to write? Write. All the time. Years and years of writing that gets you nowhere but blogs and journals. Rejection letters should fill your drawers.

When you write like that for so long, when opportunity does present itself, you won’t be able to stop it. No amount of anxiety or nerves can stop you now. Simple muscle memory will follow form. This applies for sports, acting, singing, whatever- if you truly devote yourself, the skill will pour out.

Devotion and repetition is less fun than a cool playlist, but it works.

3. Have An Attitude Problem

You want to win? Don’t hem and haw here; don’t give space to doubts. Sink your teeth into the issue. Sneer at your enemies. Grit your teeth and play your music and win. Destroy the slam poetry competition. Get greedy, cruel, insane. No mercy, no pity. You are going to GOLF their HEADS off!

You have to have both of the above things before you get to this phase. You have to 1: decide that this is worth it as a battle and understand this will cost mental and spiritual energy and 2: be good enough at your through practice that your attitude will only propel you, not hinder.

Let’s consider, for example, Kobe Bryant in his later years. He is an expert of picking his battles. With his age and injuries, he has to find when to go for the kill and when to simply do what he can. Similarly, he has the practice and repetition that proves he can afford an attitude burst. And, when that burst comes, it is amazing.

As a Celtics fan, I will tell you: Kobe was amazing. But, with injuries and age, he shows those same flashes. Kobe balances the three factors above: dedication, wisdom, and a fierceness applied in bursts that guarantees success. So ask yourself today; what would Kobe do?

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