A Quick Lesson in Competition
Michael Jordan is the greatest competitor of all time.
The reason is because he had (has) one of the strongest competitive spirits known to man. Everything was a competition for him. In fact there are several interesting stories that have popped up over the years confirming Jordan’s ridiculous competitive nature. Stories that stand out include: playing a game of dice with a young lady for her virginity, ruining a player’s mental game with one line of trash talk, and the various high stakes bets. You can see the other stories here.
But this particular video stands out because it’s a former teammate telling the story. What’s the first word that comes to mind when you see Steve Kerr recall that exhibition game. Intimidation.
That was the real secret to Jordan’s success. Sure he was the most dominant player in the game. He also played on the greatest team of all time under Phil Jackson.
But it was the intimidation factor that set Jordan apart from the rest. He was downright nasty. He didn’t give a fuck. He did what he wanted when he wanted. And he was absolutely vicious towards anyone that stood in his path… teammates, coaches, and especially opponents. If you were standing in the way of his goal of winning. Look out.
Michael Jordan was a bully.
The difference was that he wasn’t a schoolyard bully picking on little kids and stealing their lunch money. He bullied grown men. In reality, he made grown men feel like little kids. They felt helpless. They just accepted that he was the greatest of all time and let him bulldoze through the NBA.
He talked a lot of trash, but he backed it up. He didn’t play the game to make friends. He didn’t play the game for all the love and support from the fans. He played the game to win. Plain and simple. He wanted championships. He did what he had to do to get them.
Intimidation was a powerful tool used to facilitate winning.
Answer this. Which opponent is easier to defeat? An opponent who respects you and is downright scared of you or an opponent who thinks nothing of you and has no fear whatsoever. The opponent who is scared.
A scared opponent has already lost the battle. They have lost because they are not mentally prepared. They already doubt themselves. Doubt breeds hesitation and inaction. In the world of competition, there’s no room for hesitation. And there’s certainly no room for inaction.
You must be prepared to act all times… even when fear is creeping in. When that happens, you must disobey fear.
You must turn off your brain and rely on instinct. Instinct will tell you to simply focus on your goal. Instinct will tell you to kick in to predator mode.
In nature, predators are not the ones who have the fear. It’s the hunted who are scared.
The same applies for the most powerful competitors. They don’t have fear. They go after who they want, what they want, when they want.
They use intimidation to make winning a part of their routine…
That’s what Jordan did. He intimidated the competition from the beginning and he never stopped.
Sonny
9 Comments
Damn there’s been some good content on here lately. I keep a notebook (which I highly recommend), just to jot down any thoughts, ideas, quotes, and notes from books and study etc, and I always take notes from your articles! They stand out amongst other self improvement shit out there (which a lot of it IS shit). Btw, where are parts 3 and 4 of the physical transformation guide at? I hope you’re not waiting till spring for the shredding ones…
Thanks man. Awesome to hear you taking notes!
Yea those parts are being worked on…
Thanks for this post!
In the Michael Jordan examples you talk about here, Michael Jordan is a bully because he wants to advance his game and win. He is proactive and does not react to his audience. Importantly, Jordan LAUGHS after his slam-dunk, described in the video.
I remember a colleague of mine who had the best references you could ever think of and great work to show, but he only got one job-offer from 20 different places he visited. What happened? He was dominant, then people asked him a provocative question, and he failed the test by lashing out personally against them.
It probably helps to have a mindset of dominance AND “relentless positivity”. People pick up the positive vibe, and then they don’t feel “stood up”. It’s always “just a little fun”.
Yea. You can’t be dominant in the corporate world… gotta tone it down and play the game.
Sonny, you and your dad are changing my life physically and mentally and I can’t thank you enough. There’s this guy Doc Love who wrote “The System” and has articles on askmen. I wanted to ask you to take the time to read a few of them to see if he’s legit since I can trust you as a source because you’re the epitome of a real guy who has his shit together and I respect the hell out of what you do. I really think he’s an expert though. I absorbed a lot of his stuff before I saw your site and I’m hoping it’s not all bullshit. Maybe you can even incorporate some of his principles in your site. Thanks again
Good to hear man. Pretty generic common sense articles. Didn’t see anything too out of the ordinary/gamey that set off red flags.
What’s your email I wanna ask you something privately ?
Just use the contact form.
[…] or athlete… They are at their best when there is no audience. They don’t need it. Their competitive spirit and their desire to create fuels them. It’s just them versus […]