Kobe Bryant Quote on Keeping Calm and Centered in Basketball and in Life

“The game is full of ebbs and flows—the good, the bad, and everything in between. With all that was going on around me, I had to figure out how to steel my mind and keep calm and centered. That’s not to say my emotions didn’t spike or drop here or there, but I was aware enough to recalibrate and bring them back level before things spiraled. I could do that in a way others couldn’t, and that was really key for me.”

Kobe Bryant, Mamba Mentality (Page 175)

Beyond the Quote (226/365)

And so it is for life, eh? The game of life is full of ebbs and flows—the good, the bad, and everything in between. I think 2020 highlights that in more intense ways than in many years of recent past—especially for Kobe—may he rest in peace. And while it’s natural to hope that things go back to “normal” and that the ebbs and flows “level out” so that they may be more easily managed—it would be unrealistic and naive to expect it to actually happen. The ebbs will continue to ebb and the flows will continue to flow, like they always have and like they always will. So, what then are we to do?

With all that is going on around us, we, too, have to figure out how to steel our mind and keep calm and centered in the midst of the chaos. We have to learn how to control what we can control. The ebbs and flows of life? Nope—can’t control those. How we respond to those rapid and unpredictable changes? Yes—well within our control. That’s what Kobe understood when in the heat of some of his most intense challenges on and off the court. And it’s what we have to learn to adopt if we, too, are going to figure out how to more quickly recalibrate and level ourselves out in the heat of some of our most intense moments. It’s how we can develop our own Mamba Mentality.

Bryant reportedly nicknamed himself the “Black Mamba,” inspired by Quentin Tarantino’s 2003 film, Kill Bill, in which the mamba snake was code for a deadly assassin. “Mamba mentality” he elaborated on in an Amazon Book Interview, “is all about focusing on the process and trusting in the hard work when it matters most.  It’s the ultimate mantra for the competitive spirit.  It started just as a hashtag that came to me one day, and it’s grown into something athletes—and even non-athletes—embrace as a mindset.”

And hard work is exactly what it takes to learn how to control the irrational, punitive, unstable emotional responses of our mind. Becoming emotionally stable is something that takes effort to achieve, it’s not something that is just given to you. In fact, even after sustained and deliberate work, emotional stability is something that will always require additional work and is never something that is permanently achieved. At least not in my understanding, but maybe that’s what ‘enlightenment’ is? Even so, I would think that even an enlightened person would continue to practice emotionally stabilizing exercises and techniques. I digress.

We live in a world that is constantly out of balance—nothing is ever static and everything is always shifting. How can everything ever be perfectly balanced when nothing is ever still? It is not possible. This is where Kobe got it right—and why he left such an impressive legacy behind. It was his work ethic and willingness to adapt to the imbalances. “Hard work outweighs talent — every time,” he continued from the same interview above. “Mamba mentality is about 4 a.m. workouts, doing more than the next guy and then trusting in the work you’ve put in when it’s time to perform. Without studying, preparation and practice, you’re leaving the outcome to fate. I don’t do fate.”

Fate is what results when you let life decide for you. Legacy is what results when you decide your life for yourself. If there’s but one all encompassing lesson I took away from Kobe Bryant, it’s to take life into your own hands. To control what you can control and to work hard to optimize your performance in each of those controllable areas. Because when you feel deep within that you’ve done that, what could you possibly regret? How could you ever argue with what results? Everything in your life will have been in your own hands. And I don’t know about you, but that’s exactly who I would want in control of my life. The question I pass off to you is, who do you want in control of yours?

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This post became the introduction for: 24 Motivating Kobe Bryant Quotes from The Mamba Mentality on Work Ethic, Mindset, and Greatness

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