Kobe Bryant Quote on Work Ethic and How He Stuck To His Routine Even On The Busiest Days

“My routine was grueling. It involved early mornings and late nights. It involved stretching, lifting, training, hooping, recovery, and film study. It involved putting in a lot of work and hours. It’s—no lie—tiring. For that reason, a lot of players pare down their lifting and training during the season. They try conserving their energy. Not me, though. I found that, yes, this work might be strenuous on the day-to-day, but it left me stronger and more prepared during the dog days of the season and the playoffs.”

Kobe Bryant, Mamba Mentality (Page 42)

Beyond the Quote (217/365)

Not everybody needs to maintain a grueling routine like Kobe did. After all, not all of us are competing in professional sporting events against some of the most intense competition in the world. But, there’s an underlying key mindset here that does apply to us all: Don’t make sacrifices on your routine merely for the sake of conserving energy. Let’s take a closer look.

Whether you want to believe it or not, wanting to “conserve energy” is but an excuse for getting out of having to do what you previously committed to doing. Your routine is a predetermined series of tasks that get completed because of their benefit and because they get easier to do the more you do them. But, as soon as you “pare down your lifting” or decide to break from routine because of extraneous circumstances—you’re choosing to settle for less than you’re capable of and risking losing the routine (and all of the benefits) altogether.

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Here’s what Kobe understood that so many other people miss: When it comes to optimizing yourself and unleashing your full potential, settling for less in any area of self-growth is settling to become less than you were capable of becoming. Settling is the antithesis of growth. Settling is comforting and easy. Growth is uncomfortable and hard. If you want growth, then growth has to be reflected in your daily decisions—not your occasional desires. We all want to grow. Very few of us, however, act like we do. And even fewer yet embody growth as a lifestyle and act on that decision in all areas of life. Kobe was one of those few.

And this one example, choosing to stick to routine even during extraneous circumstances is but one small example of how. And it’s one decision that you can model from his example that will pay huge dividends over the course of your lifetime. What might this look like? It’s choosing to stick to your regularly scheduled workout even on a day when you have extra physical activity planned. It’s choosing to wake up earlier than usual so you can sneak in your daily writing before the busyness of a day takes from you all of your writing time. It’s learning how to say “no” to people who try and temp you into breaking your fast, eating junk food, or otherwise act unhealthy when your routine is set differently.

When situations like those arise I look at them as days with bonus challenges. Challenge is what makes us stronger, right? So, when there is a day that is filled with more physical activity than usual, good! Use it as an opportunity to step up your game and do some above and beyond conditioning—not pare down your lifting or try to justify some kind of swap. If there’s a day that’s looking busier than others, good! Use it as a day to sharpen your focus and challenge your ability to better manage your time—not use it as an excuse to skip out on what you previously agreed was a priority. And so on.

So, take a look at your routine and start buckling down on your daily commitments. Plan ahead how you’re going to arrange your time for the upcoming day. And take on that “extra” when it presents itself. How else do you plan on becoming “extra-ordinary?”

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