Motivational Story - Overcoming Negative Labels & Perception


 

WORDS FROM THE GREAT TIM DUNCAN, HALL OF FAMER & LEADER OF THE SAN ANTONIO SPURS SPOKEN TO THEN 21-YEAR-OLD LeBRON JAMES ON THE COURT RIGHT AS THE SPURS WON THE NBA CHAMPIONSHIP OVER THE CLEVELAND CAVALIERS IN 2007: 
"This is going to be your League in a little while man. I appreciate you giving us this year!" 

I have written well over 500 stories over the years. Always they are meant to be a teaching lesson to show an athlete or person’s that are trying to find their Passion in Life that even the greats in today's world have had to undergo some form of a makeover. That there will come a time when you have to rid the clutter out of your mind and begin to figure out who you are and your true purpose? 

With this piece, I want to focus on LeBron James, who experienced a very turbulent time during his NBA career just ten years ago. It was just after he joined the Miami Heat in 2010. His game then was even more heavily scrutinized than ever before by the media and fans who thought he was not always able to perform in the clutch? Some thought his game seemed to shrink under pressure? 

Soon after he played that first season in Miami, LeBron started to realize that he had to not only learn to manage the expectation he self created but he had to remove himself from it. James admitted that he was a tortured soul during that period of time because of the treatment he received all across the USA for his decision to explore free agency and ultimately leave his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers. 

“The best thing that happened to me in that first year was us losing the Finals in Miami, you know, and me playing the way I played. It was the best thing to ever happen to me in my career too because basically I had to get back to the basics. It humbled me. I knew what it was going to have to take, and I was going to have to change as a basketball player, and I was going to have to change as a person to ultimately get what I wanted?“ 

"It took me to hit rock bottom,” added LeBron. “I had to get back to being myself." James went on a personal mission to reclaim his confidence and joy about playing basketball. He sought out other leaders in the sports profession to develop an understanding on what does it take to be a leader? He found out that it was more than just scoring a lot of points and making a fiery speech before a big game. It took a lot of humility and self-evaluation. 

"I was very immature during this period of my life," he recalls. "I played to prove people wrong instead of just playing my game, instead of just going out and having fun and playing a game that I grew up loving. One thing that I learned - and someone taught me this – was that the greatest teacher you can have in life is experience and then confidence to go out and perform in your sport." 

LeBron definitely lived up to Tim Duncan’s words and more because the NBA is still the League that he Rules for now! But first, he had to overcome his fears just like anyone else. He got the memo and realized just how much that distractions only lead to wasted energy. He found peace in his mind! With every one of my stories, that is the theme – winning the battle of your mind! When you do, that is what triggers the skill from your neck on down to unleash its natural abilities within and allow you to perform in your chosen sport. 


Jim Loria 


MOTIVATIONAL QUOTES RELATING TO THIS STORY 

“The Past is your Lesson; the Present is your Gift; the Future is your Motivation” – stated by an Unknown Author 

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“Sooner or later, something seems to call us onto a particular path – this is what I must do, this is who I am” – stated by James Hillman, American Psychologist 

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“Confidence is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony” – stated by Mahatma Gandhi, an early 1900’s activist from India who inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world 


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