Obsessiveness is a Superpower

In memory of the late, Kobe Bryant. Let’s talk about the MAMBA MENTALITY.

Obsessiveness is a Superpower. Obsession in a specifically targeted and productive way.

Like Kobe Bryant or not, he is certainly among the upper echelon of athletes that you need to RESPECT. The only aspect of Kobe’s game that transcended his ability on the court was his work ethic. The stories about this aspect of his game and mentality were beyond legendary, and clearly why he was going to be successful in any area of his life that he decided to spend time. (evidenced by winning a Grammy, the Mamba Academy, family life, etc.)

For anyone who isn’t familiar with Kobe’s work ethic, here is an example to paint the picture for you. As some additional context, this story is from back in 2008 when Kobe was playing on the “Redeem” Olympic Team. Rob was one of the main trainers for team USA at that time:

Link to the full Reddit Story Here

Yes, Kobe was a supernaturally gifted physical athlete (newsflash, every single NBA player is). His differentiation was his obsessiveness.

Diving deeper, outside just the specifics of basketball:

One of my friends is a former Olympic skier. He argues that the most important aspect of any athlete at a professional level is the amount of time (or practice) they are willing to commit. It’s constant. Every hour that you're not out on the slopes, you know there is someone, somewhere, who is. You have to be obsessed. It’s a day in and day out commitment. Hours and hours and hours and hours and hours. 

With skiing, the more you practice, the more you improve. You're capable of tricks and turns that were previously impossible. It's easy to wow your mere mortal friends with your body control and speed flying down the slopes. 

The most effective form of learning in any sort of situation (athletics, business, sales, anything) is practice, NOT planning.  

Think about lifting weights. Generally, if you're consistent in this type of practice, results are clear and obvious. You can see your physique change. If you focus on diet, you generally lose weight or remain slim. There are tangible rewards visible to you personally AND the outside world. 

Would you have the same results if you read about lifting weights without any of the physical follow up? Or you watched a cooking show that demonstrated how to eat healthily on your phone while sitting in the McDonalds drive-through?

No.

The theory of obsession does not just apply to athletes or physical activities. It is applied by successful people in the business world as well. The same phenomena happen internally in our brains when we practice specific business/sales/or any sort of skill. This is why it is crucial to practice what you preach - you have to put in the time necessary to improve!

Take the following example from James Clear, in his book, Atomic Habits:

"The more you repeat an activity, the more the structure of your brain changes to become efficient at that activity. Neuroscientists call this long-term potentiation, which refers to the strengthening of connections between neurons in the brain based on recent patterns of activity. Mathematicians have increased gray matter in the inferior parietal lobule, which plays a key role in computation and calculation. It's size is directly correlated with the amount of time spent in the field; the older and more experienced the mathematician, the greater the increase in gray matter."

Josh Waitzkin also explains this concept from his point of view (one of the youngest Chess Grandmasters of all time) in The Art of Learning:

"A good literal example of this process, one that does in fact involve numbers, is a beginner’s very first chess lesson. All chess players learn that the pieces have numerical equivalents—bishops and knights are worth three pawns, a rook is five pawns, a queen is nine. Novices are counting in their heads or on their fingers before they make exchanges. In time, they will stop counting. The pieces will achieve a more flowing and integrated value system. They will move across the board like fields of force. What was once seen mathematically is now felt intuitively." 

This is why it takes time when you begin anything new. When starting fresh in a new job/new industry/new sport, there is going to be a marinating period until you’re able to make any sort of significant impact. Fresh out of college, you're looking at 18 months to get a feel for your industry and new role. Then you'll notice that you start making an impact. It will take a few years on top of that until you're actually considered good, much less great. 

That's the reality. 

Time is necessary to train your brain, your thoughts, your habits, your actions, your conscious and more importantly your subconscious mind.  You have to put in the PRACTICE and TIME necessary to be a ‘professional performer’ in your field. 

Malcolm Gladwell outlines this in his book Outliers with the 10,000-Hour Rule, claiming that the key to achieving world-class expertise in any skill, is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing the correct way, for a total of around 10,000 hours.

We can debate the actual number of hours required, the point is, you gotta practice. 

The good news is as soon as you begin to develop these mental muscles, you'll use them for the rest of your career. Most skills you develop professionally are easily transferred from industry to industry / company to company / roll to roll, et cetera. 

For instance, the ability to navigate the corporate ladder from one organization to another will never be identical, but fundamentals will be just about the same. Humans are quite simple from a basic needs perspective - the interpersonal relationships will always be the most active dynamic at play in those scenarios. Once you begin playing the game, you'll be able to develop the skills necessary to advance.

Code is code, products are products, numbers are numbers and people are people. If you can manage a $40MM software line, you can figure out the hardware side of it. If you're an expert at breaking down Corporate M&A deals, real estate investments will also make sense. If you can sell hardware, SAAS solutions won't be tough to figure out.

Now back to the title of this whole piece. 

When you're obsessed or extremely passionate about something, you can't get it off your mind. You can't stop thinking about it. What seems like ‘work’ to a normal person is ‘play’ to you. What seems like hours ‘wasted’ to others, are hours ‘maximized’ to you. 

This is the mindset needed to become great.

In closing, take note of this final quote from Kobe Bryant:

If you really want to be great at something, you have to truly care about it. If you want to be great in a particular area, you have to obsess over it. A lot of people say they want to be great, but they’re not willing to make the sacrifices necessary to achieve greatness. They have other concerns, whether important or not, and they spread themselves out. That’s totally fine. After all, greatness is not for everybody.

Successful people in life will attribute their success to some form of obsession. 

Find your passion/obsession and see where it takes you.

RIP KOBE

ps - more original thoughts on itschriskeith.com