How do you measure success?
Most of us are completely comfortable with the idea that the most successful among us have the trophies and accolades to go with that success. Therefore, to be more successful, you need to accomplish more things. The measure of success is the number and size of goals that you have achieved.
This measure of success, the number of trophies earned, couldn’t be further from the truth.
We can see this when we look at one of the greatest basketball players of all time, Kobe Bryant (08-23-1978 - 01-26-2020). Kobe was known for his intense practice routines, shooting hundreds of shots each day, and for his 666 workouts. 6 hours a day, 6 days a week, 6 months of the year. In one interview with Sports Illustrated’s Jack McCallum, Kobe reportedly said the following:
(Tony Manfred, https://www.businessinsider.com/kobe-bryant-describes-shooting-practice-routine-2013-2)
In this simple exchange, we can learn quite a lot from one of the most successful basketball players in history.
Leading Behaviors
As a professional athlete, Kobe Bryant tracked his workouts, how many hours a day, how many days a week. See, Kobe had the understanding that time spent improving in the gym, on the court, reviewing game tapes, all would lead to more success during the game. These are called leading behaviors.
Knowing that to shoot better on the court, Kobe needed to shoot more in practice. That is the power of his simple exchange with a reporter. Kobe wasn’t keeping track of his game stats, but rather how much time was spent improving in practice.
Lagging Results
Closely tied with the leading behaviors are lagging results. Which takes us back to where we started, the number of trophies earned. By tracking the number of achievements that we have already accomplished we risk two things. The first, is putting focus and therefore energy on the wrong activity.
In Kobe’s case, this would have been focusing solely on his shooting percentage. Points win games, if he can score more points each game, that would lead to more wins. But, his strength and fitness also played a huge role in both his personal, and the team’s overall success. Building a routine that tracked gym time (Kobe’s 666 routine), as well as practice shots thrown built the skills that would eventually lead to victories.
Secondly, by focusing solely on results we risk falling back on our past successes. We can see this in another basketball player, Shaq (Shaquille O’Neal). Shaq relied heavily on his size and skill to drive his success. By focusing on what led him to the NBA, and not embracing Kobe’s relentless drive for improvement, Shaq plateaued far below his potential. As a result, Shaq arguably did not achieve as much of his potential as Kobe did.
Leading Behaviors vs. Lagging Results
The lessons learned from professional athletes can be applied in all our lives. Determining what actions, or behaviors, drive success forward in your goals will help you achieve more. Whether that is time on the trails when training for a marathon, or time spent just thinking on projects in your career. This focus on the behaviors that lead to success will ensure that the trophies and accolades fill your shelves.
What behaviors are you going to embrace that will lead to your spectacular results?