Motivation Daily by Motiversity - DEDICATED - The Most Powerful Kobe Bryant Motivational Speech Compilation

Episode Date: December 27, 2022

DEDICATED! If you believe in yourself and have dedication and pride - and never quit, you'll be a winner.Special thanks to those who provided interviews with Kobe, including Valuetainment, Lewis Howes, and Tom Bilyeu.Speaker:Kobe BryantMusic:Audiojungle Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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The link is in the description. I wonder if someone were whispering. Kobe? When he got in the car the day. Six more days. How would that week maybe have been different for him? What would he have said? Who would he have loved?

Who would he have reached out to? What would have mattered to him? About the Saturday before. Kobe, one more day. He was getting on that helicopter call. See, it hits us when I say that. And there's a whisper happening that you can't hear. Eight more years.

18 more years. Whatever it is, there's a whisper. We forget, we're going to die. Napoleon Hill says, begin with the end in mind. What if you do that with your life? Evening, we start tonight with some breaking news. So much of the world is just in shock. Retired Los Angeles Lakers basketball star Kobe Bryant has been killed in a helicopter crash.

What I've learned is to always keep going. There's been times particularly early in my career where you just feel like this is the end. But what I've come to find out is that no matter what happens, the storm eventually ends. And when the storm does end, you want to make sure that you're ready. And so I've really learned to put one foot in front of the other good bad or indifferent because eventually that storm passes. With the 13th pick in the 1996 NBA draft, the Charlotte Hornet select Covey Bryant from Lower Marion High School in Pennsylvania.

Every time I step on a basketball court, I'm going to put a strong effort out there on the floor. I'm not going to leave anything on the floor. Kobe pops out. Kobe's going to go. Everything was done to try to learn how to become a better basketball player. Everything. Everything. that point of view, then literally the world becomes your library to help you to become better

at your craft. And as I'm walking onto the court, who do I see? I see Kobe Bryant, already working out. And I'm like, okay, it's kind of cool. It's Kobe. So I worked out for a good hour, hour and a half. And when I came off, after I was done, I sat down, and of course I still hear the ball bouncing. I look down like, this guy's, this guy's still working out.

He was working out. It looks like he was in a dead sweat when I got here. And he's still going. And it's not like his moves are nonchalant or lazy. He's doing like game moves, you know? I sit there and I unlace my shoes. I'm like, I want to see how long this goes. I sit there and watch.

25 minutes. And he got done. He said, okay. I think I've seen enough. Go play, you know, come back. Get in the sauna, get ready for the game. That game, he drops 40 on us. Okay?

And after the game is over, I'm like, I have to ask this guy. I have to understand, like, why he works like that. So after games, I'm like, hey, Kobe, like, why were you in a gym for so long? He's like, because I saw you come in. And I wanted you to know that it doesn't matter how hard you work, that I'm willing to work harder than you. Wow. And he's like, there's nothing wrong with that. Like, I'm not saying, just like you as a person.

You just, you inspire me to be better. And it was the first time I started to see this level of competitive. where I said, I need to start doing more. Wow. Well, I mean, here's the thing. It's like it's competitiveness, yes, but it's a simple theory or idea to live life by. If you're going to do something, do it to the best of your ability. No matter what it is, if you're going to do it, do it to the best of your ability.

If you love what you do and it's making you happy, all the hard work and perseverance will pay off. I once had a guidance counselor tell me that I shouldn't play basketball, that it would never amount to anything for me. His negativity towards me made more strongly. You can't stop people from trying to limit your dreams, but you can stop it from becoming reality. Your dreams are up to you. I encourage you to always be curious, always seek out things you love, and always work hard what you find. Today could be today that your career is always. that your career is over.

Now what do you do? I said, I better get to work. Rest at the end, not in the middle. And that's something I always live by. I'm not going to rest, and I'm going to keep on pushing now. There are a lot of answers that I don't have. Even questions that I don't have. I'm just going to keep going.

I'm just going to keep going. And I'll figure these things out as you go, right? And you just continue to build that way. So I try to live by that all the time. Have a dream, sacrifice for it, and never ever rest. in the middle. I came into the NBA. I was like,

they just do is really don't work that hard. One of the things I would do is everybody would be at the cafeteria and eating and doing all sorts of stuff. I'd just go back to the job. I just go back to the gym. How can I show you that? No, I have the age.

Well, you do it through training. Right? So when I get up in the morning, my daughter goes with me. 4 a.m.? 4 a.m. My 15-year-old goes with me. She goes with me before school

and it becomes a daddy-daughter thing. That's cool. Through that process, she understands the value of heart. And so it's through those behaviors is where I find the motivation. Yeah. I think the definition of greatness is to inspire the people next to you.

I think that's what greatness is or should be. It's not something that's that that lives and dies with one person. It's how can you inspire a person to then in turn inspire another person or then inspires another person? And that's how you create something that I think lasts for it. It's not sit around and all, it's all happy, the lucky type. If you're leader, your job is to get the best out of me. You've got to deal with it.

Face it, learn from it. It's exciting when you win. It's exciting when you lose because the process should be exactly the same. But the hardest thing is to face that stuff. But what if today is the day that you, that you sit? Now what are you do? Can I say, mom, by out. Parents were great.

You know, growing up, you know, they instilled in me the importance of imagination, of curiosity and understanding that, okay, if you want to accomplish something, I'm not just going to sit here and say, yes, you can do whatever you want. Yes, you can. But you have to also put in the work to get there.

So they taught me that at a really early age, man. And when you grow up as a kid thinking that the world is your oyster, all things are possible if you put in the work to do it, you grow up having that fundamental belief. Who was more influential for you, your father and mother? Both were influential at different points.

Yeah, right? My mom was there on a daily basis. My father was really influential at a really critical time where I had a summer where I played basketball when I was like 10 or 11 years old. And here I come playing, and I don't score one point the entire summer. Not one.

You didn't score once, not one. Were you in the game? I was in the game. How did you not score? Because I was terrible. Not a free throw, not a nothing, Not a lucky shot, not a breakaway lay up zero points. I remember crying about it, being upset about it.

My father's gave me a hug and said, listen, whether you score zero or score 60, I'm going to love you no matter, though. Wow. Now, that is the most important thing as you can say to the child. Because from there, I was like, okay, that gives me all the confidence in the world to feel. I have the security there.

But the hell with that, I'm scoring 60. Let's go. Right, right. And from there, I just went to work. I just stayed with it. Can practice and can practice and keep practice. I think that's when the idea of understanding a long-term view became important. Because I wasn't going to catch these kids in a week.

I wasn't going to catch them a year. So that's when I sat down and said, okay, this is going to take some father. Right. Would I want to work on first? All right, shooting. All right, let's knock this out. Let's focus on this half a year, six months. You nothing but shoot.

After that, all right, creating your own shot. So I started creating a menu of things. When I came back the next summer, I was a little bit better. And then 14 came around, back half of 13, 14 years old, and then I was just killing everyone. And it happened in two years. And I wasn't expected to happen in two years, but it did because what I had to do was work on the basics and the fundamentals. But they relied on their athleticism and their natural ability. And because I stick to the fundamentals, it just caught up to me.

And then my body, you know, my knees stopped hurting. I grew into my frame. Then your athleticism, once you have to have... the fundamentals, the hard work, the mindset, and you tack on the athletic, it's game-old. They did it was game. Wow. The love of the game, the challenge.

Like I would watch Magic play, I'd watch Michael play, and I would see them do these unbelievable things and I'd say, you know, can I get to that level? I don't know, but let's find out. Let's find out. And so that curiosity to see where I could push this thing led me down that path, I think. the 13th pick in the 1996 NBA draft, the Charlotte Hornet select Kobe Bryant from Lower Marion High School in Pennsylvania. Greatness lies ahead to this young man. Well, I learned that you have to work hard and you have to approach the game with a serious mindset.

There was a stretch in 03 where Shaq was out with an injury. And Phil called me up to his office and said, okay, we need you to really. turned on the afterburns and start scoring a ball free after the end. So I did and I wind up scoring I think it was nine straight games for 40 plus points. Nine straight? Nine straight games. And then Shaq comes back second to last game of that.

And then Phil called into his office. So, goad. Okay, I need you to dial it back. I'm like, why? Like, we're winning. I don't understand. It's because our goal is to win a championship. But if you continue to do this, we'll lose Shaq. We'll lose it. His motivation, his excitement.

What triggers him, right? So I need you to pull back so we can pull Shaq forward for June. Wow. I mean, that was the big challenge. You move from, you know, being the single dominant player to understanding, okay, I have to help these other guys. Oh, I lift everyone else up. It's tough.

It's more like you put yourself to the side and you put yourself in their shoes and understand what they're feeling. And then you have to make certain decisions. of okay what buttons do I need to push for this player to get them to the next level so it's never it's not sit around and all it's all happy or lucky time the leader your job is to get the best out even if they may not like it at that day time he was very demanding because he expected everyone to put in the same effort as he was and that was unrealistic you're not behind me you're not in front of me you're right there right there parallel with you practice

He was very competitive right away. You know how Kobe is. He was drawn. We had it gone sometimes. He didn't let me slip a lot. Times where I get ejected or about to get a technical foul or going off the deep end, he would be there to, you know, set me straight a lot,

which helped me a lot. So we're getting the timeout. He's like, hey, hey, I'm open. Like, okay. And so we go out and say, same thing. Hey, hey, I'm open. Okay. Come back in, hey dude, you got to throw me the ball.

I said, man, fuck that. Get it off the rebound if I miss, bro. Listen, I don't deal with people that don't commit at that level, but then act as if they do. The running joke, or he doesn't pass and all sort of crap. That's okay, you know, but I'll take those five. I'll take five. Those times when you get up early and you work hard,

those times are you. you stay up late and you work hard, those times when you don't feel like working, you're too tired, you don't want to push yourself, but you do it anyway. That is actually the dream. That's the dream. It's not the destination. It's the journey. And if you guys can understand that, then what you'll see happen is that you won't

accomplish your dreams. Your dreams won't come true. Something greater will. It's an amazing thing about passion. If you love something, if you have a strong passion for something, you would go to the extreme to try to understand or try to get it. Whatever you have a love for, if you have to walk, you would go get it. If you have to beg someone, you would go get it. I don't think you guys understand how present you guys were with me.

You know, you guys were there with me at 5.30 in the morning when I was running the track and I was midway through my workout. and I didn't know if I could make it through. And I thought about the expectations you guys have for me and you have for our team. And it pushed me through. It got me through those eight-hundreds and four-hundreds and one-hundredths at 5.30 in the morning.

So I thank you. We're not on this stage just because of talent or ability. We're up here because of 4 a.8.m. We're up here because of 2 a days. We're 5 a days. We're up here because we had a dream and let nothing stand in our way. If anything tried to bring us down,

We used it to make us strong. We were never satisfied, never finished, will never be retired. My high school English teacher, Mr. Fisk, he had this beautiful quote, and it read, Rest at the end, not in the middle. Now, took that to heart. I believe there's time for resting at the end, but for me, that time is not now. Thank you for this tremendous honor to acknowledge of my basketball career, but I'm far from done. My next dream is to be honored one day for inspiring the next generation of athletes to have a dream, sacrifice for it, and never ever rest in the middle.

Rest at the end, not in the middle. Where are you today? What is your story? Where does that come from? And if you guys can understand that, and I'm doing my job as a father. Thank you guys so much. I love you. Mamba hao.

You really want me on the team. What's your approach to recruit me? You want first place come play with me. you want second place go somewhere else. Like I would watch Magic play. I'd watch Michael play. And I would see them do these unbelievable things. And I'd say, you know, can I get to that level?

I don't know, but let's find out. Everything was done to try to learn how to become a better basketball player. Everything, everything. And so when you have that point of view, then literally the world becomes your library to help you to become better at your craft. So because you know what you want, the world's giving you exactly the information. 100% because you know what you're looking for.

So many guys tell stories about your work ethic. What was really your work ethic like and for how long did you stay disciplined? Well, I mean, every day. I mean, since 20 years. It was an everyday process in trying to figure out strengths and weaknesses. For example, jumping ability.

My vertical was a 40, It wasn't a 46 or 45. My hands are big, but they're not massive. So you've got to figure out ways to strengthen them. So your hands are strong enough to be able to palm a ball and do the things that you need to do. Quickness, I was quick, but not insanely quick. I was fast, but not ridiculously fast. So I had to rely on skill a lot more.

I had to rely on angles a lot more. I had to study the game a lot more. But I enjoyed it, though. From the time I was, I can remember when I started watching the game, I studied the game, and it just never changed. It's a good separation for me, you know, emotionally to be able to put myself in a place where at practice or when I'm training or during games, I switch my mind to something else. I switch my mode into something else, right?

For me, it's the equivalent of Maximus, Desmus, Meridius, and Gladiator picking up the dirt, smelling the dirt so that was my mental switch it was like an actor getting ready for a film you got to put yourself in that cage when you're in that cage you are that character and then when you leave there is something completely different but when I'm in that cage

bro don't touch me don't talk to me just leave me alone how did you get mentally and emotionally so strong where it doesn't bother you well you know it's you got a look at the reality of the situation.

You know, like for me, it's not, you know, you kind of got to get over yourself. It's not about you, man. Like, okay, you feel embarrassed. You're not that important. Like, get over yourself. That's where you go. Get over yourself, right?

Like, you're worried about how people may perceive you and, like, you're walking around, and it's embarrassing because you shot five air balls. Get over yourself, right? And then after that, it's okay, well, why did those airballs happen? Got it. High school, year before, we played 35 games.

max, week in between, spaced out, plenty of time to rest. In the NBA, it's back to back, to back, to back, to back, to back,

to back, to back. I didn't have the legs. So you look at the shot, every shot was online, every shot was online, but every shot was short. I got to get stronger. I got to train differently.

The weight training program that I'm doing, I got to tailor it for an 82 game season so that when the playoffs come around, my legs are stronger and that ball gets there. So I look at it

with rash, Chanel and say okay well the reason why I shot airballs because my legs aren't there I got well make sure they'll be there that was it done done were there some names that you looked at and says these three guys are as crazy as I am I do at the time I deal with what I've referred to as goat mountain I went to goat mountain and I talked to Magic Michael bird Kimelajuan Jerry West Oscar Robinson Bill Russell You know, so I would talk to them. What did you do?

What were your experiences? Michael in particular, he's become my big brother. It's been my big brother since I first came in the league. And what was that process like? So I went to them and started understanding the ends and outs of the game and, you know, how they approach things and their level of detail and obsessiveness. And that's what I did. The players that had that path,

but weren't willing to commit their entire lives to doing that. It's a choice. You have other things, you have family, you have all these other things that you have to do. The game can't really be your number one priority. And so I was just looking at that, like man, this is gonna be fun. If I'm buddies with you from high school,

if I'm a cousin of yours, what happened to our relationship? How did that gravitate when you went into the league went into the league and you're, you're determined to become the greatest, or you're determined to become one the greatest. What happens to our relationship? Well, it suffers. It does suffer. Oh, yeah. Okay. And you understood that. You were okay with that. Yeah. And the people that love you, like friends and family, like they know that about you. Got it. So they let you be you. And when you reconvene, you know, you pick back up where you left off, but make no mistake about it, everything in between is lost. Right.

So those long-term relationships, the commitment of time of, you know, taking vaca- like I see a lot of players take vacations with other players that are close friends. And we'll just take vacations just to take vacations or just to hang out, just to hang out. Like I'm not, I never did that. Why was a choice, though? Why didn't you do that? Well, because when I retire, I didn't want to have to say, I wish I would have done more. I don't want that. You know?

Oh my God. You know, you got a lot of people playing their hard-on-on-money to come watch you perform. Perform. It's your job to be in shape. It's your job to be strong enough to perform at that level every single night. And as a competitor, I'm not ducking shit. Like it's not, oh my God, my back hurts, I'm sore, we got to play Vince Carter and Toronto Raptors tonight. We actually had this happen.

We had a game against Toronto in 2000. and Vince was tearing the league up. My back was jacked. Jacked. Like the perception of that. Like, what? Kobe's missing the game against Toronto and Vince Carter because my back was really spasming. But people would be like, what?

Oh, he's ducking Vince. Excuse me? No, I don't think so. So I would be in a layup line like, okay, there's a lot of days where, you know, you can rest and recover. today ain't one of them. You're back and bother you any other day. That shit ain't bothering me today. He's going to have to see me today.

Amen. Amen. Yeah. If you're looking at a big investments you've got to make, what is the decision-making process there? Do you call? Is there, first, you do your own research, you take this much time. You call on advisor. Is there a system you follow?

It's pretty simple for me. Do you understand the business? Is it a business that you can help in some form of fashion? where do the barriers entry to that business? And then the entrepreneurs themselves, the company itself, right? Do they have a culture that you believe is sustainable? Are these leaders, people that you believe in? Are they people that are obsessives?

And in turn, have they created a culture of obsessiveness? So I tend to look at those four factors, and that's it. That's big right there, by the way. I don't know if you guys caught that right there. That's pretty massive right there. Same determination, what's your current work schedule look like today? It's different because I personally am not writing every word of the novels. I am not animating the films.

What I have to do now is make sure that the people that we bring in, these obsessives that we bring in, are challenging themselves to do the best job that they think they can. do. That's what I'm there for, is for them to constantly look in the mirror and self-assess and challenge themselves. If we have a project and you're saying, okay, I can do that, that's not the project we want. The projects that say, I don't know if I can animate that, I don't know how to write that story. Do that. Those are the things we want because through that curiosity, you'll reach a level that you didn't think was possible.

And so running the studio, that's what I'm doing. You're playing against the Golden State Warriors. Score is 107, 109. You guys are close to getting into the playoffs. You know exactly what happens in the game. You go up, you're about to take your shot, and then all of a sudden, boom, Achilles happens, right? He went and hit the free throws,

and then you walked off the stage. Yeah. You got the surgery got. All right. I went in the trainer's room. My kids are in there. And, you know, they're looking at you and stuff. And I'm looking at them.

And I'm like, you know, it's all right. It's all right. It'll be fine. It'll be all right. It'll be all right. It'll be all right. As a parent, you've got to set the example. You got to set the example.

This is another obstacle. This obstacle cannot define me. It's not going to cripple me. It's not going to be responsible for me stepping away for the game that I love. I'm going to step away on my own terms. And that's when the decision. was made that you know what I'm doing it doing it you're a freaking beast man yeah hey hey