Michael Jordan's success came from waking before sunrise, endless practice, and treating failure as fuel. He missed 9,000 shots and 26 game-winning attempts but stayed after training when others left. His discipline extended to business, where his brand generates billions.
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He's an athlete, actor, and entrepreneur. He's considered to be one of the greatest, if not the single greatest basketball player of all time. He's worth over a billion dollars and his brand grosses over $2.25 billion every year. He's Michael Jordan and here are his top 10 rules for success.
Every day, the first person there before the sun would be Jordan. And he was there because he wasn't good. He would work with a batting instructor and work all day long and be the last person to leave every night also. I asked him what it was like for him in the morning, and Jordan said, "I get up before the sun comes up and I make myself some breakfast by myself." He was down there alone. "And I get in the car and I'm driving to spring training and there's no one really out on the roads yet. And I look at the seat next to me and I see my dad." And I talked to him. I think to myself, Pops, we're doing this, we're doing this together. And the day would end and he would say to the batting instructor, can we do a little more? I think I'm getting this, I think I'm learning this, I think I'm getting this. And that's when Sports Illustrated put him on the COVID saying that Michael Jordan has embarrassed baseball. And as I would watch him there every night as the sun was going down and the other ballplayers had left, and I would see this guy working to get better— Michael Jordan working to get better— I couldn't help thinking that if you ever have children, you ought to pray that they grow up someday to embarrass you like this.
I played professional basketball for the Chicago Bulls.
32 seconds to go, a 1-point lead for Georgetown. Jordy, the block, the tie, 18. Shot, Jordan! Michael Jordan!
The Michael Jordan evolution, they always have to start back in college, hitting a shot against Georgetown in 1982 when I really didn't know exactly what I was doing.
North Carolina has won the 1982 NCAA Championship.
It awakened a person inside of me to excel, to compete, to excel, to be one of the best or be the best. That drove me. And I guess with that shot, it kind of ignited a fire inside of me that nothing was was going to stop me.
Jordan down the middle, all the way! Jordan to the hoop!
Whoa!
Tip it out to Jordan, down the lane, all the way! Best finish ever by Jordan, who has it on the break, driving all the way in! Oh, he's got it!
Unbelievable goal!
He put it in and it counts!
I wanted to excel my game and isolate my game from everybody else, that I was more than just, you know, a few-dimensional— even when it came to Magic Johnson. And I mean, Magic Johnson was a crowd pleaser. He was a, you know, good offensive player. He was a great motivator, you know, average defensive player. You know, I wanted to change that. I wanted to take another step. I wanted to do all those things, you know, that could separate me from Magic Johnson. You know, I'm not saying he wasn't great. He still is great, but we're great in our own different way, you know. And that was motivational for me, you know, and to this day it still is. I've missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times I've been trusted to take the game-winning shot and missed. I failed over and over and over again in my life, and that is why I succeed. I never feel that I'm at my best. I feel I still have room to improve. I still set goals for myself to strive for. I'm never complacent with what I've achieved, even though it's been very successful for me. I still feel I have a lot to prove, not just as a player, but as a person, as a father, to some extent as a role model in all aspects. So I'm never really too complacent with myself or with what I've achieved. When I get to a point where I feel I can't improve as a player, I walk away from the game. I still feel that I have a plateau that, you know, I hadn't reached yet in terms of my skills or my expectations of myself. You know, I'm always going to expect myself to do I can do certain things or surpass certain things. As long as I believe that, then, you know, my road to success is going to continue to expand. Sports is a tool that teaches, you know, and it teaches you bad things. It can also teach you good things. It's how you perceive those things. I've looked at every experience that I've had, negative and positive, and taken that as a positive. You know, if I wouldn't change anything because I think it would alter some of the other things that happened. You know, so when I look back, I can't say that I've had any bad things happen. Sure, I mean, you don't want bad things to happen, but you deal with bad things. You can't have good without bad. It's not about the shoes. It's about knowing where you're going, not forgetting where you started. It's about having the courage to fail. Not breaking when you're broken. Taking everything you've been given and making something better. It's about work before glory. And what's inside of you is doing what they say you can't. It's not about the shoes. It's about what you do in them. It's about being. Who you were born to be. We are old, and sure, we're tired. It's been a long season, but mentally we have a vision, we have a finish that we have to attain, you know. And sometimes you have to do it when you're old and you're tired, you know. And I think it's the test of your will to succeed when you have to deal with some of these negatives. And I'm pretty sure, you know, By the end of this playoffs, you'll see the old and the tired people were very, very young and strong mentally. Maybe it's my fault. Maybe I led you to believe it was easy when it wasn't. Maybe I made you think my highlights started at the free throw line and not in the gym. Maybe I made you think that every shot I took was a game winner, that my game was built on flash and not fire. Maybe it's my fault that you didn't see that failure gave me strength, that my pain was my motivation. Maybe I led you to believe that basketball was a God-given gift and not something I worked for every single day of my life. Maybe I destroyed the game. Or maybe You're just making excuses.
Bulls can win it right here. The Bulls can win it. Unbelievable. 13 seconds left. Jordan left side.
I practice as if I'm playing in the game, so when the moment comes in the game, it's not new to me. That's the beauty of the game of basketball. That's the reason why you practice. That's the effort. So when you get to that moment, you don't have to think. Instinctively, things happen.
Jordan to drive, hangs, fires, yes! The Bulls lead 87-86.
Michael Jordan with 45 points. You know, it's— I think it was a very defining moment of what my career was in Chicago.
The Chicago Bulls have won their 6th NBA championship.
If that's the last image of Michael Jordan, how magnificent is it?
Thank you so much for watching. I made this video because Renato asked me to. So if there's a famous entrepreneur that you want me to profile next, leave it in the comments below and I'll see what I can do. I'd also love to know which of Jordan's top 10 rules you like the most. Let me know in the comments. I'm going to join the discussion. Thank you for watching. Continue to believe, and I'll see you soon.
