I am moving along with my discussion of the book that I have been reading in my spare time and the same on that I felt was number one in my own “Top 10 Sports Books I would like to Read” post on this blog. Now we get to principles three and four that were so amazing just to read and great food for thought.

In principle three, I see how even the greatest athletes like Kobe Bryant use fear as motivation. I found this remarkable as it was touched on by Jerry Rice as well in his Hall of Fame speech in Canton. Fear is actually an energy source that can be used to your advantage to propel yourself to excellence. As Kobe Bryant ages, he can now use this fear to keep fuelling him.

I could also use the example in the chapter of Kobe demanding to be traded in my own life as well. There have been many times when I have wanted something done that I felt would help me greatly, but have feared to speak up. Whether it is ask to ask my parents for money to start a business I believe in or ask my manager for a promotion. I learnt from this to acknowledge this fear that all people have and use it to achieve my goals.

As for principle four, it is the idea that talent alone can only get you so far. Talent is great but it has to be complemented with a great work ethic to reach the greatness of Bryant. I particularly enjoyed reading about how Kobe may have observed his father’s stint in the NBA and how he was mostly a bench player. Sometimes children tend to recognize their parent’s mistakes and vow not to follow the same path.