LeBron James is the greatest basketball player of this century. Maybe the greatest basketball player ever. But his rise to greatness wasn't smooth. Without the lowest point of his career, he would never have put together arguably the greatest basketball resume the game has ever seen.
After nearly a decade of failing to bring home the Larry O'Brien trophy, the goal that every NBA team shares when the season starts, the 2010-2011 season felt like the year. With a new team, and for the first time in his career, a championship-level supporting cast, LeBron and the Miami Heat were the favorites to win it all.
Those expectations got to the best of LeBron when in the NBA finals, just one series win from fulfilling a lifelong dream, he played the worst basketball of his career. When the Miami Heat fell short, he was torn apart. He didn't have the clutch gene. He deferred to his teammates. He didn't take over when he was supposed to take over.
But it was that moment, the lowest of his career, that propelled him to heights never seen before. When he got his redemption and won the 2012 NBA championship, he recalled how the previous year's loss helped him,
"The best thing that happened to me last year was us losing the Finals. It humbled me…I knew I was going to have to change as a basketball player and I was going to have to change as a person."
Winning is simply your capacity to lose.
Each year LeBron came up short, it was another piece of the puzzle. One year, he needed to become a better shooter. The next, a better leader. The year after, LeBron needed a better understanding of the game as a whole. All those pieces--all those losses--were gearing up to turn him into the complete, all-around champion he would become.
It's the same thing Muhammud Ali said after he lost to Joe Frazier,
"Best thing that ever happened to me. I needed that. Thank you very much. Losing that fight was just what I needed. It made me humble... No more fooling around."
Your capacity for loss determines your capacity for winning. With each loss, something is gained. A trait. A skill. A characteristic. An "ah ha" moment. Those add up, until everything clicks.
When you realize what losing is, winning in disguise, everything becomes a win. You either win or you learn the things you need to learn to get closer to winning.
Roman Philosopher Epictetus explained to his students that you should adopt the mindset of wanting hardship,
"Why don't I get to face the kind of challenge he did? I am growing old in a corner, when I could be winning a crown at Olympia? When will I be nominated for a similar trial?"
Want to win, but embrace the shortcomings because the more you experience them, the shorter the distance is between you and where you want to get to.
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