Ramanujan Redux

With the NBA Playoffs in full gear, roundball fans are always reminded in commercials of the greatness that once graced the NBA every season. Michael Jordan graced the league for fourteen spectacular seasons of dunks, fallaway jumpers, game winning shots, and championships. He exemplified the winning attitude that all human beings hope to adopt.

Yet one reason he was so brilliant was how easy he made it look. We glossed over the physical punishment that a 6′6″ guard took driving to the hole in a tall man’s world and focused on the breakaway slam reels. For over a decade the NBA has suffered from this me-first type of play, with everyone subconsciously believing that by taking the toughest shots possible, they could be like Mike. And of course, they can’t and couldn’t. People forget all the hard work it took for MJ to be MJ.

Arguably there have been more talented individuals out there, before and since. But no one else put the work in as much on the court as he did, for individual and team. And it shows with the six rings.

But it was never just about making the impossible easy. Let’s listen to the words of the man, shall we? (Click on the link to watch the video).

1. It’s Not About the Shoes

Just like in Fight Club, your possessions do not define you. They are rewards for hard work and accomplishment, not a shallow display of your own self-worth. Unmerited rewards lead to emptiness inside. Your actions are what is substantive. Their impact will last far longer than your shoes.

2. Not Meant to Fly

There are those among us who say there are limits to what they can accomplish. These people are a nuisance. Get rid of them, extirpate these undesirable qualities within yourself, and start learning to break limits before the burden of age catches up with you.

3. Challenge

Sweat hard when you’re battling. Make sure you’re dead tired when you walk out of your workplace. Exhaustion shows how far you’ve pushed yourself in pursuit of your passions. Make sure you rest only when your efforts hinder rather than help.

4. Michael vs. Mia

Once you become one of the best, challenge yourself against the best, or those who share your goals and desires. Their attitude towards work and success is infectious. Let it become the only disease that you never want to heal.

5. Nothing but Net

Challenge yourself in every facet of life, even if it means absolutely nothing in the long-run. It makes life more exciting, more thrilling, more exhilarating. Oh, and put a Big Mac on the line for the winner.

6. Overjoyed

Take joy that you’re doing what you love for a living. Everyday you can wake up knowing that you’ve made it. Treasure every moment you get, because what you have right now won’t last forever.

7-10. “Hello Mars.” Spot 1, Spot 2, Spot 3, Spot 4

Okay…these commercials are just awesome, but know this–if there’s a Mars Blackmon in your life, someone who irrationally follows your every movement with rapt attention, who collects your books, your press clippings, follows your every mention, you are well on your way to cementing your legend. As Ari Gold once said, “It’s the blessing and the curse of superstardom.” Just accept it with a bemused smile and don’t let it go to your head. Success for you is knowing these people exist. At least they care about you, even if it’s not in the way you intended.

11. Heart

Sometimes the simplest messages resonate the strongest. MJ’s heart was always on the hardcourt because he was passionate about winning. Where can you put your heart so that it never makes you stray from your chosen path?

12. 100 Foot Rim

Aim high. Aim as high as you can go. Don’t let simple things like gravity or expectations hold you down. Go all the way to get all the way. Just know how to get back down when you’re done.

13. Failure

Everytime you lose a battle, take what you learn and take your life one step further. People never win all the time. The people who are winners lose more often than they win. The people who are losers are the ones who avoid failure. All you have to do is succeed one more time.

14. Storytelling

Not all of us will have as visible a stage as Michael. Make sure to record your work, your accomplishments, your goals, your ideals, and let another storyteller chronicle what your life was really like. The thought of being forgotten is terrifying–at the least, let our grandchildren and great-grandchildren understand the mark we left on the world.

15. Dream

Realize that being passionate about a dream isn’t worth it if it’s too late in life to get good at it. Focus on what’s tangible and the foundation you’ve already created. Recharge and get back to perfecting your legend.

16. Cinderellas

Fairytales are for kids. You’re an adult now. If the odds seem stacked against your success, use all your strengths, mind and body, to shock the world. Believe in yourself and you can become the one the next generations speak of with respect and awe.

17. Heartbreak

Develop the killer instinct. Drive a stake through the hearts of your enemies, your opponents, whoever stands in your way. Don’t relish in their anguish, revel in your triumph. Become a warrior that they fear to face.

18. Frozen Moment

Learn to define yourself by action. Let your actions create the type of person people want to remember you by. Be the center of attention. Make everyone freeze to watch what you do.

19. Look Me In the Eyes

Find a mentor, one who can look you in the eye, one who inspires you, trusts you, guides you, builds you up for the challenges ahead. One who does not try to mold you into their own image, but helps you create your own. One who will help you build the patience you need to fully succeed.

20. Maybe

Don’t make excuses for your shortcomings; account for them and get back to your life. Are you going to be a hater and dwell on what could have been? Or be the person people hate on for achieving their goals?

21. Let Your Game Speak.

If you have something to say, say what’s necessary and move onto the task at hand, be it personal, business, or recreational. Let your actions do all the the talking. Let other people be the ones speaking about you.

22. Tell Me

Make sure you have people who doubt you. Make sure you have people who question everything you do. Make people think that you’re done as you grow older, your time is up. It’ll only make you want to prove them wrong.

23. “Who’s Got Next?”

Reflect on the long road of progress you’ve made, from the beginning of your journey, up to now. Battle your inner demons–namely, the struggle against time. No one wins that battle. But you can look back toward the past to show yourself how far you’ve come, how much you’ve learned, and how much left there is for you to do.

And one final message that doesn’t provide a piece of advice, but provides you a question with which to guide you:

23b. What is Love?
I’m not going to tell you what love should be to you. All I have to say is that if you think you’ve found it, define it for yourself. Discover what love is for you, follow the tenets #23 set out for himself that you can set out for yourself, and you will be the Michael Jordan of whatever you were born to be.

EDIT: Dumb Little Man boiled his points down to 10. A good read.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, May 3rd, 2008 at 6:38 am and is filed under Living, Personal, Physical, Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.