Earlier this week the New York Knicks won the ESPY award for best team. While I have no allegiance to this team, they were so easy to get behind because of the makeup of their group. My favorite to watch was the scrappy and relentless 6’2” point guard, Jalen Brunson.
The NBA Finals MVP and ESPY voted Male Athlete of the Year may not be your typical basketball star. There’s rarely showboating, rants in postgame media, or desire to create a huge social media following. When you watch Jalen play and listen to him, it’s focused, intentional, and all aligned with his team’s success.
“My mindset was how can I be the best version of myself when things aren’t going well. You prepare for the worst. You prepare when things don’t go well. When things don’t go well as a team how are we going to find ways to win? How are we going to find ways to be successful when things aren’t going the way we want them to go?” – Jalen Brunson
The Knicks were constantly down big in the finals yet came away with the championship winning 4 games to 1. Adversity continued to hit the Knicks yet under their toughest moments they were at their best. Jalen’s quote gives great insight into why he was at his best when times were the toughest.
When he prepares mentally for each game, it’s an assumption adversity will hit. And then hit again. And again. There’s no preparing for ease. The path to success is built on persevering through adversity. He understands his path to his authentic success will be difficult, so the mental reps need to be centered around coming prepared to be our best during tough times.
Jalen’s version of authentic success was an NBA title. Our version of authentic success will be unique to each of us and even though it might not be to the level of NBA champ, there’s a lot to learn from this Jalen’s mindset.
First, look at the expectations we’re setting. If we’re striving for something greater than what we have now, there’s no way around it, it’s going to be hard. It’s going to be challenging. Adversity will constantly be knocking at our door. So, am I going through life expecting adversity will be a part of the journey, or am I on my heels and surprised when adversity hits? If I’m expecting adversity, I can attack it on my toes ready to move any direction I need to take on the challenge.
Second, mentally I benefit from visualizing how I respond for myself and team in the face of adversity. Visualization is such a valuable tool. Visualization allows situations to play out in our mind so we can prepare for what it looks like to handle adversity. Sure, what we visualize isn’t going to be exactly what happens. The key is we’ve gone through in our mind what it can look like to persevere and understand we can get through this hard time.
Last, plans to get to your authentic success will be far from a linear path. The mindset to never stop exploring ways to find success in tough moments is such a valuable skill. Relentless towards what you want to accomplish regardless of the detours that must be taken. The path to success will rarely end up how we expect it so our readiness to adapt and pivot to be relentless towards what we want to achieve is powerful.
There’s something different about this year’s NBA Finals MVP. He’s one to watch. Not just from a basketball sense, but a true leader of people perspective as well. I’m far from a NY Knicks fan but Jalen has my vote for one heck of a leader.
Take your step: next time you face something you know will be challenging, spend time before going through how you’ll approach adversity. First, are you getting an expectation set it will be challenging? Second, visualize what your perseverance can look like in the face of this adversity. Last, prepare your mind that when roadblocks come up, relentlessness will follow and you’ll find a detour. Spend the time proactively preparing for adversity to set yourself up for success.