How To Be Like Lebron James (Without Plastic Surgery)

Lebron James' early life was full of challenges. Growing up in Akron, Ohio, in a single-parent household, he faced a lot of adversity.

He practiced countless hours to hone his skills, study the game, and improve physically and mentally.

He continued to seek improvement, adding new skills to his game each season.

Lebron James is now seen as one of the greatest basketball players of all time.

And I'm 100% sure that you find a similar story for all great athletes.

Greatness is build up, created. Not given.

What separates these athletes from the 'normal' people?

The 5 ingredients for drive

Develop a clear sense of purpose. That's not easy.

We expect that, once we have a purpose, everything becomes easy. But that's not the case.

We all struggle with waking up. We all struggle with staying motivated.

In a time with so much distractions at hand, we can't help to fall into this trap sometimes.

To be driven is a multifaceted process.

It involves:

• a clear sense of purpose

• goals

• motivation

• discipline

• a little madness.

A clear sense of purpose

This has become a platitude online.

"Develop a clear sense of purpose and you'll be fine". But that's easier said than done.

Your purpose a mixture of your talents, your interests, your curiosities, and a greater good in life.

Developing a sense of purpose is like cooking. It involves a lot of ingredients that eventually become a delicious meal.

A sense of purpose in the lines of "I want to get rich" is not going to cut it for you.

Even if you get rich. If it is without a purpose, you'll get depressed. And don't trust me on this. Trust the depression and burn-out statistics on this.

Where to start

The starting point of developing a sense of purpose is your childhood. When everything was still easy.

As a kid, you have no limitations on your mind. You still had a genuine curiosity in things. And there was no one to tell you to "act normal".

Pick up a notebook and pen and block out 1 hour.

No phone, no music. No distractions.

Write down everything that you liked as a child. What were your interests. How did you fill your time?

What games did you play? What was the first thing you did when you got home from school?

Write it all down. And be honest with yourself. No one else is going to read it anyway.

This is where your true interests are. Not yet destroyed and limited by the outer world. By parents to 'act like your age'.

Not yet crushed by teachers to conform to the rest of your class.

That's where most childhood dreams die. By the hand of parents and teachers who want you to conform to the rest of the world.

On the next page of your notebook, write everything down that you are good at now.

Think about your skills and grades at school. What went with ease. What came natural to you, where others struggled.

Once you have written this down, look for the overlap. Where do your curiosities in childhood overlap with your natural skills in adolescence?

After I did this exercise a couple years ago myself, it became clear to me that my natural tendencies were in writing. Before that, it had never even occurred to me! Sometimes the most obvious things we are most blind to.

Your future can be in places where you never thought it could be, because you didn't take the time to look for it.

That's your starting point for becoming a driven man (or woman).

Goals

The reality is, you can have all the talent, all the skills on the world. But without a clear plan, you'll waste these.

That's why you need a goal. And not the 'I want to get rich' type of goal.

But a measurable, quantifiable goal. One that can be broken into smaller goals along the way.

Goals give you direction. With an endpoint in mind, you can take your first steps into this path.

I create goals that are based on my input, not output. Let me explain:

You can set the goal earning 10k/month online. The thing is, you are then at the mercy of others for buying your product or service.

And you can't control others.

What you can control is yourself. Your efforts and input.

So instead of setting the goal of earning 10k, set the goal of reaching out to 1000 followers online.

This is measurable, and completely in your own hands.

Focus on the inputs, and the outputs will follow.

Discipline and motivation

Discipline and motivation. The two words most used on X, I'm sure of it.

The problem with motivation and discipline, is that we are humans. And as humans, we fall back to our habits (our default mode) all the time.

Becoming this disciplined person that consistently wakes up at 4AM 7 days a week is nearly impossible.

So don't be to hard on yourself. That only creates resistance and makes things worse.

Instead, focus on building the right habits that help you reach your goals.

No screens after 8PM help you fall asleep faster and make it easier to wake up earlier.

Not drinking alcohol during the week makes it easier to lose weight.

Meditating for 20 minutes in the morning give you clarity for the rest of the day.

You don't have to turn into a machine. You probably won't be able to do that consistently anyway.

Build the right habits that nudge you in the right direction.

I've been on this journey of self actualization for long enough now that I positively can say that being too strict on yourself, only holds you back.

And a little madness

Being crazy in a crazy world is normal behavior.

There are too many mundane, normal people already.

There's too much conformity. Too much gray. we need more black and white.

There's a reason why persons like Lebron James and Kanye West are celebrated this much.

The dedication that they have is so admirable. Specifically because most people don't have it. You could call them crazy. Maybe they are. But they cracked the coded for greatness.

You don't have to become the next big thing. But you can learn from these athletes and artists.

Become dedicated to a cause of your choice. If you like to write, write. If it's running, working out, run or work out.

Just don't half-ass is. Like the rest of the world. For once, pursuit your own interests like your life depends on it.

In a way it does. Having dedication to a cause is what life is about.

The way most people live, watching TV all day, eating garbage and having no goals and too much dreams, is just a waste of life.

You get 1 shot. Just 80 years if you are lucky. The first 20 years you are learning to walk. The last 20 years you are on the way down.

That get's you 40 years to achieve anything you want.

You NEED a purpose, goals, discipline and motivation, and dedication to make the most of these 40 years.

What's next

We are all inspired when we watch documentaries or videos of our favorite athletes or artists.

It's about time you realize that they are human, too.

Realize that you have greatness in yourself too.

The year is still fresh. We are only in January. Set a big, seemingly impossible goal to achieve by the end of 2025.

Doesn't matter whether it's in sport, business or you name it.

Examples:

• Run 100km in one run

• Earn 50k/month

• Read 100 books.

Dedicate yourself to it completely. Just go mad. Make it your sole thought. The goal, the activity. It's all there is. Your goal.

Block out time. Block out people. And go for it.

See how high you can fly. See what's possible to achieve when you dedicate yourself to something completely.

The time for the mundane is over.

Chase greatness.

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