Kobe Bryant’s 2 Psychological Keys to Success
Having a short memory makes you emotionally bulletproof.
During Kobe Bryant’s first year playing basketball at age 11, he scored zero points. He was terrible.
After the last game of the season, he was crying to his dad about how bad he played. His dad looked him in the eyes and said, “I don’t care if you scored 60 points or 0 points. I will love you no matter what.”
That one conversation changed everything for Kobe Bryant. He told Lewis Howes in an interview that when he heard his father say those words, he knew he was “safe.” Regardless of what happened, his father’s love was secure. It was unconditional. He felt protected.
“Okay, that gives me all the confidence in the world to fail. I have that security there,” Kobe said. “But… to hell with that. I’m scoring 60!”
The next season, Kobe started taking way more shots. His creativity blew through the roof. Given that he had full permission to fail, he did just that. He failed over and over and over. Between those failures were lots of successes, and each success built his confidence and creativity.
