Michael Jordan and Upgrading Your Drive (#99)

“I’ve missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”

Michael Jordan, NBA Hall of Famer

Michael Jordan is the greatest National Basketball Association (NBA) player of all time with six NBA championships, six NBA Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) Awards, five NBA MVP Awards, led the NBA in scoring 10 times, and won two Olympic Gold Medals. Jordan was physically gifted -- 6’6” with a 44” vertical leap, strength, speed, and huge hands. But what took him to a different level was his extreme competitiveness, work ethic, and incredible perseverance. Jordan used his competitiveness in everything -- in basketball, baseball, golf, and cards -- to provide motivation, spark creativity, raise his performance, and accomplish his goals.

In addition to Michael’s competitiveness, he fueled his internal drive with a passion for the process of creating a winning team. Coach Phil Jackson was able to convince Jordan that he wasn’t going to win a title on his talent alone, instead, he had to trust the process. Jackson’s process used four tenants: the team must prepare relentlessly through demanding practices and watching hours of game film; use the triangle offense to provide scoring opportunities; use tough defense to shut down opponents; and everyone would need to stay calm. Jordan quickly embraced the process and six NBA championships followed.

Another technique he used was to use an adversary to fuel his external drive. For example, Jordan still detests Isiah Thomas, another former NBA star, and uses this hatred to fuel his drive. Thomas was part of the Detroit Pistons who beat the Chicago Bulls three years in a row in the playoffs, led an effort in an All-Star game to keep the ball away from Jordan, and didn’t shake the Bulls hands after a game. As Jordan famously says in The Last Dance, “I took that personally.” Jordan used his hate to work extra hard to beat Isiah Thomas and the Pistons next year. Finding an adversary, or external drive, like Michael Jordan did, can help fuel your grit.

Drive, both internal and external, is the fuel for grit. Finding your drive is the fifth, and last step, in growing your grit. As you set out to accomplish a gritty goal, it is important to understand and acknowledge what is fueling your grit, where you can turn for help when you hit an obstacle, and other techniques you might use to help stoke your drive.

Internal Drive

Internal drive is when a person pursues a goal or activity for its own sake without any external reward. For instance, you may pursue a goal or activity because it makes you happy, you enjoy it, or it makes you feel satisfied. Internal drive works because it leverages your innate personal accountability and desire to learn. Tying your goal to your purpose, writing a goal down, telling the goal to a friend, and focusing on the learning or the process can all boost your internal drive.

People have a deep desire to be in control of their own lives, enhance their abilities and to live their purpose. Trying a gritty goal to your personal purpose increases your grit exponentially. Making progress towards the goal and the purpose simultaneously increases self-satisfaction.

One way to develop your internal drive is to write your goal down and put it where you can see it. Want to write 1,000 words a day so you can put together a book? Then take out a pen and a post-it note, write it down, and put it on your computer screen. Or take a dry erase marker and write it on your bathroom mirror. Writing your goal down and seeing it every day will energize your drive.

Another way to develop your internal drive is to tell your family or close friends your goal. Want to earn your Master of Business Administration (MBA)? Then tell your friends and family your goal is to take an executive MBA program at the local university at night over the next two years. The social accountability of telling your close circle the goal, as well as the support you will get from the group, will energize your drive.

Finally, reframing your focus from winning or achieving something to focusing on learning or the process involved can boost your internal drive. Focusing on enjoying the process enables you to be happy and have fun all the time, regardless of whether it works out. Having the focus be on the process is the only way to do intense, sustained, productive work over the long term and not be miserable.

External Drive

External drive is not as powerful as your internal drive. Noted author Daniel Pink in his book Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us describes external drive as “Do X Because Y.” Examples of “Do X Because Y” are “You should get good grades so can go to a good college,” “You should go to a good college so you can get a good job,” and “You should do your job, so you get paid.” Eventually, the novelty of the “Y” loses its appeal. Yet sometimes the external drive is the only way to get yourself going. Joining a group, hiring a teacher, making the goal competitive, or using a friend for accountability all help to strengthen your external drive.

Cultivating external drive is built upon the concept of social proof. Social proof is our human  desire to be part of a group and happens when we copy the actions of others as we try to emulate their behavior. It’s easy to recognize when you read the most popular story of the year, watch the hit movie, or buy something because a celebrity endorsed it. Think of social proof as the idea that if everyone else is doing it, shouldn’t I do it too?

One way to develop your external drive around a gritty goal is to join a gritty group. Want to run a marathon? Then find the local runners’ group that meets twice-a-week and join them for their runs. The power of the group will help energize your drive to achieve your goal. 

Another way to develop your external drive is to hire a teacher, coach, or mentor. Want to learn how to play the piano? Then hire a piano teacher. The once-a-week lesson provides an incentive to practice, as well as providing you expert feedback to make you better. There is also a financial incentive – if you don’t practice you are just wasting your money. The power of a coach or teacher will help energize your drive to achieve your goal.

Another way to develop your external drive is through competition. Say you have a goal to be more physically active. There are dozens of apps that provide a virtual leaderboard to track your progress. Personally, I like Strava for my endurance activities since every month Strava provides a virtual leaderboard for cycling distance. I can compare my miles on the bike to my friends who are also on Strava and ignite my external drive to ride more.  

Finally, another way to develop your external drive is to use a friend. Want to walk 10,000 steps every day for a month? Set up a regular call, email, or text with a friend that wants to accomplish the same goal. Creating an external accountability system helps you track progress better and creates external pressure and responsibility, so you don’t take a day off.

Example

In July I joined the Trek Bicycles Century Challenge which had a simple premise — ride 100 miles, 500 miles, or 1,000 miles during July to claim a small prize. To keep things interesting, Trek established a leaderboard on Strava. I had never ridden 1,000 miles in a month before. In fact, my record for a month was 764 miles in August 2019. Now, I know there are some incredible cyclists out there that have ridden a lot farther than I have, but I am proud to say that I rode 1,121 miles in July. My longest day was 70.6 miles and shortest was 12.1 miles. I rode every day during the month, averaging 36.16 miles per day. It required all of my perseverance and more to accomplish that achievement.

I fueled my drive to pedal my bike as much as I could in July through a combination of internal and external factors. Internally, I was committed to the process and riding my bike made me happy (except when I had saddle sores!) It also made me healthier. Externally, I had the friends that were doing it and the leaderboard to track where my friends were in their quest. On the rough days when I was struggling to get out the door, I would text a friend and see if they wanted to ride. This combination of internal and external drive pushed me to a new record.

 Obstacle

One of the biggest challenges with drive is figuring out what works for you. The journey to achieve one goal might rely heavily on internal drive while pursuing another goal is fueled by external factors. Recently, a corporate executive confessed to me that he was much grittier at work due to his external drive’s desire to be accountable to the team. It fueled him to accomplish goal-after-goal at work. On the other hand, he couldn’t find the drive to stick to his diet or his workout plan since he didn’t feel the same accountability to himself or his family. I talked him through a couple of the ideas on internal drive and he is back eating healthy and losing a few pounds.

Conclusion

Winning a NBA Championship or riding your bike 1,000 miles in a month both take grit and drive. Whether you tie your goal to your purpose, write your goal down, tell the goal to a friend, focus on the learning or the process, join a group, hire a teacher, make the goal competitive, or use a friend for accountability it can improve your drive. Sometimes it takes more than one catalyst. Whatever it takes for you, go on the offensive and find internal and external means to enhance your drive and achieve your gritty goal.