The Working Style of a Superstar and What It Can Teach Us

“True progress quietly and persistently moves along without notice.”—Francis of Asisi

Michael J. Jordan is an American is superstar in the world of sports who played impressively in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Chicago Bulls and Washington Wizards. Ironically, he was once considered too short to play the game when he was in the university. Today however, he is now broadly accepted as the greatest basketball player of all time due to many of his unparallel performances and pace-setting records.

A simple strategy that he used to develop an extra-ordinary skill of a genius is something we can all benefit from. And it is what we want to learn right here. In the book written by Pat Williams, “How to Be Like Mike: Life Lessons about Basketball’s Best,” Jordan was quoted to state one of his strategies that many us frequently underestimate. He says:

“I set another goal … a reasonable, manageable goal that I could realistically achieve if I worked hard enough. I approached everything step by step.”

Did you get the gist of the above statement? He worked hard on a manageable goal; and he approached everything step by step.

Many people approach their dreams the other way round. They set humongous goals and want to accomplish everything all at once. By attempting to go big on everything immediately, they eventually wear themselves out and then return back to their default settings. They forget that the higher they impulsively reach for the stars, the harder it will likely be (for them) to keep going.

Jordan adopted a simpler but far more effective approach to achieve an uncommon success; he used a step-by-step method. He stuck to his workout schedule; and he didn’t worry much about the eventual outcome.

This is not to say that it was a walk in the park for him. Jordan didn't miss any of his games. He played it hurt. He played it with pain. And yes, he played, even when he was sick. He came out to perform in every practice. 

Step by step model is far from a means to avoid deep work; actually, it is quite the opposite. This approach not only demands that you show up for every practice but also demands that you work each step in every session. It is the secret of excellence in any field.

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The ultimate outcome of our lives is determined by the cumulative effect of how we live at every moment. Most people daydream about magically achieving a grand outcome on some later day while neglecting what they can do now to make things better. But superstars like Jordan know better. They commit themselves to sustainable processes of progress. They improved themselves on a daily basis. Therefore, remarkable results became their inevitable destinies. 

If we can also learn to move in the right direction, adjusting our habits to match our dominant ambitions, noteworthy success and achievements will find us in the end. 

Barack Hussein Obama, the 44^th President of the United States explains this to you in other words. He says, “If you’re walking down the right path and you’re willing to keep walking, eventually you’ll make progress.”

Mind you, to keep walking is to take steps after steps continuously—one step at a time, over time. This is exactly how the billionaire, Michael Jeffrey Jordan developed an exceptional skill and achieved his legendary success. You just need to be willing to do the same.