At a large conference a few years ago I was enthralled to listen to John Stockton.
I was impressed with this intense competitor because of his humility.
A year later as he was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame I was
further intrigued as he gave all the credit to
team mates, coaches and most importantly to family.
He kept saying he was lucky and he hadn't done anything great.
But as I dug deeper into his greatness I learned Stockton was "lucky" because he worked.
The number of games John Stockton missed in his first 13 years in the NBA is 4. He showed up to work 99.6% of the time!
His legendary team mate seemed to have the same work ethic.
Karl Malone missed 5 games in 13 years. The Mailman showed up to work 99.53% of the time.
Their nemesis had a pretty strong work ethic too.
The total number (excluding knee injury) of games Michael Jordan missed before he retired the first time is 7. MJ showed up to work 98.9% of the time. (see also MJ's use of strengths & weaknesses)
In the last few years some players have slipped a little in their work ethic.
65. The number of games missed by Carmelo Anthony in 8 years. 90% attendance.
130. The number of games missed by Carlos Boozer in 9 years. 82.4% attendance.
Carmelo's and Carlos' work ethic stands in strong contrast to their predecessors.
If you love work you are a long way to becoming successful.
Love work (the verb and maybe even the noun) and then show up to do the work and the money will follow.
Of course what you do with the money is up to you.
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