Today marks the first official Kobe Bryant Day in Orange County, due to Kobe having a August 23 birthday and wearing both #8 and #24. Therefore, I would like to highlight and honor Kobe’s mamba mentality—his success formula from which aspiring individuals can learn.
What is Mamba Mentality?
Kobe defined mamba mentality as “the ultimate mantra for the competitive spirit”—focusing on the process rather than the outcome and trusting hard work rather than talent. He specified that the mamba mentality applied beyond sports, but everywhere in life, “if you have a goal or a dream, you need to apply the mamba mentality to achieve it. Everything worth achieving needs total focus and dedication.” This mentality has influenced many NBA star players including LeBron James, who discussed this mentality with Kobe in The Mamba Mentality: How I Play.
It’s About Journey, Not the Destination
Consistent with focusing on the process, mamba mentality is about doing our best every day that eventually gets us to our destination. We need to have a healthy dose of obsession and passion in the process in order to push ourselves toward greatness. To know whether we are improving in the process and getting farther in my journey, ask ourselves “What am I doing better today than yesterday?”.
It’s About Making a Choice, Not an Excuse
There’s a choice that we have to make as people, as individuals. If you want to be great at something there’s a choice you have to make. We all can be masters at our craft. But you have to make a choice. What I mean by that is, there are inherent sacrifices that come along with that.
Kobe bryant
Kobe jumped straight from high school to NBA instead of going to college. He knew he wanted to be the GOAT by learning from the best as soon as he could. He knew college life would distract him. This reinforces that success is a choice—of making difficult decisions and then acting on them without an excuse. The choice is to go all in and dedicate time to that one thing instead of taking a break to do other things whenever there is a chance. Let’s make that choice of greatness today!
Thank you to Kobe for leaving the world his legacy, his love of the game, and his mamba mentality…