EP.125 - Michael Jordan's Success - Ten Critical Lessons | Further Your Lifestyle Podcast

Chris Furlong: 0:00

Yo yo yo. Welcome back to the further your lifestyle podcast conversations on lifestyle passions and hassles. My name's Chris, I am your host and I'm super excited to be back here having the conversation with you. Episode 125 today, and we are talking about the remarkable Michael Jordan. Now this, this kind of came out of left field.

Chris Furlong: 0:18

There's a few reasons of me actually coming to actually make this episode, and there's probably two or three different things, actually. The first one was I've been going through a lot of my old blogs from the last back from 2016, 2017 and just pulling out different sources of inspiration, and I remember I did a blog of similar nature to this, talking about the different lessons that we can learn from Michael Jordan and you know, in his I guess, his pursuit for success and for him coming such one of the best basketballers of all time. Now, at the same time, I recently have been raising money for Backpack for Vic kids and we're about halfway there during at the time of this video. We're raising $10,000 in 2023. We're about $5,100 at this point in time and drew from the Look my Mum Hustling podcast. He actually sent over a PSA card of Michael Jordan. I think it was a PSA aid, so that kind of resonated with me and then, I think, you know, just reflecting on childhood and things like that, over the recent couple of weeks, you know, surprisingly Michael Jordan was a huge inspiration to me. I remember watching his VHS or one of his videos that he released, you know, talking about how he went from you know kind of like a nobody and he put in the work and he became a big somebody obviously, and it gave me some source of inspiration of wanting to, you know, play basketball, ice play basketball when I was a kid and, you know, played for a couple of years.

Chris Furlong: 1:39

Of course, that passed on pretty quick, but the reality is is, you know, there's little parts in our life that have bigger parts to play that we don't even realize down the line, and I kind of wanted to bring all those three areas together and kind of just, you know he's been on my mind, I, you know it's been relative, it's been relevant in terms of, you know, talking to Drew about it and you know it popped up in my blog inspiration feed. So I figured let's go through 10 lessons that we can learn from Michael Jordan around, what we can take in terms of seeking and chasing success. Now these will probably come across as cliche, but the difference here is they've come from what we can pull and draw from Michael Jordan. Now, if you're a big Michael Jordan fan from NBA or basketball, well you, a lot of this will resonate with you. But if you're not I'm not a huge big basketball guy now, like I have no idea about it. But you know, michael Jordan was someone that I probably looked at and thought at the time I didn't really understand anything that he was doing, it was more so I just was amazed by his ability to be able to do what he was doing. But now, as we've come, you know, further through life I've grown up I can look back and see there's there's a lot of things here which I think we can take and learn from. So I've got 10 lessons to share with you today. I've got my notes that I've taken down here, pulled from my previous blog, and we're going to get into that. So let's dive in. So 10 lessons that we can learn from his journey and apply to our own lives.

Chris Furlong: 3:07

I think the first one that I've put here is accept failure, and I'm going to I'm going to read it out here. Michael Jordan once said that I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something and I think the importance of this is when we embrace failure as part of the learning process, it becomes a crucial point in enabling us to grow, to adapt and to ultimately find success, whatever that is at that point in time. Obviously, success can continue to change and form into a bigger whatever it may be as we continue to progress and grow and chase whatever it is we're chasing. I've had conversations on this before, but we've got to remember that failure is not is not the end, but more so a stepping stone towards progress. You know we might we might fail at something.

Chris Furlong: 3:52

Let's say you open something up and you did not get what you expected. Is that a failure? You failed to get what you wanted. Look, you could say you failed at getting what you wanted, but doesn't mean you're a failure, right, it means you know you have to try again, you have to peer, but you have to adjust, you have to do something else to potentially get you the result that you want. Now I think failure is only when we stop and don't do anything ever again and we don't move forward. Right, and that kind of moves into lesson number two, which is always try again. In Michael Jordan's words he says but I can't accept not trying right.

Chris Furlong: 4:27

Leading straight on from lesson number one, perseverance is key, right, and I think this is something which, when I look back over the years, I can resonate with this quite well, because I realize the perseverance that I have been able to have. But in the moment you don't see it, because you're seeing the problem that's ahead of you in this moment. But when you look back and say, well, you've done this before, you've been out of push through, you know, whether it's with running or building a business or just striving to continue to make progress. I think something else, and from my notes I was looking through what you know Michael Jordan was saying you know you should never be afraid to dust yourself off and try again. You know you're going to get knocked down, you're going to get pushed around, you're going to hurt yourself. You're going to and when I say hurt yourself, things aren't going to be the way you always want them. That's what, basically, what I'm meaning. But with each attempt we can increase our chances of achieving the greatness that we want.

Chris Furlong: 5:18

Now. Greatness does not have to be what the world perceives it as. It's only what you perceive it as. What is greatness to you? What do you want? Right, and it might just mean living in a nice little country house with, you know, some Chicken and some lamb and just taking the easy life. That's fine. If that's your greatness, pursue it, make it happen. Again, you're going to have to do a whole bunch of things to get there, and I think the way we can get there is lesson number three, which is to practice daily.

Chris Furlong: 5:49

Now, again, jordan, you know, when we reflect and see what he's done I mean, if anyone has seen any of his content or you know, like, follow his story this would be relevant to you or resonate with you. But if you don't, he approached everything step by step, setting realistic and manageable goals, something that we talk about here on the podcast very, very often. Right, talking about goals, but goals is great. Goals are pointless, though, if you do not have a daily practice and a consistent effort to lay that foundation to that success. Right, it's through the dedicated reps, it's through the deliberate practice, it's through the, you know, honing in on our skills and unleashing Full potential. Right, that that's the only way it can happen. Right, you have to put in the reps and calling on. You know, drew from looking on my hustling again, because this has been resonating with me over the last couple of weeks and I spoke about in the last episode. And he doesn't follow goals, he follow systems. But you know, sometimes it might be the system may be to practice, to do the reps, to put in the consistency, to have that routine, to put in the effort which is going to enable you to get to the goals that you want. Right? Which leads to lesson number four, which is to take action, right?

Chris Furlong: 6:58

Michael Jordan, he famously said that some people want it to happen, some wish it would happen, others make it happen. And I think this is like the beauty of this podcast, because you know, I talk about a lot of things here, I share a lot, I talk a lot, I speak a lot of cliche, but at the end of the day I always put it back on you and say, well, if you want this, you got to do it. Like I can't do it for you, I can tell you, I can give you ideas, I can give you insight, I can give you templates, processes, systems, whatever, right, but if you're not going to go, do anything, nothing will ever change. So we need to be the ones to take action, we need to be proactive, we need to be, you know, taking ownership and accountability of living our lives. Don't wait for the opportunities to come crawling. Go, create them, make them happen, bring them into the fold, right?

Chris Furlong: 7:45

Lesson number five is to enjoy the journey. Now, if we look at Jordan, I think we can be reminded that he enjoyed every minute of life. Right, I mean, he's still alive, but you know, he was ambitious, he knew what he wanted and he was hustling hard to get what he wants, but he enjoyed it. He enjoyed the pursuit of these goals. And that's what we need to do. We need to Find joy in what we're doing, because if you take away the joy, you're actually going to start to burden yourself with being able to get up and be motivated. When you've got joy, when you've got happiness, when you've got intent and you've got control and you've also got Passion and you enjoy what you're doing especially if it's building a business or, you know, trying to, you know become more skillful at a sport or whatever it may be, you're able to enjoy that journey so much easier and you can appreciate the experiences along the way. It's not just about the destination, right, it's about the moments that shape us while getting to that destination.

Chris Furlong: 8:44

Now, I can only speak from my own journey, like I've been doing this, working for myself, for the last almost almost three years now, so it's about two and a half years and that's been crazy, but like that's only two and a half years, like I worked ten years before this I went to uni. You know, I've lived live. You know almost 32 at the time of this episode and I've barely touched the surface of the things that I want to do. But I know that for the things that I want, they're going to take time and progress and effort and I need to enjoy that journey just as much as taking action, practicing daily, trying again and accepting that there will be bumps along the way. Right, that's all part of it.

Chris Furlong: 9:22

Lesson six this one, I honestly will struggle with letting go of expectations. So, jordan, if we reflect on his life, he advises us not to be defined by the expectations of others. Now, this is really close to home at the moment, because I tend to sometimes project on what other people are expecting of me when they have no consideration or no say in any of that. Right, they don't care right, and I did an episode on this a couple of weeks ago. I was quite, quite detailed on it and quite vulnerable.

Chris Furlong: 9:51

But we need to get rid of the negative opinions and doubts that we think others have of us. Even if they do have them of us, we need to get rid of them. But even if they don't and we're projecting them we need to get rid of them. We need to cull all those things that limit our ability to reach our potential. We need to believe in ourselves. We need to believe in ourselves.

Chris Furlong: 10:12

If you cannot believe in yourself and you're expecting everyone else to build you up well, then that's not going to work, because when you hit a low point or when you're not meeting the expectations of other people, they will abandon you. I'm not trying to say that, not saying that people will give up on you, but sometimes we find that as we progress, we find ourselves lonely, we find ourselves all alone. We don't have anyone to turn to, whether it's because of our own pride or just because we've pushed people away. And sometimes we get to our deepest and darkest moments and the only way to push through is to find the strength and the ability to believe in ourselves to push us through. So you need to be able to find that so that you can strive and you can exceed any expectations that anyone else sets on you.

Chris Furlong: 10:58

And how do we do that? Well, I think it comes to lesson number seven, which is being dedicated. I mean, michael Jordan was known for his dedication, his ability to just push through the pain, to never miss a game, to you know, his commitment, his work, ethic and these things actually sent him apart. It made him an outlier. It made him be able to become who he is today and you know the legacy that has been able to leave. But it's also we need to take the same minds that when we dedicate ourselves, our craft and our passion and our determination, we can drive towards our goals with a little bit more ease. Right, that dedication, discipline, commitment and understanding the process of the journey to get there. That's going to enable you to be an outlier, to set you apart from those that are in your peer group that are maybe doing a similar journey. That's the only way, because other people will give up, other people will fold, other people will take a different route, but you stuck to your guns, stuck, stuck. You stuck to your guns right, and you made it happen. That's the only way you can do it right. I mean, you can ask for how we can get help along the way. That's fine, that's fine. But you know, stick to your guns. And that we go, stick to guns, that's better and you know, if that's what you want, then own it right.

Chris Furlong: 12:18

Lesson 8 is being humble. I think, you know, michael Jordan also shows us a lot of humility when he acknowledges that there will be people greater than him. And look, there, probably are people greater than him in different elements. And I'm on, I don't know, I don't know. For me it's probably, you know, there's probably LeBron James and there's a whole bunch of different people that probably you know would be. You know, give a good challenge of where, where he's come from and where is that today, kind of thing. But at the same time, he understands that there will be always people greater than him and I think this humility or being humble, keeps us grounded. It enables us to Be open to learning and also enables us to appreciate other people's achievements. We always need to be learning. You know, you could be the top today, but you might not be the top tomorrow. Is that necessarily a bad thing, I know it can strive us to push harder or motivate us, but at the same time, some people might just have the ability to grow quicker than us.

Chris Furlong: 13:14

I mean, I've been surrounded by so many successful people. Meaning when I say successful is mean they're ahead of me in areas, or maybe their numbers speak different volumes, or they've been able to achieve that, or they're earning a bit more money, or They've got a different status or whatever it may be. And you think, well, why haven't I got that? But the problem, the problem, the reality is I am successful. You know, I've got people asking me the same things how did you do this? What, how, what's the secret here? How you make it look so easy? It's not easy. I didn't make it look easy. I've been working my butt off right.

Chris Furlong: 13:43

But at the same time, we have to bring ourselves back to being humble and understanding that some of the things that we do today in our daily life, you know what's, which is taken us maybe 10 years to do, we need to not take it for granted. We need to bring back some humility and understand that. Okay, other people looking in they might not understand that. You know, what I did today was not an overnight success, but 10 years in the making, for instance. So, and helping people understand that, but also letting other people run wild because they might be working. When I say run wild, run past you, they're working just as hard as you and wanting just as much as you, so let them. Let them do that, which kind of also then reflects to lesson number nine, which is stay focused on your goals. Right, focus on your goals.

Chris Furlong: 14:26

Right, there's going to be ups and downs, there's going to be things that pop up, but but Jordan, you know he, through his process of ups and downs, he stayed focused on his own individual goals. So when we look at that, you know we shouldn't let distractions or setbacks to tourists. There will be distractions and there will be setbacks. That's, that's a note, that's it's going to happen, right, that's. Regardless of what you think, there will be issues like that that arise. So we need to figure out how do we manage that, how do we work through that? But how do we stay determined and continue to give our best effort each step of the way? That is the challenge. But when we stay focused, resilient, through those challenges, the rollercoasters, you know whether it's running a business, pursuing a goal, life, loved ones, friends, family, whatever it may be, work.

Chris Furlong: 15:16

There's so many ups and downs, but can you push through, which then leads to the final lesson, and there's actually a lot more things that I'm going to go through after this, lesson number 10. So don't, don't, don't think we're finishing up yet. But lesson 10 is to leave fear behind. So Jordan reminds us that limits, like fears, are often just illusions. Right, there are things that we put up in place to either enable us to not push forward, to hold ourselves back, but when we let go of the fear, it enables us to step outside of our comfort zone and enables us to put the data side and we can embrace the unknown and actually move forwards into a new opportunity of being able to transform into a better version of ourselves. Being able to transform into a better version of ourselves.

Chris Furlong: 15:59

Now, I'm not here to sound all la, la la. I don't even know what that means, but like I'm not here to, you know, make it's, you know, use big words or anything like that, but this is the reality, right, every time I go for a long run Like I have so much doubt that I couldn't be home, I'm gonna be able to do it, whatever it doesn't work. But get out there, push through it, work through it, take each challenge as it comes and you get it done. You get it done. And even though that I've done this maybe Fifty, sixty times, I still have to work through that process and leave the fear at the door and go out there and Hit the ground running like literally. So if we conclude on those, you know 10 lessons if we recap on them.

Chris Furlong: 16:43

Michael Jordan he teaches us that we desire, with action, with dedication, that we can achieve greatness. I mean, he did it, so why can't we now? He was an outlier, but he was motivated. He was more determined than anyone. Right? We should let these lessons inspire us, but also challenges, on our own journey as we continue to try and Figure out what we're trying, wanting and trying to do right, as we try to figure out and unleashing our full potential. Our full potential won't come quickly. Our full potential will continue to grow and be bigger and better in terms of possibilities, because we continue to learn and grow Soon. As you stop learning, as soon as you stop growing, that possibility diminishes instantly, right? So I think there is more things that I want to cover, right, like there's an important, like we're covered 10 lessons here.

Chris Furlong: 17:33

But I went through and I deliberately did this. I went through and I pulled out a few other little points that I think that maybe we might have missed. Right, and I've written them down. There's the importance of mentors and obviously Michael Jordan he would have had coaches think his coach was kind of the guy's name If it's in my notes, I think it was Phil Jackson. I could be wrong, but you know that mentorship, that ability to be coached, to be taught, to have guidance, mentorship that enables us to unlock more potential.

Chris Furlong: 18:04

There's the whole element of a mental game, right, I mean he was on a different level. Right, his mindset and his mental resilience is what set him apart. But there's so many other likely techniques or strategies for developing mental strength. Right, we all have to understand what that is for ourselves like. For me, I've been able to pretty good resilience for my running. But there's other areas where I struggle with, right, some people do meditation, some people do yoga, some people find what it is to build their mental game.

Chris Furlong: 18:34

The other thing that I found was you know, he kind of touched on it was his balance for practical passion, right. So, like he had a big passion for basketball and that's what in, that's what drove him, obviously. But he also had this balance between passion and pursuing dreams, right. So it's. It's. Look at this way, so you want to leverage these things. I kind of talked about it with joy, like if you, if you love something a lot and you're able to, and you're really good at doing it as well you're able to leverage that to enable you to grow quickly, right, but you don't want to saturate yourself so much that you get burnt out and what you love is no longer what you want, because you've started to dislike it, because you've burnt yourself out. So you need to have that fine balance of seeking joy from it, but also seeking progress from it as well.

Chris Furlong: 19:24

I think some of the other things is building a winning team. You know he obviously had a big role to play in teamwork and collaboration, and I think you know, obviously not. I'm not talking about business here or anything. I'm saying like build the entourage of people around you that are going to help you get to where you want to be, but also help them right, help each other. Like the people that are around you. I definitely going to rub off on you. So you want to make sure that the people that are influencing you and encouraging you is what you want in your life.

Chris Furlong: 19:52

And I think the final one is like legacy, right? I mean, if we, if we look at Michael Jordan and see what he's done, I mean he's left a huge legacy. He continues to do. So. There's lessons. We've just spoken about them, but think about how we can apply the same understanding, the same principles, and what legacy are we leaving? Right? What lasting impact are we leaving?

Chris Furlong: 20:13

There was a quote that I use the other week. It wasn't a quote, it was a statement and it was talking about like you know, when all this is over, like if you, if something happened to you today, you know who's going to remember what you did? Who are you going impact? Is it just your loved ones? Of course it's going to impact your loved ones, but who else is going to know? Is it going to affect anyone? And it's not about that.

Chris Furlong: 20:34

Yes, you want to have the biggest impact on so many people, but the reality is it's like we, we're doing all these things for a reason. Are you doing it for yourself, which is fine, that's fine, do it for yourself, but at the same time, is there something that we can do for a greater purpose? Can you have a greater ability to influence or help other people? Right? Because, at the end of the day, yes, it's your life. You get to do what you want to do, but we have the opportunity to also help other people, to make a difference in other people's lives, and I think it's important that, though we want to pursue greatness talking to myself here as well let's make sure that we're helping others On that journey to and we're leaving a positive impact wherever we go, and a positive influence, and we want we want that to be something of passive, but we can do it, you know, going out and doing it intently and directly as well.

Chris Furlong: 21:29

Look a lot to unpack there, michael Jordan, you know if, how, who and what has Michael Jordan done for you? Right, you know? Like, has he influenced you? Has he encouraged you? Have you been inspired by him? Maybe there's someone else, right, you know, and I would encourage you go find whoever it is that You've been inspired by and actually start to dig into their life. Understand what is it that's motivated you, what is it that's encourage you? What is it that you know why you look up to them so much and see how you can pull those things and use them to fuel you know whatever it is you're trying to achieve? Because Because a lot of the time, look, they're people that we speak about all the time, like these celebrities or people that have achieved great success or whatever, but until we actually look through and understand what did they do, you might actually realize you're doing a lot of this already and the difference is it's like they've been doing this for 40 years. You've only been over two, right. So I think I think that's something that we really need to consider. That timeline, that journey timeline and I said that you know you can't compare yourself to someone that's already finished Right, all been on the journey for a very, very long time.

Chris Furlong: 22:33

Appreciate being here. If you've got any questions, comments, check them down below. If you are here on the YouTube can drop a comment, and otherwise, you know you can reach out on socials and let's, let's continue the conversation. I do also have speak pipe dot com. Slash further your lifestyle. We can leave a voicemail of sorts and I can integrate that into the podcast and have a conversation. Otherwise, yet, let's, let's connect. Also, also, before you go, one more thing if you can share this podcast, whether it's this episode or a different episode, that would mean the absolute world to me and it actually makes a huge difference and you know to get this in front of other people that might not have known that's what they needed to hear. So if this resonated with you, or any episode resonated with you, share that with whoever that person may be, and tell them why you think it could be good for them to have a listen to it. Appreciate being here. You have a wonderful day. Cheers.