While both had superstar careers, they had different strategies to success.
Shaq worked hard enough to be better than his peers.
Kobe worked to be the best version of himself.
Both wanted championships but each had a different benchmark.
Shaq was motivated externally and Kobe was motivated internally.
Shaq hated practice and his free throw average got worse in the last half of his career. But he points to his numbers being better than anyone else. He was limited by his lack of competitors.
Kobe was always improving because it was only himself he was competing against.
Simon Sinek tells the story about how he gave presentations at both Apple and Microsoft. Microsoft’s executives talked about how they were going to beat Apple. But Apple only talked about making the best product they could.
The problem with external motivators is once they are removed, so is the motivation. Internal motivation can be a limitless resource.
Which one will you plug into?
