Video summary
The video begins with a simple yet revealing exercise where the speaker asks viewers to switch their hand positions from one side of their face to the other as quickly as possible. While the task seems basic, many struggle to execute it perfectly without hesitation or error, illustrating that simplicity in concept does not equate to ease in execution. This serves as a metaphor for life and business, where true success depends on flawless execution rather than just having a good idea. The speaker emphasizes that consistency alone is insufficient; one must be consistently doing the right things with high quality. Merely repeating actions without attention to form or feedback can lead to reinforcing bad habits, which is why stopping practice before fatigue sets in is crucial for maintaining precision.
Kyle Korver's approach to shooting provides a prime example of prioritizing quality over quantity. Instead of shooting until exhaustion, Korver would stop his workouts the moment his form began to break down or his footwork became sloppy due to mental and physical fatigue. His philosophy was clear: he did not want to get good at bad shooting. This mindset ensures that every repetition counts and contributes to skill development rather than ingraining errors. The speaker connects this to the concept of deliberate practice, arguing that simply logging hours, as suggested by the popular "10,000-hour rule," is not enough. True mastery requires a feedback loop where individuals can measure their improvement, correct mistakes in real-time, and focus intensely on specific fundamentals rather than going through the motions casually.
The discussion then shifts to defining what winning looks like before attempting to achieve it, a lesson the speaker attributes to Kobe Bryant. Kobe taught that excellence comes from never getting bored with the basics and relentlessly working toward mastery of fundamental building blocks in any chosen domain, whether it be speaking, writing, fitness, or parenting. By first defining what success means in a specific area and then identifying the few core fundamentals that drive results, individuals can simplify their path to excellence. This approach was also used by the Queens men's basketball team, who identified four key statistics that determined game outcomes and focused every practice session on improving those specific areas. When executed with high quality, this focus led to a 98% winning rate, demonstrating that success is not guaranteed by time spent but by the deliberate and consistent refinement of essential skills during unseen hours.
Ultimately, the video concludes that sustainable success requires hyperfocus on a few critical fundamentals rather than spreading effort thinly across many tasks or relying on the illusion that consistency guarantees results. The speaker warns against overoptimizing for consistency at the expense of competence, noting that one can consistently do the wrong thing and move in the opposite direction of their goals. True growth happens when individuals are open to feedback, willing to course-correct immediately, and dedicated to perfecting the basics until they become second nature. By simplifying success and aiming for excellence in the foundational elements of any endeavor, people can achieve mastery and avoid the pitfalls of complacency or bad habits that often derail long-term progress.
Read the full video transcript
I'm going to give you basic instructions
right now for a very basic task. I'm
gonna have you try a mindbody connection
exercise that I've done with the best
basketball players in the world. And I
want to see how you all stack up. So,
I'm going to give you very basic [music]
instructions for a very basic task.
Right now, all you need are your hands
free. So, if you can set down your your
devices, set down your beverages, set
down your pins. I just need your hands
free. Basic instructions, basic task. I
want you to take your left hand. I want
you to put it on your nose. I want you
to take your right hand and wrap it
around and put it on your left ear. And
it's okay if you feel foolish. You
should see what you look like from up
here. When I say go, as fast as you can,
clap your hands twice and make the
mirror image of that. You'll end up with
your right hand on your nose and your
left hand on your right ear. Go.
[laughter]
Oh man.
Please put your hands down. As you guys
can see, just because something is basic
in premise doesn't mean that it's easy
to execute. And in basketball, in life,
but absolutely in business, execution is
the name of the game. And I want you to
either write this down or take a picture
of this slide. Complexity undermines
[music]
execution.
Consistency is one of those necessary
traits for success, but it's also it
also doesn't guarantee success. No. And
that's one of the hardest things about
[music] consistency. One of the lowest
points for me with this podcast was in
the winter time I had when I started it,
I'd said, "I'm going to publish three
episodes a week for 6 months straight so
I can get good at interviewing." And
that's the one thing [music] I wanted to
do cuz that's what Chris Williamson did.
Yes. In his early days, and I'd done
what you had said, I went back. So, I
did that. And after a year of
publishing, I after three episodes a
week, I realized that
>> I still wasn't where I wanted to be. And
consistency [music]
was one thing I was doing, but I wasn't
consistently getting better.
>> And I'd overoptimized [music] for
consistency. And I think that's another
mistake that someone that's a little
above zero but not close to 100 has m
can make where they think consistency
guarantees success. But no, consistent
doesn't guarantee success. Well,
first let's go ahead and make sure we're
on [music] the same page that nothing
guarantees success, that there is no
guarantee. And the that the
understanding, the acknowledgement, and
the surrender to the fact that nothing
guarantees [music] success, I think is
important. One of the things I had heard
Kyle Kyle Corver say was that he didn't
necessarily have a time limit on his
shooting workouts. He would basically
shoot until, and then he had a little
pause. He said until his form started to
break down or his footwork started to
get sloppy based on fatigue. And the
[music] reason that he stopped then was
he didn't want to get repetitions of
doing things with incorrect form or with
bad footwork. [music] And his
terminology was I don't want to get good
at bad shooting.
>> And I just absolutely love that. So he
realized that, you know, maybe it's an
hour, maybe it's 90 minutes, but at some
point mental and physical fatigue would
cause him to be a little bit sloppy on
his shooting form and on his footwork.
[music] And that's when he would pull
the plug because he wanted to make sure
that he was only getting in high
quality, [music] perfectly executed and
precise repetitions. It's not just
consistency. It's consistency in doing
things right [music] and correct. It's
consistency in being open to feedback in
real time so that you can actually
course correct and make little
adjustments. So, you know, [music] one
of the the things that I think uh
unfortunately has been very misconstrued
is this 10,000 [music] hour rule that
that Malcolm Gladwell kind of brought to
the masses uh in Outliers. Um, and there
was this concept that if you do
something for [music] 10,000 hours,
you'll be pretty good at it. I mean,
that's that's the the the summary of it.
But what a lot of folks haven't [music]
understood is that's not just 10,000
casual hours. That's not just 10,000
hours of going through the motions. It's
not just putting in the time card. It's
[music] 10,000 hours of deliberate
practice where there's actually a
feedback loop where you can measure if
you're making improvement. [music] So,
going back to to you doing those
podcasts now, on some level, my guess is
just doing that many interviews, you
will get better at interviewing the
skill of active listening, you know, but
you might not get as better at it as
quickly [music]
as if you had some type of feedback
loop. if maybe you had a coach that
[music] has done, you know, a 100,000
interviews and could sit back and watch
each interview with you after [music]
and point out some things that you you
could consider or if you went back and
watched the film yourself so that you
could pick some of those things out.
[music] Those types of steps would then
make it deliberate practice and would
would make sure that your consistency is
compounding [music] with competence,
which is then how you'll you'll get
better quicker. So, it's not a matter of
just logging hours or being casual. It's
[music] being hyperfocused and very
specific and deliberate with what it is
that you're trying to be consistent
with. That's I'm so glad that you
brought that up because you're right,
consistency [music] in and of itself,
you could be consistently doing the
wrong thing over and over and you're
going to [music] start working in the
other direction. So, I'm I'm really glad
that you brought that brought that up.
>> Yeah. And from my understanding with
your work, you should also be
consistently focused on the few things
that really do matter and guarantee your
success. Yeah,
>> there's a story about uh a college team
and there was a few qualities that
guaranteed or not guaranteed but 98%
chance of winning. Can you explain that
story to me?
>> Yeah, absolutely. So, yes, we have to
figure out what are the the prime movers
and for me it all stems back to 2007
when [music] I met Kobe Bryant for the
first time and and he said something
that fundamentally changed my life. He
said, "The reason I'm the best player in
the world is cuz I [music] never get
bored with the basics. I continue to
work towards mastery of the basic
building blocks and I've extrapolated
[music] that out and and applied that to
every area of my life. So I pick a
domain that I'm aiming for excellence
in. It could be uh keynote speaking, it
could be writing, it could be my own
physical fitness, it could be being a
father, but I figure out what's an area
that I want to improve [music] in and I
want to aim for excellence. And the very
first thing I do is I define well what
does winning [music] look like in this?
What does being an excellent father look
like? What does being in excellent shape
as a 50-year-old man look like? What
does [music] being excellent keynote
speaker look like? And I I decide what
winning looks like. And that is
completely up to me. That's not up to
anybody else. So I decide what winning
looks like or what success [music] looks
like. Then the very next question I ask
is what are the basic building blocks or
the [music] fundamentals that if I stick
to these and work on these relentlessly
and consistently and improve in, it will
lead me to the path of excellence or
winning in this area. [music] So, in
other words, what are the four or five
basic fundamentals that I need to do to
be the best father I'm capable of, to be
the best keynote speaker I can be, to be
[music] as fit as I can be as a
50-year-old man. And I figure out what
those building blocks are, those
fundamentals, and then I go heads down
and [music] consistently work on those
things every single day during the
unseen [music] hours, during the scene
hours. But I focus on those basic
building blocks cuz I [music] believe if
I can make drastic improvement in those
fundamental building blocks, then the
only byproduct possible is going to be
what I've considered winning [music] or
excellence or success in that area. And
and you had asked about the the Queens
men's basketball program. [music] That's
basically what they did. They figured
out that there were four key statistics
that would determine whether or not they
would win the game. And then they just
made sure that everything they did came
down [music] to improving those four
areas of the game. Made sure every
workout, every practice, every film
session always focused on those four
things because [music] as you said, if
they did those four things at a high
level and executed those four things
with excellence. In their case, they won
98% of [music] their games, which is a
pretty good winning percentage. But but
but that means if they don't do those
[music] four things or don't execute,
then the chance of winning goes down
significantly. So for me it's all about
simplifying success, focusing on the
basics and the fundamentals [music] and
working towards mastery of those and and
you can be good at at anything.