How To Be Like Mike In Entrepreneurship?

“I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I’ve been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.”
Michael Jordan

Born in 1963, Michael Jordan grew amidst the poverty in the slums of Brooklyn, New York. However, that could not hold him back to carve a niche for himself in Basketball Sports with his unparalleled determination, commitment, skill level and passion. As a role model, his life lessons and attitude towards his life and sports continue to inspire sportspersons and entrepreneurs alike. The way he managed to optimize his potential to the fullest, has to offer a lot in terms of learning about life and leadership. Here is one of the most inspirational stories of his life that deliver a powerful lesson that how to enhance our value. 

“Michael Jordan had four siblings and his father’s earnings were not sufficient to provide for the whole family.

He grew up in a poor neighbourhood. Exposed to mindless violence and heavy discrimination in the slums, he saw for himself only a hopeless future.

His father saw in Michael, a lost soul and decided to do something.

He gave Michael, who was 13 years old, a piece of used clothing and asked: “What do you think the value of this outfit would be?”

Jordan replied, “Maybe one dollar.”

His father asked, “Can you sell it for two dollars? If you can sell it, it would mean that you are a big help to your family.”

Jordan nodded his head, “I’ll try, but no guarantee that I’ll be successful.”

Jordan carefully washed the cloth clean. Because they didn’t have an iron, to smoothen the cloth, he levelled it with a clothes brush on a flat board, then kept it in the sun to dry. The next day, he brought the clothes to a crowded underground station. After offering it for more than six hours. Jordan finally managed to sell it for $2. He took the two-dollar bill and ran home.

After that, every day he looked for used clothing, washed and ironed it, and sold it in the crowd.

More than ten days later, his father again gave him a piece of used clothing, “Can you think of a way you can sell this for 20 bucks?”

Aghast, Jordan said, “How is it possible? This outfit can only fetch two dollars at the most.”

His father replied, “Why don’t you try it first? There might be a way.”

After breaking his head for a few hours, finally, Jordan got an idea.

He asked for his cousin’s help to paint a picture of Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse on the garment. Then he tried to sell it in the school where the children of the rich study.

Soon a housekeeper, who was there to pick his master, bought that outfit for his master. The master was a little boy of only 10 years. He loved it so much and he gave a five-dollar tip. 25 dollars was a huge amount for Jordan, the equivalent of a month’s salary of his father.

When he got home, his father gave him yet another piece of used clothing. “Are you able to resell it at 200 dollars?” Jordan’s eyes lit up.

This time, Jordan accepted the clothes without the slightest doubt. Two months later a popular movie actress from the movie “Charlie’s Angels”, Farah Fawcett came to New York for her Movie promos. After the press conference, Jordan made his way through the security forces to reach the side of Farah Fawcett and requested her autograph on the piece of clothing. When Fawcett saw this innocent child asking for her autograph, she gladly signed it.

Jordan was shouting very excitedly, “This is a jersey signed by Miss Farah Fawcett, the selling price is 200 dollars!” He auctioned off the clothes, to a businessman for a price of 1,200 dollars!

Upon returning home, his father by broke into TEARS and said, “I am amazed that you did it, My child! You’re really great! “

That night, Jordan slept alongside his father. His father said, “Son, in your experience selling these three pieces of clothing, what did you learn about success?”

Jordan replied, “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.”

His father nodded his head, then shook his head, “What you say is not entirely wrong! But that was not my intention. I just wanted to show you that a piece of used clothing which is worth only a dollar can also be increased in value, Then how about us – living & thinking humans? We may be darker and poorer, but what if we CAN increase our VALUE.”

This thought enlightened young Jordan. Even a piece of used clothing could be made dignified, then why not me? There is absolutely no reason to underestimate me.

From then on, Michael Jordan felt that his future would be beautiful and full of hope.” 

Fast forward, he became one of the greatest basketball players of all times. 

Now let’s look at his life lessons and learning from the entrepreneurship mode to decode the greatest entrepreneurship success secret codes. 

Try 

“I can accept failure but I can’t accept not trying.”

When it comes to entrepreneurship, we all know that it involves risk. There may be people discouraging you that it will never work but the million-dollar question is how would you know whether it will work or not until you do not “TRY”. If your heart refuses to settle for ordinary, keep your apprehensions aside and give your dreams at least one try. 

Keep Fear At Bay

Michael Jordan once aptly quoted “I know fear is an obstacle for some people, but it’s an illusion to me.”

Once you have embarked on your dream entrepreneurial journey, obstacles will come. That time, all you need to do is hold onto your dreams while being consistent in what you have been doing. 

Solution-focused Approach

“If you’re trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I’ve had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don’t have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don’t turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.”

It is natural to hit a roadblock during your entrepreneurial journey. That will be the time when rather than panicking, you need to adopt a solution-focused approach. Remember the drive that inspired you to pursue your dream. 

Attitude Is Everything

“Always turn a negative situation into a positive situation.”

Staying positive no matter what the situation is one of the greatest qualities of an entrepreneur. With experience comes expertise in transforming all negative situation into positive ones but to garner that experience, you need to keep going in your entrepreneurial journey. 

Do not lose focus

“The game has its ups and downs, but you can never lose focus of your individual goals and you can’t let yourself be beaten because of lack of effort.”

There will always be some or other distraction in your life. There will be minor or major setbacks in the form of failures and non-healthy opinions of people will lead to discouragement if you would lose focus from your visions. On the other hand, if you continue to stay true to your vision without allowing the outside world to affect your vision, you will be a winner. 

Create A Dream Team

“If you think and achieve as a team, the individual accolades will take care of themselves. Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.”

When it comes to entrepreneurship, no one can deny the significance of having a great team. A lot hinges on the leadership quality of an entrepreneur because then only it becomes possible to extract the best out of human assets. Winning 6 championships by Michael Jordan speaks volume of his incredible leadership traits. How he teamed up with Scottie Pippen to win the championships has to teach a lot in terms of empowering our team to achieve their full potential while you achieve yours. 

In a nutshell, you require trusting your entrepreneurial instincts while being true to your entrepreneurial dreams then only the dreams will be true to you. If you try to achieve any shortcut, then entrepreneurship will shortcut you. 

Whether in business, basketball or life, you get what you put in. 

It is time to reflect on the success mindset of Michael Jordan to learn how to fast track your entrepreneurial success. 

After reading the awe-inspiring story of this brilliant former American Basketball player, I certainly came up with intriguing creative ideas to enhance my value. I am sure, you too, will. Let us know in comments that did you come across any creative idea related to enhancing your value in your entrepreneur, personal or professional life?