Michael Jordan's lessons on success and deliberate practice

The difference between hard work and real improvement

🏷️ Categories: Goals, Continuous improvement, Motivation, Deliberate practice.

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The problem with success is that we only see the final result.

We only remember the championships, the trophies, the buzzer-beaters. We rarely think about the countless failures, defeats, and stumbles that came before those moments of glory. Behind every achievement lie years of quiet work, invisible sacrifices, and an internal struggle against doubt and fear.

Michael Jordan is a great example.

He’s considered by many to be the greatest basketball player of all time, remembered for his 6 NBA rings, his impossible shots, and his iron mindset. But that’s not the whole story — that’s just the pretty part, the part people remember…

“I’ve missed more than 9,000 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 (Goldman & Papson, 1998).

He never let failure discourage him. On the contrary, it was motivation to improve.

Sometimes, we work hard toward our goals, but failure makes us doubt ourselves. Our confidence shakes, and we feel like all that effort was for nothing.

But that’s not true.

Mistakes are a natural part of the journey, and discipline will keep you moving forward.

You’ll see that all your efforts did matter…

No path is straight and smooth

Michael Jordan didn’t become a legend just because of talent.

In fact, during his second year of high school, he didn’t even make the varsity basketball team. Coach Clifton Herring decided not to include him (Vera, 2019). Imagine that: the greatest player of all time, rejected when he was young. He could’ve accepted defeat and found a new passion — clearly, basketball wasn’t for him…

But he didn’t.

Instead of giving up, that rejection motivated him to work on his skills. He trained hard. Improved every day. And the following year, he tried out again, made the team, and became the undisputed star. But he didn’t stop there.

There was still room to improve.

His story follows the same pattern again and again: failures turned into fuel.

In the NBA, the Detroit Pistons crushed him in the playoffs for several years (1988, 1989, and 1990). He couldn’t win. But those obstacles didn’t slow him down — they fired him up. He came back stronger, faster, with an unstoppable shot. In 1991, the Bulls swept the Pistons and began their reign in the NBA (StatMuse).

The same thing happened with his missed shots.

Over 9,000 missed shots in his career. But also 32,292 points scored. Missing is normal, and each mistake is a chance to learn. That’s the key to progress.

Use mistakes to improve.

Discipline is crucial

We often think everything comes down to talent and luck.

That it’s all about being born with the right genes, living in the right place, and talking to the right people. And while all that plays a role, it’s not the full picture. When starting conditions are similar, two key factors make the difference:

Discipline and deliberate practice.

Jordan made the most of every practice. He pushed himself consciously to get used to real pressure. So when real-game challenges came, he’d already lived through those moments thousands of times.

That mindset applies to any area.

To be a writer, the key isn’t writing once in a while or waiting for inspiration. It’s writing every day. And when the words don’t come out, not giving up. That’s the perfect time to focus on other projects — editing, reading, and finding ideas.

Never stopping, and acting with intention, is vital in anything you do.

The importance of deliberate practice

There’s 1 crucial difference between working a lot and actually improving: intention.

Someone who just repeats an action without reflecting on their mistakes will hardly improve. That’s why deliberate practice is essential: repeating a skill with full focus, analyzing mistakes, and correcting them in real time.

Imagine two basketball players practicing their shot for an hour:

• Player A takes 200 shots, tracks how many he misses, records himself while shooting, and after every miss, analyzes what went wrong and adjusts his technique.

• Player B takes 50 shots, takes long breaks, and chats with friends between shots. He doesn’t record himself or track any stats.

They both practiced for an hour, but only one actually improved.

Player A has clear intentions to get better — Player B does not. This principle applies to everything: a writer who analyzes their texts, fixes flaws, and makes the most of every hour will progress far more than someone who just “writes to write.”

Real improvement doesn’t come from blind repetition but from paying attention to the process.

How to apply it in your life

Most people want quick results. But patience is the key.

One of the most powerful examples I’ve heard is Mozart. He’s considered a piano prodigy, started playing at age 4, and composed his first piece that same year. He wrote over 600 pieces in his lifetime. Incredible, right?

How many years do you think he lived to write that much?

He lived only 35 years — but he played piano for 30 of them.

He may have been a prodigy, but without a doubt, he was disciplined.

Michael Jordan didn’t become the best in a year either. Both worked hard for a long time and paid close attention to what they did. That’s vital.

I’m not special.

I don’t have extraordinary talent.

But I’ve been writing here for over a year, and I’ll keep showing up. Not because I have an innate gift for writing, but because I believe in discipline — in small, daily efforts that add up over the years and create real results.

And you can adopt this mindset too.

Daily life isn’t usually dazzling — trust me. In fact, failure is common. A rough start and being ignored is normal, even Gabriel Garcia Marquez went through it. Likewise, Jordan didn’t make his high school team the first time, but he kept going. Not everyone will go down in history as the best, but we can still achieve great things.

Luckily, just one focused hour a day leads to major results over time.

So the key question is…

Are you focused on what you’re trying to achieve?

✍️ Your turn: How could you improve your daily practice to reach your goals? Reflect on ways to measure, assess, and plan your progress.

💭 Quote of the day: “It’s not necessarily the amount of time you spend at practice that counts; it’s what you put into the practice.” — Eric Lindros

See you next time! 👋

References 📚

1. Dallas Symphony Orchestra. (2022, 4 mayo). Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. URL

2. Daniels, A. (2009, 21 julio). Expert Performance URL

3. Goldman, R., & Papson, S. (1998). Nike Culture: The Sign of the Swoosh.

4. Vera, A. (2019, 13 diciembre). Michael Jordan’s high school basketball coach, Clifton ‘Pop’ Herring, dead at 67. CNN. URL

5. StatMuse. Michael Jordan Playoff win loss record vs Detroit Pistons URL