More on this book
Community
Kindle Notes & Highlights
Read between
June 9 - June 26, 2021
It doesn’t matter what you get handed, it’s what you do after you receive it that affords you the privilege of saying, “I did this on my own.” If you get that gift and decide you’re all set, you stand no chance—zero—of ever understanding greatness or excellence. Now you’re the opposite of unstoppable. You stopped all on your own.
You cannot understand what it means to be relentless until you have struggled to possess something that’s just out of your reach.
Only when you’re truly relentless can you understand the determination to keep pursuing a target that never stops moving.
he learned the hard way that there’s not a magazine cover or a parade that can help you when you’re not prepared.
People who start at the top never understand what they missed at the bottom.
People quit their workouts and diets because they’re too hard. They stop advancing in their careers and lives because it’s too much work.
He didn’t work on being flashy, he worked on being consistent, and he worked on it relentlessly.
Ask yourself honestly, what would you have to sacrifice to have what you really want? Your social life? Relationships? Credit cards? Free time? Sleep? Now answer this question: What are you willing to sacrifice? If those two lists don’t match up, you don’t want it badly enough.
When you use your body for a living, you have one job and it requires one thing: work hard to stay in peak condition.
his body allowed him to keep going when most athletes would have had to sit.
In anything you do, it takes no talent to work hard. You just have to want to do it.
Part of the commitment to hard work is knowing what you have to give up to do the work . . . learning to control whatever pulls you away from your mission.
Trust me: privilege is a poison unless you know how to manage it.
Being unstoppable makes you an icon. And being unstoppable only comes with hard work.
But for now, your body is your tool, that’s what’s allowing you to do your job and get a contract and pay all these bills.
You show up to work ready to go, you face adversity and your critics and those who judge you, you step into the Zone and perform at that top level when everyone is expecting you to falter. That’s being a professional.
Neglecting your body and your skill . . . not professional.
Sorry, there’s no off-season when you’re serious about being a winner.
Do the work. There is no privilege greater than the pressure to excel, and no greater reward than earning the respect and fear of others who can only stand in awe of your results.
a Cleaner wants to beat you when you’re at your best, not when you’re standing there without the ball.
But heaven help you if you choose to freeze out a true Cleaner; he sees what you’re doing, and he’ll never forget. Because when you’re the best of the best, someone is always going to try to catch you, and you love watching them try.
A Cleaner is feared, and then respected for doing exactly what everyone feared he’d do.
He will make no effort to get you to like him; he doesn’t care. But he’ll do everything possible—and succeed—to make sure you fear him.
Fear and respect: let them know you were there by your actions, not your words or emotions. You don’t have to be loud to be the focus of attention.
A Cleaner has no need to announce his presence; you’ll know he’s there by the way he carries himself, always cool and confident.
he’s the quiet guy focused on results, because results are all that matter.
When people start broadcasting what they’re going to do, and how great they’re going to be when they do it, it’s a sure sign they’re still trying to convince themselves.
If you already know, you don’t have to talk about it. Talk never goes up in price, it’s always free, and you usually get what you pay for.
That’s how you intimidate your opponents without saying a single word.
Everyone else’s skills didn’t just suddenly improve. But their mental focus did.
they sometimes forget that respect isn’t just about what you can do physically; you have to be able to perform intellectually and mentally as well. The way you conduct yourself in all areas of your life, your ability to show intelligence and class and self-control . . . those are the things that separate you from the rest of the pack.
It was the toughest ticket in the history of Chicago sports, and every night was like the Oscars.
That’s how you earn respect. Excellence in everything. Now you’re not just another high-paid athlete, you’re a class act.
You don’t need a $3,000 suit, go to Walmart and buy three for $100, but come back looking like a man, not a kid who got kicked out of school.
When you’re the guy at the top, you show others how to act, you don’t drop down to their level. You command respect and make them measure up to your standards, not the other way around.
Coolers are nice; they compensate for their competitive deficiencies by being likable.
When you’re completely focused on one thing—your craft—it’s hard to pay attention to other people.
You don’t care about being liked, you care about getting what you want. Not a great way to make and keep friends. But the only way to be truly relentless.
Kobe rarely goes out with teammates, he’d rather work out or watch game film. And he’d much rather have your respect than your friendship. Michael was the same,
You can’t get to the top without stepping on some people, but a Cleaner knows where to step without leaving footprints, because you never know when you may need those people again.
they let their results do the talking.
I want to be noticed for the excellence of my work, that’s all.
To me, it means nothing when people say they “like” you. Like is average. It leaves no impact, no heat, nothing memorable. It’s like being “nice” . . . it’s just okay. But it’s a million miles from respect, admiration, trust, and an instinctive connection and understanding that you’re on the same wavelength and share the same objective.
Truly!
Cleaner Law: the same guy who is worshipped as a cutthroat competitor is also the guy most likely to be called an asshole by everyone around him.
Take it as a sign that you’re doing something right, because if you’re truly focused on winning, you’re not concerned with friendship or compassion or loyalty, you’re not worried about how others will judge you. You know what people say about you, and it just drives you harder. Let them hate you; it only shows their weakness and emotion and makes you more powerful. You don’t need friends; your friends need you. You know whom you can trust . . . and they’d better never let you down.
In the world of Cleaners, if you can’t be trusted, you’re gone.
A Cleaner can count on few people, and if you’re one of them, it means you’ve earned it. If you’re not, watch your back. A Cleaner never forgives. Or forgets.
You have to surround yourself with people who can operate at your level of demanding excellence. You can’t be unstoppable, or even great, if you can’t do that. And it’s probably the hardest thing for a Cleaner to do.
A hammer can destroy or it can build; a knife in the wrong hands can kill you, but in a doctor’s hands it can heal you.
When someone is constantly changing everyone around him, the problem usually isn’t those being replaced; more likely, the problem lies with the guy who can’t figure out what he needs and wants.
