I played competitive basketball throughout my childhood years.

Like many kids, I looked up to the greats for inspiration, one of whom was Kobe Bryant.

I don’t fully share his mindset or the famous Mamba mentality (and maybe that’s for the best), but I deeply admire his focus and work ethic. Few could match him in those areas.

Once a month, I revisit these two quotes from Kobe:

“I had a purpose: I wanted to be one of the best basketball players who ever played. Anything else was outside of that lane. I didn’t have time for it.”

“I want to see if I can. I don’t know if I can. I want to find out. I’m going to do what I always do: break it down to its smallest form, smallest detail, and go after it. Day by day, one day at a time.”

From these quotes, two key ingredients of Kobe’s success stand out: laser focus and unbreakable commitment.

Once a year, I rewatch the full interview. It always hits differently.