Quote of the Day: Michael Jordan on Success

Notice the word because. Not “after,” not “in spite of,” not even “alongside.” Because is a claim of causality, a refusal to let failure be a stain you hide and a decision to treat it as the engine that drives mastery: “I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.”

Most of us don’t fear failing once; we fear the echo of it. Jordan’s “over and over and over” isn’t decoration, it’s the rhythm of real progress, the clang of honest attempts. The point isn’t to romanticize failure. It’s to normalize repeated exposure to it, so you stop negotiating with your comfort every time the work gets loud.

Application is simple, not easy: convert misses into information. When something doesn’t work, don’t ask, “What does this say about me?” Ask, “What does this reveal about the system?” Then adjust one variable, your timing, your preparation, your pitch, your practice, and run the next rep. That’s resilience in its most practical form: embarrassment is a sensation, not an identity.

Michael Jordan earned the right to say this. His championships, game-winning shots, and relentless standards weren’t built on myth; they were built on volume, thousands of unglamorous repetitions where “missing” was treated as tuition.

Today, pick one arena where you’ve been playing not to lose, an email you’re avoiding, a workout you’re postponing, a conversation you’re rehearsing in your head, and take a deliberately imperfect shot within the next 30 minutes. Record what happened, write one sentence about what you’ll change next time, and schedule the next attempt. Let success become a habit, not a headline, may you earn your progress honestly and keep going.