What Does it Take To Be The Greatest Of All Time? Here’s What I Learned From Studying GOAT Athletes

A lot of people assume that greatness is reserved for a certain kind of person or industry and this couldn’t be more false. I think particularly when we hear the word GOAT (greatest of all time), we think of athletes because these are the people we know devote an insane amount of time to their craft. That being said, I feel like athletes are a good reference point when trying to figure out how to be great in any field or industry.

I heavily admire people that work hard on their craft. So, I LOVE going to “GOAT mountain” because you could learn a lot by observing what the best of the best did.

You don’t have to reinvent the wheel. If you want to be GOATED, you look at what people like Kobe Bryant, Tom Brady, Tiger Woods, etc did and by doing this, what you realize is every single one of these GOATs has almost the exact same story / process when it comes to achieving greatness. The best part? You can apply those principles to any area regardless of industry. Different game, same rules. I love that and geek out about it all the time.

So what do all the GOAT athletes have in common?

Mindset

They ALL share the same exact mentality, they ALL had this unbelievable belief in themselves and their ability to overcome any obstacles.

Striving for greatness

They weren’t striving to be “good” or mediocre athletes, no, they were striving to be great from the jump. They weren’t okay with being average or being comfortable. They were strategic, analytical and organized with their approach to reaching greatness, they didn’t leave it up to chance.

Crystal clear goals

They had very clear defined goals and they refused to settle. Anything that was outside of their goals, they did not have time for.

Relentless work ethic

They were willing to dedicate an enormous amount of time to getting better at their craft. The absurdity amount of time these people dedicated to their craft is mind blowing and seems almost humanly impossible, except that it isn’t.

Competitiveness

All the GOATs, every single one of them, was extremely competitive and it’s because you have to be to some degree. In order to be the GOAT you have to surpass other people and naturally that turns into developing a competitive nature.

Imagine applying the same principles and devotion to building a product or exceeding in business?

Regardless of what you choose to do in life, the process of being great at it is the same. Whether that’s being an engineer, starting a company, teaching, whatever! The field or industry doesn’t matter. If you want to be great, the same principles apply.

Often times, we look at these great athletes or people that have achieved massive success and we assume that they are different than us or must have a special ability. Sure, a lot of these people are extremely talented but what actually differentiates them from everyone else is their work ethic. Their discipline and devotion is what earns them the title GOAT.

You don’t get to the top without devoting your every being to something, it just doesn’t happen.

I haven’t heard of anyone that’s dedicated just a year to something and ended up being the GOAT. Of course you can improve and be in an incredible spot by the end of the year. Even devoting yourself to something for just 3 months, if you’re dedicating 10–13 hours a day to it, could move mountains, you just won’t be great though.

I think this is what trips people up, the fact that they’ll need to play this game for the long haul but it’s inevitable because success doesn’t happen overnight. Kobe Bryant didn’t become the GOAT in a year, he had a 20 year career run, I don’t know what’s more admirable than that!

Greatness takes a lot of time, effort and energy. You don’t just arrive there, it’s a journey. This is also why I think in order to be great at anything you have to enjoy it. You could reach massive success without loving something but you aren’t going to be the GOAT because there’s always going to be someone else that is obsessed and willing to exert a lot more energy and a lot more time because they genuinely love it.

If the journey isn’t going to be enjoyable then why bother being on it?

Kobe Bryant said “it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey”.

Think back to a time when you were the happiest and felt the most fulfilled in life? I can guarantee you that it was probably a time in your life when you had a lot going on and were extremely busy. Anyone you talk to that’s done something cool, will tell you the same thing, they were the happiest in the pursuit of the thing.

When you get the things you’ve been working for, it feels really good in the moment and you should celebrate the achievement, it’s a big deal but the process and the journey of getting there is what’s the best part.

When you focus on the process / journey and not the end result, what ends up happening is you get even better results than you imagined because ironically, what gets you the results in the first place is the process and the journey.

And look, if you want to be average, don’t think about any of this, just do what everyone else is doing, continue living your life, working a regular job, there’s nothing wrong with that, if that’s what you truly want and makes you happy.

But I feel like stretching yourself, devoting yourself and seeing just how far you can take things is so exciting that why wouldn’t you want to go there?

I don’t see the point of being average and it’s not arrogance, it’s pure curiosity. If I can’t figure out how much I can do or my potential then what’s the point? I encourage you to develop this GOAT mindset because when you’re growing, expanding and stretching, not only do you become so much better as a person but your perspectives widen and as a result, you see life differently.

We all have the same 24 hours, the GOATs made use of every hour they had.

You’ve got to ask yourself, “what am I doing with my time?”. I remember I looked at my screen time on my iPhone not too long ago and I was shocked to see how many hours I was spending on Instagram. This is what happens when you don’t have an end goal or something you’re working towards, you don’t know the value of time, so you end up being okay with spending 2, 3, 4 hours mindlessly scrolling on social media.

Imagine telling these GOATs at their prime that they had to spend 2 hours on Instagram? There’s no way, you couldn’t even pay them to do it and that’s because they had a focus and a clear objective. When you know where you’re going and what you’re after, making decisions and prioritizing becomes very easy.

If you think it’s hard to decide what activities to engage in, you don’t have enough clarity because if you did, you would know what to do with the next 30 minutes of your day.

Aim for greatness

It’s achievable to anyone regardless of industry or where you start out at. It’s all work and mindset. Would you want to get to the end of your journey and not have put in any real effort? I don’t, that’s for sure. If you want to be great and achieve massive success, just know that it’s totally possible and within your reach. The only thing that could prevent you from reaching greatness is yourself.