Why am I going all in with Mamba Time?

The news of Kobe Bryant's death hit me hard.

I want to take the space here to work through what has been coming up and why this feels like such a significant moment in time for me personally.

Kobe admittedly was not perfect, and it is entirely up to you to choose to forgive him for the things he did. Or not. It makes no difference to me which way you decide. I'm not going to say which way I fall, because it really doesn't matter for this conversation. What matters here is that Kobe has something valuable to teach me, and I can separate that lesson from the rest of his life. Just as Einstein and Jobs were geniuses, they also did things with which I fundamentally disagree. Same with Kobe.

I'm also not writing this for page views or in an attempt to capitalize in any way from this tragedy. I'm writing this now because it feels so real and raw. I'm writing this for me. As always.

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ESPN shared a video the day after the crash with the following quote from Kobe:

"I've always said that I want to be remembered as a player that didn’t waste a moment. Didn’t waste a day. I’ve felt extremely blessed with this god given talent. At the same time I didn’t take it for granted at all.

If I could be remembered as a person who was born with a lot of talent who did everything he could to overachieve and live every day as if he was 12th guy on the bench. I think that’s a very powerful message to have."

This video stopped me dead in my tracks.

Have I done everything I could to overachieve with the talent that I was given?

Absolutely not.

Gut punch.

I truly believe that I have massively underachieved compared to what is possible for me in this lifetime. I've taken my talents for granted. I've wasted more days and moments than I ever care to admit.

It makes me sick to type this out, because I know it's true. Ahhhhhhhhhh! Fuck.

That ends right now.

In future Thoughts, I'm sure I'll want to work through the situations and scenarios that led me to this moment, but this isn't the place for them. This isn't about the past. This is about owning up to wasted moments and under performance. And this is about stepping into the new me. The guy who doesn't waste a moment and does everything I can to overachieve with what I've got.

I truly believe that I have the talent to be an all time great entrepreneur and leader. But talent alone doesn't cut it. It's the moment to moment decisions and actions that make that possible. I realize how far fetched that sounds based on where I am at presently and what I've accomplished thus far. It feels like I'm playing "Horse" in the elementary school gym while talking about winning MVPs, scoring titles and multiple NBA championships.

There are similarities that are jumping out about what it takes to be an all time great at anything in life. Intense, laser-like focus on the most important thing. Incredible discipline. Leading others to elevate their game to new heights. Never wasting a moment. Sure, there are massively successful entrepreneurs who might do the opposite of some of those, but that hasn't worked for me. These are what has allowed for me to be my best for brief moments in the past, and I'm tripling down on that.

I don't yet know all of the answers of how I channel my dark energy into an alter ego like the Mamba Mentality, and I'm ok with the answers revealing themselves over time. What I do know is this.

For the next 60 days, I'm committing to Mamba Time. I've blocked off 3 hours every morning starting at 5am. I will begin each day by watching this video and then move into 1 hour of mediation, 1 hour of yoga, 1 hour of reading / writing. Every day.

At the end of 60 glorious days of Mamba Time, I'll re-evaluate. By starting each morning from this foundation, I will have set myself up powerfully to make the most of each and every moment I have on this planet and overachieve with the talent I was given.