How You Do Anything is How You Do Everything
I love this quote.
Another way of phrasing it is to be great in all aspects of life, whether it be small or big.
In NBA Hall of Famer Chris Bosh’s memoir, Letters to a Young Athlete, he talks about how this situation at the free throw line in his rookie year. The opposing team was shooting a free throw, Bosh lined up anticipating the rebound. Before the second and final free throw the opposing player asks, “Are you going for it?”, “What do you mean?” Bosh didn’t understand at first. Basketball’s a physical and exhausting game where players sprint up and down the court and wrestle for rebounds and loose balls for 48 minutes. This player was asking if Bosh was going for the rebound. If not, then they can both save their energy and not fight for this rebound, the opponent was in better rebounding position anyways.
Early in his career, Bosh noticed how the greats like Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan approached the game. They did everything to a high level, even menial things. If Bosh slacked on this rebound, maybe it might show up when it’s Game 7 in a playoff series.
How you do anything is how you do everything.