LeBron James on Appreciating the Process

Today, I was listening to LeBron James on the Mind the Game podcast with Steve Nash.

There were a lot of moments that resonated, but one especially stood out early in the episode, Nash and LeBron talk about the importance of appreciating the process instead of focusing on the outcome.

“Everyone wants to hoist the Larry O’Brien trophy,” says LeBron, “It feels like you really cemented your legacy. But ultimately, the commitment you give to yourself, your body, your craft, and your mind will take care of itself. If it’s meant to happen, it’ll happen. If not, then it wasn’t meant to be. But if you’ve put in the work, if you’ve done everything you could, then you can sleep peacefully knowing you gave your mind, body, and soul everything it could possibly want.

LeBron basically described the Inner Excellence mindset, that success is a byproduct of loving the process. If you can find joy in the process, if you can see every meeting, every presentation, as a way to learn and grow and fully experience each moment, then it doesn’t matter if you win or lose. Success is a by product.

Nash follows up with a great question: “Was there a time when a lightbulb went off and you realized it was all about the process?”

LeBron said that shift happened around Year 7, when he was 25 or 26.

I’m 27 now, and I feel like I’m just starting to truly understand what enjoying the process means.

Adopting this mindset has been one of the biggest mental unlocks for me this year. It’s changed how I show up, not just in work, but in life.