LeBron on Living With and Letting Go of Results - A Wise Way to Live

Screw results. Results don’t matter. Results are none of our business. Results will take care of themselves. We can live with the results because we do what we do. So do your best and let go.

LeBron James was my inspiration for this thought.

He won his 3rd championship in historic style. He and his team came back from a 3-1 series deficit to win 3 straight games against a heavy favorite, the Golden State Warriors. LeBron had a record series, leading all players in all major statistics – points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks. The first time this has ever been done.

I would be remiss if I didn’t give some love to Kyrie Irving as well. He was clutch all series, including “The Shot,” with 50 seconds left in Game 7 to seal the deal.

Back to LeBron, and what was so fascinating, was his mindset during an interview before game 7.

The reporters kept harping on LeBron’s perspective about the potential results of winning or losing. He was first asked if this game will define his legacy?

His answer was simply, “No.” The reporter, “You don’t see it that way?” LeBron: “No.”

He’s not adding any verbal pressure. One game does not define a player’s legacy. One event does not define a person’s life. LeBron knows this and does not get caught up in the hype about legacy. A talented writer for Seinfeld was disheartened she didn’t win a writing gig. In her despondence, she was told by Jerry Seinfeld, that life is “not about one thing.” We tend to get caught up in the “one thing” we didn’t accomplish, or the one negative event that haunts us. That’s buillshit. Life is not one thing. It’s many things.

How much of a motivation is it for you to deliver a title to you for Cleveland?

“For me, I’m going to give everything I got, to my team mates and my coaching staff, like I’ve always done, and LIVE WITH THE RESULTS. The one thing I can’t live with is I can’t go out and not give everything to the game and not be true to the game, that would stop me from sleeping… But I’m ready to go.”

Living with results is equivalent to letting go of results. He completely let go of the end results. He’s not thinking ahead of himself. He’s just going out there and playing. Our lives would be a lot easier if we didn’t have so much anxiety about future results or “if things will work out.” Life is easier when we prepare and plan for the future, but don’t live FOR the future. Instead, we live day to day, and moment to moment.

When you say you can live with the results, have you always been able to do that? If so, what got you to that point?

“Look I still think about playoff games in the past. But what I mean when I say live with the results is about asking yourself: Did you give everything you have? Did you prepare the best way you can? Did you leave it all on the floor? If you can look yourself in the mirror and say yes, that’s it. Sometimes there are some things you can’t control. You control what you can control, and the uncontrollable you can’t allow that to play with you that much. It’s not always been that way for me. I think from my growth I’ve matured over the years and I know what’s real and what’s not real.”

This shows his humility and how human he is. He still thinks about his past, his failures, and games he’s lost. We all do that. Part of being human is having a past. He admits this. However, he also has the awareness of what’s real and what’s not. Controlling your actions is real. Controlling 9 other players on the court, and baskets going in by the other players is not real. This type of awareness might not prevent him from thinking about the past, but it will prevent the past from haunting him. That’s a big difference.

The whole arc of your career has come to this point, a Game 7 for a championship. What’s the magnitude of this situation like, and does it makes you feel?

“I came back for a reason to bring a championship home to Cleveland, that’s been one of my goals. But I don’t add too much more pressure to it, I go out and trust what I’ve been able to do, the work I’ve put into it, the work my team mates put into it, and you go out there and you see what happens.”

Of course his goal is to bring home a championship to Cleveland. He wanted it badly. It’s not like he didn’t have that goal. Goals are a cool part, a fun part, and the constructively challenging part about life. They help us grow. We become better, and we can enjoy the fruits accomplishing goals provide. However, we don’t have to be attached to the actual goal, while we are in the midst of pursing it. We don’t have to let future results or future uncertainty encumber the peace in our lives today. If we are doing our very best, if we control what we can control, the results will take care of themselves.

When we have full, unwavering trust in this, the results will exceed our expectations.