 The first time I met Kobe Bryant, my life changed forever. See, back in 2007, Nike flew me out to Los Angeles to work the first ever Kobe Bryant Skills Academy. Nike brought in the top high school and college players from around the country for an intense three-day mini-camp with the best player in the world, and for any of you that don't follow basketball as closely as I do, just know that in 2007, Kobe was the best player in the game. Well, an important fact about me is basketball was my first identifiable passion. I fell in love with the game at five years old, and here, 40 years later, basketball is still a major pillar of my life. And having grown up in this basketball bubble, I had always heard the urban legend of how insanely intense Kobe's individual workouts were. Well, when I found myself on his camp staff, I figured this is my chance. This is my shot, so at my earliest opportunity, I walked up to Kobe and asked if I could watch one of his private workouts. He was incredibly gracious and smiled and said, sure, man, no problem, I'm going tomorrow at four. Well, I got a little bit confused because I had just got done looking through the camp schedule, and the camp schedule clearly said that the first workout with the players was the following day at 3.30. Well, Kobe recognized that confused look on my face and clarified that with, yeah, that's four. A.M. Well, I couldn't think of a reason on why I couldn't be somewhere at four in the morning, so I committed myself to being there, and I figured if I'm going to be there anyway, I may as well show Kobe how serious of a trainer I was. I may as well leave my mark. So I came up with the idea to beat him to the gym. So I set my alarm for 3 A.M. The next morning, the alarm goes off. I jump up. I get myself dressed. I hop in a cab, and I head to the gym. Now, when I arrive, it is 3.30 in the morning, so it is pitch black outside. And yet the moment I step out of the cab, I can see the gym lights already on. From the parking lot, I could faintly hear a ball bouncing and sneakers squeaking. I walk in the side door. Kobe's already in a full sweat. See, he was going through an intense warm-up before his formal workout with his trainer started at four. While out of professional courtesy, I didn't say anything to Kobe and I didn't say anything to his trainer. I just sat down to watch. And for the first 45 minutes, I was shocked. For the first 45 minutes, I watched the best player on the planet do the most basic footwork in offensive moves. Kobe was doing stuff that I had routinely taught to middle school aged players. Now, don't get it twisted. This was Kobe Bryant. See, he was doing everything in an unparalleled level of intensity. He was doing everything with surgical precision. But the stuff he was doing was incredibly basic. Well, his workout went on for a couple more hours. And when it was over, once again, I did not say anything to Kobe. I did not say anything to his trainer. I just quietly left. But my curiosity kept nipping away. And it eventually overwhelmed me to the point that I had to know. So later that day at camp, I went up to Kobe again and said, Kobe, I don't understand. You're the best player in the world. Why are you doing such basic drills? And he flashed that million-dollar smile and he gave me a very friendly wink. But he said in a serious tone, why do you think I'm the best player in the world? Because I never get bored with the basics. Kobe Bryant, the best player on the planet and someone that has truly mastered his craft, said that his secret is that he never gets bored with the basics. And as obvious as that may be to you all right now, that was a life-changing moment for me. See, in that moment, I realized that just because something was wrong with the basics, see, in that moment, I realized that just because something is basic, it doesn't mean that it's easy. Those are not synonyms, and yet people often use those words interchangeably. Just because something's basic, it doesn't mean that it's easy. If it was easy, everyone else would be doing it. And you all know that we live in a world that tells us it's okay to skip steps. Tells us we should always be looking for a shortcut or a hack. Tells us we should be chasing what's new and what's shiny and what's flashy and what's sexy and just ignore what's basic. But I'm here to tell you, if you do those things, you are making a huge mistake. That's because the basics work. They always have, and they always will. And the very first step to you improving performance in any area of your life, whether it's personal or professional, whether it's individual or organizational, the very first step is to admit that the basics work. But it's also having the humility to acknowledge that implementing the basics every single day is never ever easy.