Kobe & Gigi- A Legacy That Lives On
First blog post since becoming a doctor, PhD:
I was motivated by Kobe & Gigi. This blog is dedicated to them for showing us how to have a mentality of never being content where you are, to reach for your dreams, to cherish the journey, to prioritize your loved ones and family over anything else and to never quit. You, Kobe, explained on countless occasions to the world how not to make excuses and how to execute what it takes to not only reach your fullest potential but surpass your dreams. While I was going to focus solely on how persistence played such a huge role in me completing my PhD and how I was able to continue to move forward despite the life challenges I have faced, after sitting and re-evaluating, I realized that a lot of this drive and passion that enables me to be persistent stems from me having athlete role models. Particularly those like Kobe, who live an exemplary life that enables them to reach and achieve anything that they outwork others for; that passion and fire is something that you can see clearly when watching a basketball player be tested on the court. I realize that comparing basketball games to life seems quite far fetch and some may highly disagree, but how I see it is that how you fight on the court is how you will fight in the workplace, in life, for your family, and much more. Kobe literally defined what it means to be persistent in so many ways. He believed “sports” itself teaches you so much; “Sports are such a great teacher. I think of everything they’ve taught me: camaraderie, humility, how to resolve differences.” -Kobe
I looked up to Kobe for so long as a kid. After the great Michael Jordan, Kobe took the throne for many of us in my generation as he and players like Allen Iverson held the top spot for many aspiring player’s favorites. I remember two retirements in basketball — Michael Jordan’s, which was often confused with Space Jam because I was so little, and Kobe’s, which will always be etched in my mind as a monumental event. He was captivating to watch play. He was resilient and competed against himself more than anyone else. He was just, Different! When I saw his relationship that he had with his daughter Gigi and how much she enjoyed just being in the presence of her dad when she was in a gym, it made me admire him even more. The bond between a father and daughter, especially in sports is so prominent and watching them taught me so much as a mom. This reminds me to make sure that I am my daughter’s #1 fan, I am her #1 advocate, and I am making sure that if she chooses to be an athlete, that it begins with joy! To be on her side, like Kobe did with Gigi, I will sacrifice it all! Thank you, Kobe and Gigi, for leaving us with that great example! It’s unfortunate that it sometimes takes someone leaving us forever to realize how much of an influence and a great leader they were, but I am thankful that I have been able to study Kobe even deeper while writing about him on this post.
Through those ahead of me teaching me, through actions like Kobe’s, I have learned a trait of persistence; or firm or obstinate continuance in a course of action despite difficulty or opposition. Kobe explained his relationship with love during an interview as “the persistence to go through the good times and the bad times to be with someone or something you truly love.” Throughout this blog post, Kobe’s great words he has shared helped me to define “Persistence” with a Mamba Mentality.
P- PASSION
Kobe said that if you find something that you truly love and are passionate about, it doesn’t feel like it is work. Passion is what enables us to know that we don’t have to question if what we work for is worth working for.
KB
People have asked me how I was able to get my PhD while having a full-time job and being a single mom of a young toddler. My response to that is if I am passionate about something, it doesn’t feel like a job. It is still difficult at times, but I have a motive and a goal that I know can influence something or someone else, so it is all worth it. I try to make sure anything that I commit to doing ties somehow to a passion of mine.
E-ENERGY
Man…Where are we putting our energy?!? If Kobe and his baby girl losing their lives so suddenly has taught us anything, it is to make sure that we live a life putting our energy in all the right places. Life is too short!
R-RESPOND
“I’m extremely willful to win, and I respond to challenges.”
KB
Earlier in my PhD program when I felt like I had momentum to continue to progress, I dealt with some hard situations that caused me to take a semester off. During that semester off, I am sure there was doubt from so many people that a former athlete, who just had a baby and drove 25 hours back home to California, would re-enroll in the PhD program to finish. Only a semester after I started back, my former advisor told me that she couldn’t be my advisor anymore because she was switching roles. I called one African-American professor at the university who was well known for his work that he had done with Black college students. I thought it would be a great fit because I was focusing on Black male student-athletes at the Division I level. I called him excited knowing he would for sure say he would be glad to take the role as my Chair and Advisor. When I got off the phone, his text said, “Oh you will for sure be doing your program for at least 10 more years and I just don’t have time for that.”
Talking about a humbling a** situation. The advisor that ended up representing me as my advisor and chair was someone who had just received their PhD not too long ago. With all the politics involved in PhD programs, I was a little nervous about this but was told by my former advisor that I really had no choice and if I wanted to get this done, that I needed to move forward. So, I did. Now, two and a half year after re-entering my PhD program, I am done.
We all go through things and how we respond to these things dictates our end result.
S-STRENGTH
“When I was growing up in Italy, I grew up in isolation. It was not an environment suited to me. I was the only black kid. I didn’t speak the language. I’d be in one city, but then we’d move to a different city and I’d have to do everything again.”
KB
Finding our strengths through our weaknesses. Taking the time to be isolated for example, allows us to focus on the full “us.” In what environments do I work most effectively in, what am I doing now that I can recognize and continue to get better at? How can I ensure that I am not content until I reach my fullest potential? Isolation from others for moments in time allowed me to self-reflect on where I was at the time and where I truly wanted to be.
I- INSPIRE
Kobe said, “I think greatness is not something that lives and dies with one person…It’s how you can inspire a person to then, in turn inspire another person, and then inspire another person and that’s how you create something that I think lasts forever.”
KB
Kobe sure did inspire many! I agree with this statement most. When I was working on my PhD and when I do work each day, what I am fueled by is knowing that I could be possibly inspiring or uplifting someone else. I haven’t made it to the magnitude that Kobe has to inspire so many and I am not even close, but I truly feel that. The drive and that fire that I have within to keep improving is motivated by others and those looking up to or across from me.
S- SMILE
“You have to keep moving. You have to keep going. Put one foot in front of the other, smile and just keep rolling…life is too short to be bogged down and discouraged.”
KB
Happiness is so essential during any challenging time. The ability to remain happy and smile through tough times was what kept me moving forward after having a long, 2-hours of sleep night. My smile came from and still comes from the bigger picture. My smile is illuminated when in prayer; thanking God for the gifts that he has given me to think, to walk, to write, to dream. Giving thanks for my blessings and realizing that this little challenge is much different than the challenges that I faced 3 years ago. I find my smile in seeing the bigger picture. Why elongate stress when tomorrow is not promised.
T- TENACITY
Kobe tore his Achilles, broke his fingers, went through other personal issues, and never let these obstacles hold him back from achieving true greatness.
He said, “I’ve practiced and practiced and played so many times. There’s nothing truly to be afraid of, when you think about it…I’ve failed before, and I woke up the next morning, and I’m OK.”
KB
E- EMPHASIS
Emphasizing what is most important to you always will keep you balanced when times get overwhelming or seem like they are unreachable. What are you putting emphasis on?
Kobe said, “Everything negative – pressure, challenges – is all an opportunity for me to rise.”
KB
Taking a negative situation or instance and understanding the bigger picture is so important when we talk about being balanced and focused on you achieving your goals.
N- NEGATIVE
Understanding that there will be negative times throughout the process. These challenges must be accepted and faced in order to overcome. To persist is to continue despite the challenges. If you don’t understand what it feels like to be at your lowest, you can’t fully appreciate what it means to be at your best.
Kobe said, “Everything negative – pressure, challenges – is all an opportunity for me to rise.”
KB
C-CONFIDENCE
“…You should not be surprised when you are that. It should not be something that is intoxicating or out of character. …It has been here the whole time, because it has been [in your mind] the whole time.”
KB
Kobe was unapologetically confident! We live in a world where people consider you cocky if you are confident. There is a big difference. Kobe worked so hard that he didn’t have to doubt himself because he knew he put in the work. The entire process that I had to go through with my PhD and in any other career-related obstacle that I pursued, I speak outwardly that I did worry about if I would finish or if I would be successful. However, in reflecting, I realize that everything I questioned at the time, I ended up being successful in the end. What I have learned from Kobe is that I have to be better at trying to make sure I speak about what I know I am capable of outwardly; unapologetically. I can because I know that I put in the work to be able to speak out about my confidence until my desires become realities.
E- EMBRACE
“I have self-doubt. I have insecurity. I have fear of failure. I have nights when I show up at the arena and I’m like, ‘My back hurts, my feet hurt, my knees hurt. I don’t have it. I just want to chill.’ We all have self-doubt. You don’t deny it, but you also don’t capitulate to it. You embrace it.”
KB
We are not perfect. All our journeys are different. Embrace YOUR journey.
Before we learn how we can apply Kobe’s mentality to our everyday lives, remember the most important thing: Hug your family and loved ones. Tell them how much they mean to you before you can’t anymore. They deserve to hear it often!
Disclaimer: All words of wisdom from the greatest to do it, Kobe Bryant!
Rest peacefully Kobe & Gigi 8/24
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