Latest / The Action Catalyst / REMASTERED: Habits of High Performance, with NBA Skills Trainer Alan Stein Jr (Basketball, Sports, Training, Success)

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REMASTERED: Habits of High Performance, with NBA Skills Trainer Alan Stein Jr (Basketball, Sports, Training, Success) · The Action Catalyst

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  Host: Peak Performance, ultra performer, who we're talking to
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  today is Alan Stein, he's been the director of performance for
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  pure sweat basketball, working with elite high school, college,
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  and NBA players doing things for like the Nike skills Academy,
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  the McDonald's all American game, the Jordan Brand classic,
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  you know, the NBA Players Association, top 100 Yeah,
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  that's what pure sweat does. And Allen does a lot of the
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  performance work, which we're going to talk about, he has
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  since moved into sort of the speaking world and, and doing
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  training and so forth. So we wanted to talk about the high
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  performer, you know, the habits of high performers. So Alan,
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  welcome to the show.
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  Alan Stein Jr: Hey, thanks so much for having me, I'm looking
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  forward to a fun conversation.
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  Host: So when you think about preparing somebody, you know, to
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  compete in the NBA, I know one of the things that you talk
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  about is this sort of like pyramid concept.
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  Alan Stein Jr: Absolutely. I mean, for the for the players on
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  court, in order for a player to be the best player that they're
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  capable of, we look at four different components. The bottom
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  of the pyramid, the base, the foundation for the whole thing
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  happens to be my area of expertise, which is their body,
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  and improving their athleticism, improving their ability to move
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  efficiently on the court, and to remain as injury free as
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  possible, then we go one level up skill acquisition, you know,
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  doesn't matter how athletic a player is, if they can't shoot,
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  pass, rebound, defend or handle the ball, then it really doesn't
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  matter. Then we go at one more level, and we start talking
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  about the mind, which is two separate areas, we want to look
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  at one, we want to make sure a player has the mental toughness
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  and fortitude to compete every day. But we also want to make
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  sure they have a very high basketball IQ, that they know
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  how and when to use their skills and their athleticism to be as
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  effective as possible. And then the apex of the pyramid is their
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  heart. That's their grit, their passion, you know, their motor,
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  if you will. And and we found that when you can improve a
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  player in those four distinct areas, almost like you're
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  putting together a jigsaw puzzle, you'll create the best
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  basketball player that they're capable of becoming.
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  Host: So do you start at the bottom and sort of work your way
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  up?
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  Alan Stein Jr: It is rather sequential. Now, when we say
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  working on their strength and conditioning in their body, when
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  most people hear strength and conditioning, they usually
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  envision a player, you know, doing a bench press or have a
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  barbell on their back and doing squats. That's not necessarily
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  what we're talking about, we're talking about improving their
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  coordination, and their balance, their motor control their
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  proprioception, just getting them in touch with their body.
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  And we do that with very young players. I mean, I'll do events
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  that have kids that are seven or eight years old, where we're
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  teaching them movement patterns, you know, do they have rhythm
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  and coordination in their feet working on their footwork, so
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  really just teaching them how to control their body. Because as
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  you can imagine, if a player can't control their body, if
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  they can't start and stop and jump, and land and move forwards
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  and backwards, they're gonna have a lot of difficulty doing
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  fine motor skills, like shooting and passing and ball handling.
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  So yes, we address the body first. And then we level up and
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  we start teaching them the skills of the game. And that
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  will be rudimentary skills. You know, here's how you make a
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  bounce fast. Here's how you dribble between your legs. Then
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  the next layer is the IQ portion, which is the teach
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  them. So it's one thing to know how to make a bounce pass, it's
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  another to know when to make abouts pass. So how do they
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  apply their skills and their athleticism. And then in all
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  honesty, and in full humility and transparency, the top the
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  apex in the heart, that's the one I believe that we as coaches
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  have the least impact on that needs to come from the players.
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  Now we can motivate, we can inspire, we can model the fact
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  that we love what we do, and we're passionate about coaching.
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  But at the end of the day, a player has to want to be the
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  best player that they're capable of. So when we get all the way
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  to the top, that's almost when we pass the baton to the player
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  and say, Okay, now how bad do you want it? We've given you the
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  raw materials and the tools to be as good as you can be. Now
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  you need to actualize it.
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  Host: So do you think that the you know, I mean, I think that
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  gets to the question, which is irrelevant. Obviously, most of
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  us listening here, we're not going to probably make us make a
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  run at playing in the NBA. But that gets at the question of do
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  you think Ultra performers are made or are they born? What's
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  your take on that?
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  Alan Stein Jr: And in that in the world of athleticism, you
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  certainly have to be born with certain genetic predispositions
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  that would give you the potential to compete at that
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  level. And here's what I tell you On players all the time when
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  I say with with a friendly smile, if I'm talking to a group
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  of young players, I'll say, every single one of you has the
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  potential to make it to the NBA. However, less than half of a
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  percent of you have the potential to make it as a
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  player. And the point being that, you know, most players
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  that are using sports as a vehicle to learn life lessons, I
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  mean, they can still make it to the NBA, but they'd have to make
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  it as a coach, or a referee, or heck, maybe even as an owner or
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  a general manager. So if their goal is to make their living in
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  the game of basketball, and be in the NBA, I want them to go
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  after that with everything that they have. But the reality for
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  most normal human beings is they weren't born with the athletic
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  tools to play in the NBA. And I don't ever say that to
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  discourage or diminish a player, I want them to go after that. I
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  mean, when I was eight, I thought I was going to play in
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  the NBA and I went after it with everything I could. And it just
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  wasn't in the cards but so I don't want players to be
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  discouraged from going from their for their goal. But you
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  have to realize that a guy like LeBron James, or Kevin Durant,
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  those guys were born with certain tools that most people
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  weren't born with. However, and this is a big however, that is
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  not to take away from the work ethic and the habits and grit.
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  The players like LeBron and KD have, just because they were
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  born with some physical tools doesn't automatically give them
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  the golden ticket to the NBA. You know, Kevin Durant's, not
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  the only 610 guy walking around, there's plenty of them who
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  didn't actualize their potential, who didn't create
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  habits, who didn't do the things that they needed to do. So a guy
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  like LeBron, or KD was born with the raw materials to make it to
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  that level. And yet they've worked incredibly hard,
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  incredibly smart, and with tremendous consistency in order
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  to make that happen. But Spud Webb and Mugsy Bogues, and Earl
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  Boykins. And some of the other players that were on the shorter
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  side, certainly had so many other physical tools to allow
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  them to be able to play at that level, you know, even a ticket
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  player like Stephen Curry. I mean, he's one of the top
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  players in the game, arguably the best hitter in the game. And
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  when you just look at him just standing there, he looks like a
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  normal guy. He has a normal frame. I mean, he's a little bit
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  taller than the average male but you know, he, you know, he
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  doesn't pass the eye test the way that a LeBron James does.
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  However, when you really look at athleticism, I mean, Stefan
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  Curry was born with some some pretty good genetic hookups, I
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  mean, his hand eye coordination, his balance, we can't just look
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  at height, and one's ability to jump or run as the only
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  barometers of athletic success. I mean, the these guys can do so
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  many other things. Steve Nash is another one. Steve Nash is one
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  of my all time favorite players, and most novice fans would not
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  consider him a great athlete, because he wasn't a high flyer
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  or a dunker. Well, if you take all of the other areas of
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  athleticism, his mobility, his reaction, his hand eye
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  coordination, his conditioning level, I mean, Steve Nash would
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  right off of the charts in those other areas. So even though
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  Steve Nash may look like a normal guy, and he's not winning
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  dunk contests, he's in the upper, you know, point oh, one
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  percentile of the human population when it comes to
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  athleticism. And certainly not every player that's currently on
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  an NBA roster was born with just unbelievable genetic gifts, lots
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  of people have been able to overcome certain deficiencies,
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  because they had an exceptional skill. You know, I mean, if you
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  can flat out shoot the ball, that will make up for maybe a
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  lack of some natural athleticism that you don't have. And and I
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  would say the same is true for being a high performer in any
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  vocation. I mean, certainly, if you're going to be a world class
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  singer, it would help for you to be born with the tools that
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  would make it you know, make you privy to being a world class
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  singer. But that doesn't mean that you can't be an incredibly
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  successful salesperson or CEO or entrepreneur. So that's why I
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  love the transition from sport to business, because it's less
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  reliant on one's genetics and or athleticism.
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  Host: So when you look over then to the business world, do you
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  think that that same rule applies that it's like to
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  compete at the highest level a bit to be a fortune 100 CEO? Is
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  there certain a genetic predisposition that is necessary
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  to make it to that level? Are you saying in the business
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  world, it's more of an equal playing field?
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  Alan Stein Jr: I'm gonna say it's both and I don't say that
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  to back out of an answer. I do think that there are some
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  inherent traits that one can be born with that will improve
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  their chances of being successful in that arena. Not
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  everyone was born you know, with the with the academic IQ of a
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  Warren Buffett or a Steve Jobs you know, not everyone was born
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  with the inherit leadership skills that some of the best
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  leaders like a Coach K. Duke basketball may have. So I do
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  think there are certain traits and talents that one can be born
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  with that will greatly increase their chances of being
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  successful. But I also think a good portion of what's needed,
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  our skills and skills can be developed and they're developed
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  through repetition. When and through training and practicing
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  with purpose. So I do believe it's both do I think every human
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  being born has the potential to be a fortune 100 CEO? No, I do
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  not. Do I think of a good portion of people can develop
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  the skills that will put them in a position to be able to hold
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  jobs like that.
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  Host: So is there anything in common in terms of maybe the
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  habits that you see of the people who you go like on the
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  surface, you go, Gosh, that person doesn't really come off.
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  Like you mentioned, Steve Nash doesn't look like they have the
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  genetic predisposition to be doing what they're doing, or the
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  business world you go cast, that person doesn't really seem to
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  have kind of like the natural charisma to be a great
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  salesperson or a great leader. But somehow they rise above
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  that.
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  Alan Stein Jr: Yeah, there's two in particular that come to mind.
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  One, the habits and mindsets, rituals, routines, and
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  disciplines that they have during the unseen hours. It's
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  what they're doing when the proverbial cameras aren't on
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  that that really determines whether or not they'll be
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  successful. Because at some level, we all have to appreciate
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  the fact that our habits are a choice, you know, and our habits
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  are what dictate whether or not we're successful in any
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  endeavor. Our success is not predicated on things we do when
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  we feel like it, when it's convenient, or when we want to
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  our success is predicated on the things that we do every single
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  day. So the people that create incredibly strong and positive
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  work habits and are consistent with those are going to
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  outperform and out achieve most other people. And the other is
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  high performers. And high achievers have a relentless
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  thirst for development, they are always looking to get an
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  advantage and always looking to learn to grow to develop to
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  sharpen their sword, and master their craft. A friend of mine
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  named Michael Burke, who was a former basketball coach and is
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  now in the business world as well. Like he coined a term that
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  I love called execution gap, an execution gap is the difference
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  between what we know we're supposed to do. And what we
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  actually do. And every one of us has an execution gap. I mean,
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  take physical fitness, everybody knows what they need to do to
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  work out and to eat, right. But how many people actually do
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  that? That's an execution gap. But we all have it. Well, the
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  highest performers and the highest achievers. And for that
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  matter, the happiest people on the planet, have narrowed their
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  execution gap to almost nothing. They know what they're supposed
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  to do, and they actually do it. And to me, that's the big
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  equalizer, is what you do in the unseen hours, how bad you have
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  the desire to improve and get better. And if you can close
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  that execution gap. There's no reason why you can't be
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  excellent and sales are excellent as a leader, if you're
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  willing to work on those skill sets. And then if you take out
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  let's say you're born and add it to that, then you're a
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  superstar.
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  Host: On your perspective, how do you do it? How do you get
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  yourself to do those things you know, you're supposed to do when
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  you don't feel like doing it.
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  Alan Stein Jr: From an accountability standpoint, I
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  believe that, as human beings, whenever the spotlight is off,
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  we're always going to revert back to bad behavior. So from an
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  accountability standpoint, we need to put systems in place
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  that always keep the spotlight on us. So for instance, if I'm
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  looking to change a habit, my I want to start reading for 30
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  minutes every night before I go to bed, it's in my best interest
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  to share that with as many people as possible, especially
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  the people in my inner circle, my family, my friends, my close
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  colleagues, even in today's day and age, share it on social
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  media, put it out there and let everyone know that this is a
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  habit that you're trying to establish, because now the
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  people that really care about you will help hold you
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  accountable. So tomorrow you and I are chit chat, and you say,
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  hey, Alan, did you do your reading last night? What did you
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  read, tell me about what book you're into whatever. But now
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  I'm going to have lots of people holding me accountable. And one
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  of the worst emotions that any of us can ever feel is
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  disappointing somebody else. So when you've put it out there,
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  that you're going to change this habit to a lot of people, and
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  they're constantly checking in with you and holding you
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  accountable to see if you're doing it, you know, in order to
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  not disappoint them. It's a way to keep that spotlight on you
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  and hold you to the fire while you stick with that habit. And
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  then the beautiful part about habits. You know, research shows
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  that it can take as little as 21 days, sometimes as much as six
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  to eight months to groove a new habit depending on you know, the
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  depth of the habit, but it's still a finite period of time.
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  So key is put systems in place to get the people that care
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  about you to hold the spotlight on you for say three weeks to
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  six months, and you'll have formed that new habit and then
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  you can move on to another habit that you'd like to improve.
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  Host: I love it. Alan, where do you want people to go if they
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  want to connect with you?
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  Alan Stein Jr: Go to AlanSteinjr.com That's a l a n
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  Ste i n jr.com. And I'm also at AlanSteinJr. on all social
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  handles.
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  Host: Well, I appreciate it, brother and appreciate you
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  coming on man. We wish you all the best.
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  Alan Stein Jr: Thank you, likewise.