Real-life resilience - Magic Johnson

At the height of his NBA basketball career, Ervin ‘Magic’ Johnson asked the LA Lakers management team to provide him with the names and phone numbers of the people that were courtside season ticket holders.

He knew those season tickets were expensive, and he figured that anyone who could afford the prices must be rather successful.

Once he had those phone numbers, he’d literally work his way down the list one by one, cold-calling each ticket holder, inviting them to come to lunch with him.

Let’s just imagine that for a second. You get a call from one of the best basketball players on the planet, and that guy just happens to be the star of the team that you love so much.

And now he asking you to lunch!

I’m pretty sure everyone took him up on his offer.

The reason Magic did this is because he wanted to understand what had made these people successful, plus he wanted to ask for their advice - he was looking for business opportunities to consider for life after basketball.

Let’s pause to think about this for a second. It’s quite impressive to see that an NBA superstar has the self-awareness and understanding that basketball is not a forever career for anyone. He was already planning for the day that he wouldn’t be able to hoop for the Lakers anymore.

As a result of those lunch meetings, Magic gained a whole new world of wisdom and he built an incredible network. And from those meetings he went on to make several shrewd investments. Notably, he invested early in Starbucks, is part owner of the NFL's Washington Commanders and the MLB’s LA Dodgers, and has a heavy interest in an insurance company.

It's estimated he made $40m during his NBA career, but today he is worth over a massive $1.2b! Talk about a valuable investment in being prepared.

The power of preparation.

When I run workshops, I focus on how we can stay strong when the hard times hit. And, of course, I mention all of the tools available to us. However, I also take time to emphasize that these tools are most effective when we use them in advance of the storm.

In other words, what can we do before things get hard?

This is what I like to call preventative measures….and they work exactly like training for a marathon.

I would guess that only a very few of us would ever wake up one morning and randomly decide to run a marathon. Marathons are extremely difficult, which is why only 1% of the world’s population has ever completed one. They require immense training.

We have to stretch, eat well, get good rest, and of course run (a lot) to be anywhere close to prepared for the grueling challenge of a marathon. Otherwise, the chances of completing the run are almost nil. We’ll likely cramp up, get an injury, or be unable to get across the finish line.

It’s the same with any extremely hard challenge in our lives.

In fact, when disaster strikes at work or at home and we are unprepared, it’s like we’ve been handed the challenge of completing a marathon. The question is: have we prepared for the moment?

That’s the real work of resilience - it’s proactive, not reactive.

The principles for building right now

Just like Magic wasn’t waiting to figure things out after retirement, we shouldn’t wait to develop tools for handling burnout, change, uncertainty, or emotional exhaustion. Let’s build the tools now, while we still have the chance.

Here are three takeaways from Magic’s story:

1. Prepare for change. This one feels particularly important right now. In a world of daily updates about AI and commentators weighing in on the future of jobs, it’s highly likely that several industries could be impacted in some way. Compare this to Magic’s scenario - he understood that his career could change or be over at any moment. So he prepared for that day. We can do the same anytime we wish by prioritizing the future. What investments (in ourselves, our habits, our network) can we start making today that our future selves will thank us for?

2. Be curious. This is about having an open mind to a range of new perspectives. Most of Magic’s wealth is from one insurance deal he did….nothing to do with sports. How did he come to be involved in that? He picked up a phone, he asked a ton of questions, he was curious about how others had built their wealth. So, what questions are we afraid to ask, but might open doors?

3. The power of relationships. The old adage that ‘it’s who you know’ is extremely relevant here. Yes, Magic had access to some extremely successful minds because he was an NBA star, but we can also access bright people around us. One of the things I have noticed in my own journey is that people want to help others, but we have to be willing to ask. So who are the “courtside” people in our lives that we can connect with?

If Magic Johnson can cold call strangers for advice, we can take one small, brave step toward building something strong in preparation for a storm ahead.

Let’s invest in our mental, emotional, and physical well-being now, so that when the pressure comes, we’ll handle it.

Until next time friends, stay resilient. Magic things can happen!

Carre @ Resilient Minds

PS - check out my Resilience Scorecard to measure your own resilience at work in just 3 minutes.