Join The Club

Episode 9: "Reverse Engineering Success" with NBA Champ James Jones (#ThisIsMyEra the Podcast)

"Reverse Engineering Success" with NBA Champ James Jones

Welcome back to the #ThisIsMyEra podcast! In this episode, Alexander Star and Kuda Biza chat with James Jones, 3 time NBA champion with the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers. Jones’s dominance on the court and insatiable drive for success eventually led him to work on the business side of the NBA, which is a rare feat for former players to achieve.
Listen now to learn how James Jones cultivated not one, but two incredible chapters of his career with the NBA, and how reverse engineering a path to success was key to James achieving his goals. This episode is jam-packed with actionable takeaways that will help you make this YOUR era, regardless of what success looks like for you.
Here are just a few of the key takeaways the Champ talks about in his interview:
Success begins by asking the right questions and making informed choices.
While recounting his childhood and college basketball career, James identifies two key practices that helped drive his career forward.
  • First, he asked questions that challenged assumptions about kids who came from his background and the limits of what he could achieve.
  • Second, he made choices based on those challenged assumptions.
James points out that talent is something that everyone has, although it looks different in every person. Your choices determine if, and how, you put that talent into action. By asking questions and never making assumptions, you can do one better than just making the “right” choices… you can make informed choices. Wondering “Why has it always been this way?” – and then figuring out the answer – will clarify the choices that will lead to a different, better outcome.
Find models of success, and reverse engineer their process.
A major theme in this episode is that accepting the status quo leads us to settle for less, stifling our ability to imagine more. As James says, “The only way you can envision something is by seeing it… if you hear the same thing over and over, you can’t be innovative.” In order to invite positive change into our life, we need to first seek out examples of what that change looks like. In other words, we need to find models of success.
Once we’ve found those models, we can replicate their path to success by reverse engineering their process. In this episode, James makes becoming an NBA player almost sound easy – he never doubted that he’d achieve his goals, because he studied the most dominant NBA players and knew exactly what they had done to be successful.
To reverse engineer success, first identify the recipe of skills and talents that results in high achievement. Second, emulate the process of the top players in your field in order to achieve those attributes.
Developing a legacy is a core element of achieving success.
James Jones named his charitable foundation the James Jones Legacy Foundation for an important reason.
Echoing what Alexander Star said in the first episode of this podcast, developing a legacy is essential to ensuring what we put out into the world extends beyond us.
This mindset of creating impact on lives for generations to come helps fuel our drive and passion, reminding us that what we’re working towards is bigger than ourselves. As James says, “If you don’t think on another level, you won’t reach another level.”

TAKE MASSIVE ACTION NOW

1) Begin reverse engineering success: find your models of extreme success and study them.
What success looks like for each of us depends on the goals we set out to achieve. What does success look like to you? Who is the idol or mentor that models this version of high achievement for you?
Seek out ways to better understand their process. Start by reading or listening to interviews, which is one place where people often discuss the path they took to get where they are today. Follow your model of success on social media. LinkedIn can often reveal the stepping stones that someone took to reach their goals. On Instagram and Facebook Live, successful people will often be candid about overcoming their struggles and setbacks.
2) Build up the people around you.
It might be counterintuitive, but James makes a great case for building up his competition in this episode: “If you’re a better player, and I can compete against you, then I can be a better player. I can’t do it on my own.”
Find ways to support and build up the people in your circle, even if they’re your competition. For example, start a mastermind group to share both successes and the lessons you’ve learned from failure.
Swap skills and offer up your unique talents to help others. If you approach success from a communal mindset, you’ll quickly find that you gain more than you give.
Episode Outline:
[2:00] Introduction
[3:00] James’s story: how he grew up as an inner city kid and went on to become an NBA star.
[5:40] How James succeeded by having a mentality of never settling.
[6:45] How asking questions led him to challenge society’s expectations.
[7:40] Breaking down goals into the ingredients needed for success.
[9:20] Life is about choices.
[10:00] The key ingredients that went into James’s success “recipe.”
[13:45] How education was central to James’s path to success.
[18:45] Understanding that some of your future is out of your control.
[22:30] What it’s really like to be a highly-paid NBA star.
[24:40] A defining moment in James’s career: being a part of All Star Weekend.
[26:00] What it’s like playing with LeBron and DWade?
[28:15] What does it take to have a profound impact on impactful people?
[30:50] Why James felt driven to change the lives of young people.
[34:10] The importance of creating a legacy.
[36:30] How James is making this his era by redefining success and raising the bar.
[39:50] How missed opportunities have set James up for seizing opportunities in the future.
[43:10] How James prioritized his family while being an NBA player.
[45:50] To envision something new, you have to see and hear new ideas.
[47:00] To achieve a success, reverse engineer the path to get there.
Episode Links:
Connect with James Jones:
Connect with the James Jones Legacy Foundation:
Connect with #ThisIsMyEra on Facebook  (@thisismyeraofficial)
Connect with #ThisIsMyEra on Instagram (@thisismyeraofficial)
Join the conversation across all platforms with the hashtag #ThisIsMyEra
Pull quotes: (for quote cards for social media, click-to-tweet quotes, etc)
“When you begin to claim that you are something, then you become that.”
“We believe in the NOW. The NOW means No Opportunity Wasted.”
“If you hear the same thing over and over again, you can’t be innovative.”
“If you don’t think on another level, you’ll never reach another level.”
“If you’re a better player, and I can compete against you, then I can be a better player. I can’t do it on my own.”