If you are looking for a very practical daily philosophy that works in sports as well as life, you could do a lot worse than to listen to Elijah Bryant of Anadolu Efes Istanbul.
In the last two years, Bryant has done something only one more person has accomplished in the history of basketball: win the NBA and Turkish Airlines EuroLeague titles back-to-back.
"For me, starting back in college, just being a guy who was never on an NBA draft mock board or never projected to do anything after, or even before college, I always try to focus on the idea that by small and simple things, great things come to pass," he explains.
"I came up with this model where I'm just going to put a penny into each and every single day, or one cent into each and every single day, in every aspect of my life: my relationships, my family, my religion, my workouts, my diet. Because there will be ups and downs not just on the court but in life as well, in every situation."
Thus was born the One Cent Club, which Bryant developed into basketball camp for youngsters in between his championship seasons.
In fact, he played both of those seasons in the EuroLeague, but left Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv late in the first one to join the Milwaukee Bucks right before they marched through the playoffs to the NBA title. He then landed early last season at Efes and was instrumental in the team's repeat title at the Final Four in Belgrade. Bryant had 16 points in a one-point semifinal win over Olympiacos Piraeus and led Efes with 8 rebounds in the championship-game victory over Real Madrid.
His One Cent Club philosophy was very much at play during that success.
"For example, at Efes, it started good, but then I wasn't playing," he explained. "But if you just focus on getting better that day, then when it's time to shine, you’ll be ready. I could have been annoyed when I wasn't playing. Instead, I was going to work out and paying someone else to work me out and put myself in a position to be ready for, let's say, the Final Four moment."