George Mumford, Mindfulness Coach to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, on Awareness, Compassionate Action, the Dizziness of Freedom, and More (#509)

“When you go get interviewed, if they tell you you’re the greatest thing since sliced bread, you say, ‘Thank you,’ and you just smile. And if they tell you you’re the biggest choke artist of all time, you just thank them and smile.”
— George Mumford

George Mumford (@gtmumford) is a globally recognized speaker, teacher, and coach. Since 1989, he’s been honing his gentle but groundbreaking mindfulness techniques with people from locker rooms to board rooms, Yale to jail.

While at the University of Massachusetts, where he roomed with future Hall of Famer Julius Erving, injuries forced George out of basketball and eventually into an addiction to pain medication and drugs. With the help of meditation and mindfulness, he got clean and made it his mission to teach and work with others.

Michael Jordan credits George with transforming his on-court leadership, helping the Bulls to six NBA championships. George has also worked with Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, and countless other NBA players, as well as Olympians, executives, and artists.

George believes everyone has a masterpiece within. His book The Mindful Athlete: Secrets to Pure Performance —both a memoir and an instruction guide—can show you how to access it.

George also teaches The Mindful Athlete Course, which can be found at GeorgeMumford.com.

Please enjoy!

Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, or on your favorite podcast platform.

Brought to you by Tonal smart home gym, LinkedIn Jobs recruitment platform with 700M+ users, and Eight Sleep’s Pod Pro Cover sleeping solution for dynamic cooling and heating. More on all three below.

The transcript of this episode can be found here. Transcripts of all episodes can be found here.

Listen onApple Podcasts

Listen onSpotify

Listen onOvercast

#509: George Mumford, Mindfulness Coach to Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant, on Awareness, Compassionate Action, The Dizziness of Freedom, and More

This episode is brought to you by LinkedIn Jobs. Whether you are looking to hire now for a critical role or thinking about needs that you may have in the future, LinkedIn Jobs can help. Using LinkedIn’s active community of more than 1 billion professionals worldwide, LinkedIn Jobs can help you find and hire the right person faster. When your business is ready to make that next hire, find the right person with LinkedIn Jobs. And now, you can post a job for free. Just visit LinkedIn.com/Tim.

This episode is brought to you by Eight Sleep. Temperature is one of the main causes of poor sleep, and heat is my personal nemesis. But a few years ago, I started using the Pod Cover, and it has transformed my sleep. Eight Sleep has launched their newest generation of the Pod: Pod 5 Ultra. It cools, it heats, and now it elevates, automatically. With the best temperature performance to date, Pod 5 Ultra ensures you and your partner stay cool in the heat and cozy warm in the cold. And now, listeners of The Tim Ferriss Show can get $400 off of the Pod 5 Ultra for a limited time! Click here to claim this deal and unlock your full potential through optimal sleep.

This episode is brought to you by Tonal! Tonal is the world’s most intelligent home gym and personal trainer. It is precision engineered and designed to be the most advanced strength studio on the market today. Try Tonal, the world’s smartest home gym, for 30 days in your home, and if you don’t love it, you can return it for a full refund.

What was your favorite quote or lesson from this episode? Please let me know in the comments.

SCROLL BELOW FOR LINKS AND SHOW NOTES…

Want to hear my first interview with Jack Kornfield who introduced me to George? Listen to this episode, in which we discuss hang gliding, monk training in Thailand, unpleasant mystical experiences, the difference between compassion and empathy, lovingkindness meditation, and more.

#300: Jack Kornfield — Finding Freedom, Love, and Joy in the Present

SELECTED LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Connect with George Mumford:

Website | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | YouTube

SHOW NOTES

George describes how his mind and body reacted on a spiritual level the first time he witnessed Michael Jordan practicing for the very first time. [06:46]
What most impressed George about the intensity Michael Jordan brought to the court even during an everyday practice session? [09:23]
George shares what it was like to have “a security clearance on [his] badge and track marks on [his] forearm” as he held down an FBI-scrutinized position while struggling with heroin addiction. [11:52]
Where did George’s path to addiction begin, and what led to his sobriety? [15:01]
How did mindfulness enter George’s life, and what helped him remain sober in the interim? [20:58]
Books that George found particularly useful during this time. [26:45]
Books that George has recommended and gifted most often. [29:10]
After becoming sober and cultivating greater awareness, how did George connect with the world of elite sports? [31:49]
What value did Phil Jackson see in bringing George’s skill set to the Chicago Bulls, and had he tried to impart this value in other ways prior to George’s involvement? [34:20]
How has George helped the players in his care manage the distractions of constant public scrutiny? [39:12]
How has George approached helping players who have wildly different personalities and preferences? [43:28]
Counterintuitive advice from George that Kobe always remembered, and a general formula for remembering that the most direct way to achieve something isn’t always the most efficacious. [46:59]
What does George mean when he refers to “the dizziness of freedom?” [48:44]
Barrier breakthrough versus the improvement trap, and the moment “Mike” Jordan became “Michael” Jordan. [52:53]
George recalls another memorable breakthrough moment. [54:55]
Advice George Mumford of 2021 would give to the younger George Mumford who was just beginning to work with high-level athletes. [58:37]
How does George use the four As — awareness, acceptance, action, assessment — in the context of making adjustments to form in order to achieve something? [59:53]
How George used the four As to teach a class of people who didn’t speak his language, and a friend of his used the four As to rescue a prison class from descending into utter chaos. [1:05:00]
What is George most excited about these days? [1:09:17]
George’s ask to the audience and parting thoughts. [1:12:56]

PEOPLE MENTIONED

Comment Rules: Remember what Fonzie was like? Cool. That's how we're gonna be — cool. Critical is fine, but if you're rude, we'll delete your stuff. Please do not put your URL in the comment text and please use your PERSONAL name or initials and not your business name, as the latter comes off like spam. Have fun and thanks for adding to the conversation! (Thanks to Brian Oberkirch for the inspiration.)

7 Comments

Inline Feedbacks

View all comments

Chelsea

4 years ago

Really enjoyed this episode and the deep reminders of how much power we have to make our lives and situations mean whatever is most empowering if we choose to.

Thank you, George and Tim.

Oliver Johnson

beyond helpful. thank you for this.

Zach Davis

Great episode. I really appreciate how openly George spoke of his battles with addiction. Readily apparent that he is an enlightened spirit. Thank you for this interview.

Question unrelated to this episode:

Is there a blog or podcast that has any updated materials on your recommended diet, exercise, supplement protocol since the 4HB? I’ve heard you mention that you now focus on getting more of your nutrients from food vs. supplements- but I’m curious if that means you are totally supplement-free, if you’ve just scaled back, and/or updated what you take?

Thanks as always for the superb content.

Mika W Wyatt

This was an extremely timely podcast for me to listen to. On so many levels. With a son struggling with addiction, My desire learn to meditate. My desire to be able to handle volatile situations with family members. Myself considering a career change after 22 years. I took notes like crazy. Thank you George and Tim! I will pray and use the 4-A’s to possibly share this podcast with the people I love in hope they will listen and then apply in their life! I truly felt emotional at times. Again Thank you both

Jordan

I gained some good insights. Will listen to this again.

Pierre

Beautiful to see the journey through addiction and turning all those moments into strengths to help others. This episode gives a lot on context to The Last Dance also! Thank you 🙂

fatemahx

1 year ago

Thanks for an informative article

Last edited 1 year ago by fatemahx