Aug 15, 2024
Bam Adebayo’s journey to Paris with the U.S. men’s basketball team sheds light on the power of positive thinking.
The team won the gold medal at the Summer Olympics, and while they were lifted by veterans like Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. However, Adebayo’s path stood out — not because of star power, but because he transformed his mindset, trading the ordinary for the extraordinary.
Advertisement
Adebayo’s inspiring journey started in an unlikely place: a single-wide trailer in rural North Carolina.
“If you go to my hometown, you would be like, ‘There's no way somebody makes it out of this,’” Adebayo told Playmaker in an interview, adding that even he was convinced he would never break out of the vicious cycle of poverty he grew up in.
Breaking free of that cycle requires a change in mindset, and for Adebayo, his family and education played a key role. Here’s how his experiences not only shaped his path to success but fueled his drive to win gold for his country.
Inspired by his mother
Adebayo credited his mom, Marilyn Blount, for shielding him from much of the pain of rural poverty.
As a single mother working as a cashier at the Acre Station Meat Farm, Blount reportedly earned just $12,000 a year. Nevertheless, she ensured Bam had what he needed to focus on his education and basketball career.
“She is one of those people who (is) going to find a way,” he says. “She's going to make a way — even if she has nothing to work with — she's going make a way for me to have clothes on my back (and) food on the table.
Advertisement
“I didn't really realize I was poor until I was probably like 16 because my mom had done such a great job of comforting me and making me feel like I had enough but also telling me like we don't have a lot.”
Adebayo admitted that some of that comfort may have slipped into complacency at times. His “small mindset” left him unprepared for the early liftoff in his college basketball career.
“It was definitely a shock to me because I didn't want to grow as a person,” he said. “I was like, I'm cool with the friends that I have. I don't need any more friends. These are my friends until the day I die.”
Our surroundings and social connections can have a significant impact on our future income, according to studies published in the journal Nature in 2022. Researchers analyzed 21 billion Facebook connections and established a link between childhood friendships with high-income families and an average 20% bump in future earnings. In other words, your social circle can help determine social mobility later in life.
Must Read
- Dave Ramsey warns nearly 50% of Americans are making 1 big Social Security mistake — here’s what it is and the simple steps to fix it ASAP
- Robert Kiyosaki begs investors not to miss this ‘explosion’ — says this 1 asset will surge 400% in a year
- Vanguard reveals what could be coming for U.S. stocks, and it’s raising alarm bells for retirees. Here’s why and how to protect yourself
Join 250,000+ readers and get Moneywise’s best stories and exclusive interviews first — clear insights curated and delivered weekly. Subscribe now.
Growth mindset
Adebayo said a grueling schedule of studying for college while traveling the country for basketball games forced him to shift his thinking.
“College was a wake-up for me,” he said.
Advertisement
Epiphanies like Adebayo’s lead to what’s called a “growth mindset.” Stanford psychologist Carol Dweck and her colleagues established through a series of experiments that students with this mentality — a belief that skills can be attained and improved — often took challenges and failures as learning experiences to advance their skills and careers. This eventually led to better outcomes than those with a “fixed mindset.”
Legendary investors Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger have also mentioned their growth mindset as part of their success stories.
“Knowledge builds up like compound interest,” Buffett once said. Munger had a similar view: “Go to bed smarter than when you woke up.”
Adebayo’s growth mindset allowed him to secure a spot on the Miami Heat, win an Olympic gold medal and earn over $100 million during his career, which allowed him to buy a Miami penthouse.
He even bought a new home for his mother on her 56th birthday in 2020. A framed photo of their North Carolina trailer hangs by the front door of the home as a reminder of how the growth mindset helped change the lives of the mother-son duo.
You May Also Like
- Turning 50 with $0 saved for retirement? Most people don’t realize they’re actually just entering their prime earning decade. Here are 6 ways to catch up fast
- This 20-year-old lotto winner refused $1M in cash and chose $1,000/week for life. Now she’s getting slammed for it. Which option would you pick?
- Warren Buffett used these 8 repeatable money rules to turn $9,800 into a $150B fortune. Start using them today to get rich (and stay rich)
- Here are 5 easy ways to own multiple properties like Bezos and Beyoncé. You can start with $10 (and no, you don’t have to manage a single thing)
Vishesh Raisinghani is a financial journalist covering personal finance, investing and the global economy. He's also the founder of Sharpe Ascension Inc., a content marketing agency focused on investment firms. His work has appeared in Moneywise, Yahoo Finance!, Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha, Mergers & Acquisitions Magazine and Piggybank.
