alone at the top

I just finished a book called Relentless, by Tim Grover, who was the athletic trainer for many NBA greats, including Michael Jordan, Dwyane Wade, Charles Barkley and the late great Kobe Bryant. Grover described what it was like to train such elite athletes, specifically which traits he observed these GREAT players to possess, which the merely GOOD players did not. What set them apart? While there are many things that made these men exceptional, what stood out to me most as I read the book, is that all of them were willing to sacrifice EVERYTHING to achieve their goals. Laser focused; every practice, every game, every day, no matter what. They worked harder, longer and smarter than anyone else, and weren't afraid to step on others along the way, if necessary. They would literally do whatever was required to rise to the top, and to remain there. They didn't know any other way and were relentless in their pursuits. Often that meant climbing up to such a high level that they were all alone. That was the price of greatness and they would have paid it again and again and again.
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"Most people are afraid to climb that high, because if they fail, the fall will kill them."
-Tim Grover