Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
MJ wrote: “I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.”
Drive and eventual success come from within. And only within.
I'm not sure you understand high achievers at all. You just don't get it.
To make an outstanding athlete (or an outstanding anything), the person has to work harder than everyone else...and not just a little bit harder. If the coach tells the team to do 20 pushups, they do 40. If the coach tells the team to do 100 layups, they do 200. That is why they are outstanding...they have God given talent, and then a work ethic greater than everyone else's.
Athletes have to find the motivation to do those extra pushups and extra layups. They are human...they get tired, they get frustrated. So, they create a narrative so that they will keep going when everyone else has quit and gone home.
As to the MJ "getting cut" story...which is, by the way, accurate. He was cut from the varsity team as a freshman. And, you are correct, it was because he was too short. MJ wanted something, he didn't get it...isn't that the definition of failure?
He did come home crying his eyes out for being cut, and he was humiliated. So, he spent the next year practicing...so, when he did grow a few more inches he was far and away the best player on the team, and the best player in the state.
The narrative they create is, "I failed before. But, I worked harder. Then, I succeeded." When something bad happens, they go to work and try to overcome the problems.
You should read, "Hub Fans Bid the Kid Adieu," by John Updike. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1960/10/22/hub-fans-bid-kid-adieu
Yes.
Yes.
MJ wrote: “I've failed over and over and over again in my life and that is why I succeed.”
Drive and eventual success come from within. And only within.