When John Wooden (Ex UCLA basketball coach) began his coaching
career, he also taught high school English. In time he learned, his students
had various degrees of language talent. Yet all parents expected their children
to get an “A” in English. Consequently, some of his less-talented kids were
frustrated as they were not meeting the expectations of their moms and dads.
When Coach was growing up, his father told him, “Never try
to be better than someone else, but never cease trying to be the best you can
be.” Also and along the same lines, he had read George Moriarty’s words from
his poem, “The Road Ahead and the Road Behind,”
“For who can ask more of a man,
Than giving all within his span.
Giving all, it seems to me,
Is not so far from victory.”
As a result, Coach believed his students should not measure
success by the grades they earn but by the effort they had put in. In other
words, if you have done everything possible, you should consider yourself
successful, no matter what the numerical results show. So he coined his
definition for success,
Success is the peace of mind which is a direct result of the
self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best of which
you are capable.
He began to tell his students just that. But he soon
realized, although he had told them what success is, he had not shown them how
to get there. He needed some steps and he decided on making a pyramid with
blocks. See link:
The Bottom Tier:
Cornerstones—Industriousness and Enthusiasm: If you don’t
have hard work and a love for what you do, you’ll never be the best you can be.
You’ll break down somewhere along the way.
Middle Three: Friendship, Loyalty, and Cooperation mean you
need to work with other people because you need them to get to the top. Help
them and they’ll help you. These are foundational to success.
Second Tier:
Here is where you work on acquiring knowledge. Self-Control
(push yourself), Alertness, Initiative, and Intentness (stay with it and find a
way when there’s a roadblock)
Third Tier:
This is the heart of the Pyramid. Get yourself in
shape—physically, mentally and morally—to go the distance. Skill (quickly and
properly execute the basics), Team Spirit (eager to sacrifice self-glory for
the team).
Fourth Tier:
Poise (just being yourself) and Confidence are byproducts of
all the work you’ve done so far.
Competitive Greatness: Being at your best when the pressure
is on, is also a byproduct.
When Coach Wooden’s students began to believe in the
definition and started working through the Pyramid, they replaced the need for
extrinsic motivation (praise and grades) for intrinsic (I did my best. That’s
all I can ask of myself.) And according to Coach Wooden, the less-talented
students actually began to improve their grades. Interesting.
Swen
www.swennater.me
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