Throughout my life the name John Wooden has cropped up again and again in the media. When his name popped up here or there, as far as I can remember, no one had a bad word to say about this famous UCLA basketball coach. Only words of respect and admiration accompany his name, in my experience. Yet, I never really paid attention or got curious enough to find out why, Until recently.
Maybe you are like I was, clueless about John Wooden. I had no idea what the man was actually like or why people heaped respect upon him. Today’s blog post is designed to cure you of that condition. If you have 17min and 36 seconds, watch this Ted Talk by John Wooden himself:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MM-psvqiG8
In this talk he lays out a metric ton of life wisdom and practical advice for teachers. One inspiring take-away for me is his definition of success. Which is – success is doing your best, living up to your potential. He won many basketball championships, but building character was more important to him than winning.
I think the 365 commitment is a tool for attaining John Wooden’s definition of success. “Do the best of which you are capable.” This, combined with advice from Jordan Peterson, “Don’t compare yourself to others, but instead compare yourself to who you were yesterday” really works for me, and helps me stay on track and engaged with my 365 Commitment.
Because of John Wooden, I added “Do my best” to my daily list. Having it on my list has made a difference for the better. Thanks Coach!
Ben Wagner (11)
Member 365 Commitment
