Baller 21

Life Lessons // John Wooden

by Chris Harvey on 08/28/08

Here is a photo (average printer and then scanned) of when John Wooden came to speak at my Alma Mater, California Baptist University, I believe, in 2001.

Growing up in Southern California and loving the game of basketball, I had heard a lot about John Wooden (All-time great head coach at UCLA, 10 NCAA champions in 12 seasons).

I had heard many general stories from coaching mentors of his “pyramid of success” and his character in athletics and life, but I had never read about his life on my own.

Additionally, I am currently working on gathering some life lesson’s to implement into a basketball league that I am developing. So, it seemed like a good place to start my research with a man who is one of the greatest basketball coaches ever and man of character.

Thankfully, I have unlimited funds on my library card, and so I decided to put it to work. The first book that I have read was My Personal Best: Life Lessons from an All-American Journey. This was a great book, and only 205 pages. I learned a lot and took about five and a half pages of notes. What a great resource for teachers, parents, and coaches!

Here are a few highlights that stood out to me (many of the lessons and principles he taught came from the influence of his dad and coaches):

• Lessons in the loss: After their family loss everything (pigs, crops, bank taking the farm), Wooden Sr. didn’t wince. He said, “Blaming, cursing, hating doesn’t help you, it hurts you.” (All of this was before the Great Depression).

• Two sets of three: “Never lie, Never cheat, Never steal. Don’t whine, Don’t complain, Don’t make excuses.” (I needed to hear the last set).

• Working hard: “Do your best, and if the results were unsatisfactory, keep quiet about it and work harder next time.”

• Seven point creed (part of a high school graduation gift from his dad. He said that he didn’t fully understand how profound the seven-points were until he was an adult raising a family, teaching, and coaching):

1. Be true to yourself.
2. Help others.
3. Make each day your masterpiece.
4. Drink deeply from good books, especially the Bible.
5. Make friendship a fine art.
6. Build a shelter against a rainy day.
7. Pray for guidance, and count and give thanks for your blessing every day.

• Poetry that inspires:

For when the one Great Scorer

Comes to write against your name,

He writes not that you won or lost,

But how you played the game.

• On leadership: “Be more interested in finding the best way, not just in having it your way.”

• Defining Success: “Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming.”

• Effort is key: “It is never simply a case of win or lose, because I do not demand victory. The significance of the score is secondary to the importance of finding out how good you can be.

I could go on but this will do for now. I would have loved to play for John Wooden!

What book on John Wooden do you recommend I read next?

What other coach/athlete (basketball for right now) do you recommend for my life lessons (people that inspire in athletics) research?

C.Harv