Coach John Wooden Continues to Inspire

In my last post, I talked about former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden’s Pyramid of Success. Here are my favorite quotes by Coach Wooden. 

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

Success is never final, failure is never fatal. It’s courage that counts.

Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

It isn’t what you do, but how you do it.

Consider the rights of others before your own feelings, and the feelings of others before your own rights.

Don’t let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.

Failure is not fatal, but failure to change might be.

It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.

If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?

If you’re not making mistakes, then you’re not doing anything. I’m positive that a doer makes mistakes.

Don’t measure yourself by what you have accomplished, but by what you should have accomplished with your ability.

It’s not so important who starts the game but who finishes it.

It’s the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen.

You can’t let praise or criticism get to you. It’s a weakness to get caught up in either one.

Things turn out best for the people who make the best of the way things turn out.

Here’s a short tribute to Coach Wooden:

What is your favorite Coach Wooden quote?

June 24, 2010

Coach John Wooden Lives on Through the Pyramid of Success

This month is dedicated to the many life principles former UCLA coach John Wooden gave us in his 99 years.  Coach Wooden passed away on June 4 but left us his wisdom and knowledge though his books and the “Pyramid of Success.”

Coach Wooden is considered to be one of college basketball’s most successful coaches, leading his basketball teams at UCLA to win 10 national championships and 88 consecutive games.  He made sure his athletes learned life principles such as discipline, respect, and doing their best. 

In his retirement, Coach Wooden put these principles to paper with his “Pyramid of Success” presenting the life principles he learned though his sport and life.  Below is the pyramid with the bottom representing the fundamentals and growing upward to the harder-to-reach principles. For more on Coach Wooden, go to his official website at CoachWooden.com.

June 10, 2010