John Wooden: "Worthwhile Things Should Be Difficult to Attain.”

Legendary coach John Wooden shares his timeless philosophy on success, hard work, and reaching your full potential. In this inspiring message, he explains why true success is about peace of mind, self-satisfaction, and becoming your best — not comparing yourself to others. This episode will challenge you to pursue excellence with enthusiasm, discipline, and purpose. Source: John Wooden: The Pyramid Of SuccessHosted by Sean CroxtonFollow me on InstagramSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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  Good things don't come easy, and they should not. They should not. Worthwhile things should be difficult to attain. Hard work is a cornerstone for success.

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  Welcome back to the Quote of the Day Show. I am your host, Shawn Croxton, of seancroxton.com. We've got Coach John Wooden on this show today. Our QOD is this, worthwhile things should be difficult to attain. So he's going to talk about two of his cornerstones on his pyramid of success, which are hard work and enthusiasm. He's also going to share his definition of success, which I cannot hear enough. Every time I hear it, I'm like, ah, he really nailed that one. It's like probably the best definition of success I've ever heard before. Coach John Wooden's coming up.

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  The good Lord and His infinite wisdom did not create us all equal as far as mentality is concerned, as far as physical appearance is concerned, as size is concerned, as far as environment is concerned, as far as opportunity is concerned, we are not created equal, not at all. But there are some respects where we're fairly equal. We all have the same opportunity to make the most of what we have under the conditions that exist for us and the opportunity to try to improve our situation as best we can. But if we sit back and cry about the other fellow being in a more advantageous position,

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  and he has this, and he has that, and the tendency of people is to compare with those who apparently have more, when in reality oftentimes they have less. The more they have is only in a material sort of way. And as one of the ancient Chinese philosophers said, "We should seek our happiness and inner peace from the things that cannot be taken away from us." And material things can be taken away from us. So I was looking for something to consolidate my own thinking and perhaps make me become a better teacher. And I searched for an idea of a definition for success according to what I was after. And I remembered something that a high school professor that I'd had many years before

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  that probably at the time I didn't think too much about, but somewhere in the hidden recesses of the mind, it took hold because I remembered something about it many years later, and I came up with my definition of success, which is what I'm after, and I think you're after. I say success is peace of mind, which can be attained only through self-satisfaction in knowing that you have done the best to become the best that you're capable of becoming. That's not equal at all, but it is success. As far as coaching is concerned, I think I've had some teams that have been eminently

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  successful that didn't win national championships. I have had some teams that have won national championships that I don't think were as successful as others, because they didn't come as close to reaching their full potential, and this is what we're after. So I chose this as a definition to which I should aspire for success. After coming up with a definition, then I'm looking further to try to consolidate my thinking a little further, and I came up with an idea of a pyramid of success. And the apex of the pyramid is success, according to this definition.

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  Now, if any structure is to have any real strength and any solidity, it must have strong cornerstones. And in the late 1930s or middle 1930s, when I started on this, I selected the cornerstones that have never changed. Many of the other things within the blocks within this pyramid have changed, but the cornerstones have not changed. One cornerstone is industriousness. There is no substitute for work. If you're looking for the shortcut, the easy way, you're not making use of your potential. Grantland Rice, my favorite sports writer, who was a builder, not a knocker, said...

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  You wonder how they do it and you look to see the knack. You watch the foot in action, or the shoulder, or the back. But when you spot the answer where the higher glamours lurk, you'll find in moving higher up the laurel-covered spire that the most of it is practice and the rest of it is work. And so true. Good things don't come easy, and they should not. They should not. Worthwhile things should be difficult to attain. Hard work is a cornerstone for success. The other cornerstone that I have is enthusiasm. I think you must thoroughly enjoy what you're doing.

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  You must be enthusiastic about what you're doing if you're going to be able to come close to realizing your full potential. You can't do it if it's something that you don't want to do and you don't like to do. Then you're just putting in time. You're not putting your heart into it. You must be enthusiastic about it. Some twenty-six years ago, I went to UCLA. And shortly after I'd been there, I went to a lecture one evening to hear a gentleman speak on a topic in which I had no interest whatsoever. And you may say, "Well, why did you go?" Well, maybe for the same reason that some of you are here today. My superiors told me to be there. And I knew they would be there and would know whether or not I was there. And so I was there and sat up pretty close to the front.

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  I wanted them to make sure, to see me. I'm new at the city of Los Angeles, at UCLA. I want to become established. I'm afraid. I'm from the country, that's obvious. And I'm a small-town person all the time. And Los Angeles was frightening to me, that particular time. So this gentleman rose to speak, and I'm sure that maybe some of you have done. I looked at my watch and shook it. Hope it wouldn't stop, go move faster, and so on. And...

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  He wasn't a particularly polished speaker, but gracious was he enthusiastic about his topic, and he knew his topic. And before he had concluded his remarks, my whole attitude had changed. I'm leaning forward and eagerly listening most intently to the remarks that he had to make. And I was genuinely sorry when he concluded his remarks for the evening. A few days later, I had to go across campus at UCLA, and upon my return, I came by the library, and, and I had no intention, very seriously, of going into the library, but it is as if, as if some attraction pulled me into the library, searching for additional

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  information about a topic which only a short time before I thought I had absolutely no interest at all. And I oftentimes wonder how often and how many wonderful things I've missed out on because I haven't brushed up against someone that was enthusiastic about them. Enthusiasm stimulates other people. Enthusiasm brushes off upon those with whom you're in contact. I want my basketball players at UCLA to be truly enthusiastic about basketball, truly enthusiastic about it. If they're not, they should try something else. They're wasting their time and my time and the time of others. They should be involved in things about which they're truly enthusiastic, as far as their

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  extracurricular activities are concerned, and basketball should remain an extracurricular activity academically. Is there only reason they're at UCLA or any other college? That's your reason. Not to come to have a good time and, and participate in extracurricular activities all the time. There's a place for them, but keep your academics first in line. Across the base of the pyramid, I have three other things, all very much alike: loyalty, friendship, and cooperation.

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  That was Coach John Wooden. His website is coachwooden.com. You can watch today's talk on YouTube. It's called John Wooden: The Pyramid of Success. We're going to wrap things up tomorrow with T. Harv Ecker on a Finance Friday. I'll see you then. Have a good one. Peace.