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John Wooden: Success is Peace of Mind

Writer's picture: acoachsdiaryacoachsdiary

“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.” - John Wooden


Did you do your best?


That is the most important measurement of success.


John Wooden is one of the most successful coaches in the history of college basketball. “The Wizard of Westwood” led the UCLA Bruins men’s basketball team to 10 national championships in 12 years, including 7 straight from 1967-9173.


Coach Wooden began his career as a high school teacher and coach at Dayton High School in Kentucky in 1932, and even back then, Coach Wooden dealt with parent issues. 


In the book They Call Me Coach, he wrote that he was concerned for his students because many parents judged teachers by the grades their children received in class. In his words, “If the grades were good, the teacher was good, and if the grades were poor, it was the teacher’s fault.”


Because of this, Coach Wooden, way back in the 1930s, created his own definition of success. He wrote: 


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.”


His goal was to redefine success so that people could see that it comes from the intrinsic validation you get from feeling good about yourself and the work you do, not the external rewards and validation that you have no control over.


Control what you can control: Doing good work that makes you happy and brings joy.


Questions of the Day: What does your best look like, and did you do your best today?

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