Be Someone Who Matters: Find Your Best, Be Your Best, The Wooden Way

We all want to be our best selves. To make the most of the one life we live, using our God-given gifts to be everything we’re capable of becoming. To be someone who matters.

Growing up in the land of opportunity and home of the “American Dream,” you’ve likely always believed you should do something special with your life. You should have the opportunity to create a quality life for yourself and your family. You should matter as an individual and a person. You should positively impact the world and the people you find in and around your life. You believe this deeply.

So, how will you know you matter? What’s the measuring stick? Who’s keeping score? And how is the score being kept?

Do you have the right answers to the questions the world seems to be asking of you? Answers that would provide proof and real evidence that you matter?

Who are you? Who are your parents? What do you do? What did they do? Do you own your own home? Where do you live? What else do you own? Where did you go to school? Who do you know? Who knows you? What are you worth? How many people are following you? How successful are you? How are you making it now in our changing world?

These Questions Aren’t New

These questions of what matters, who matters, and what defines success aren’t new. Ninety years ago, a coveralls-clad, freckly faced, shy, student-athlete and local legend in rural Indiana, Johnny Wooden, wrote an essay and debated his teacher and classmates about these very same issues: What is success? And what really matters?

In Johnny’s classroom, Webster’s dictionary defined success as an “accumulation of material possessions and the attainment of a position of power and prestige.”

But Mr. Scheidler, Johnny’s teacher, had a different view. He suggested that what really mattered—when it came to true success—was “peace of mind.” To a young John Wooden, this sounded a lot like his father Joshua Wooden, who taught John and his brothers two important things: “Be true to yourself,” and “You should never try to be better than someone else, but never cease trying to be the best you can be. One is under your control; the other isn’t.” Those two ideas changed the course of John Wooden’s life.

The Wooden Way: Being Your Best

John Wooden wrote, taught, and lived these words: “Success is peace of mind attained only through self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to do the best of which you are capable.”

Living this definition created the legendary John Wooden we know today: a famously successful basketball coach who led UCLA to four undefeated seasons, 38 straight NCAA basketball tournaments, seven consecutive championships, and 10 championships overall in just 12 short years.

Coach Wooden spent years defining what it takes—and what behaviors are necessary—to be the very best you can be. The 25 behaviors he pinpointed became known as The Pyramid of Success: a perfect blueprint for doing the things that matter most in ways that will produce results that matter and, ultimately, help you become someone who matters.

How can you use Coach Wooden’s pyramid in your life, especially in the times we face now?

Be industrious. There’s no substitute for hard work; work smart and have a plan.

Be enthusiastic. Bring a contagious positive attitude to everything you do and everyone you touch.

Cultivate friendships. Don’t take your relationships for granted. Be loyal to those who depend on you.

Model cooperation. Always be more interested in finding the best way than having your own way.

Maintain your self-control. Practice self-discipline and keep your emotions in check.

Be alert. Observe constantly. Stay open-minded. Be eager to learn and improve.

Take the initiative. Don’t be afraid of failure; learn from it instead.

Set realistic goals. Concentrate on achieving your goals by resisting all temptations and being determined and persistent. 

Stay in top condition. Maintain yourself mentally, physically, and morally.

Hone your skills. Execute the fundamentals, and pay attention to the details.

Build team spirit. Have genuine consideration for others.

Maintain your poise. Be yourself in every situation. Don’t fight yourself.

Be confident. Exhibit the kind of confidence that comes from always being prepared. As Coach would say, “Failure to prepare is preparing to fail.”

Don’t shy from being competitive. Be your best when the best is needed. Savor difficult challenges.

Have faith. Have faith in yourself and in the knowledge that things will work out as they should, provided you do the things you must do.

Show patience. Good things take time, and they should.

As a lifelong learner, John Wooden knew what made people matter. He understood how it all tied together. Apply the best of who you are—your best thinking, spiritual maturity, emotional self-control, high-character behavior, and your best physical effort—to the situations and opportunities you are given. You will be successful. You will matter. Your life will matter. And you will help to build a world where everyone’s life matters.

Written by Lynn Guerin.