Coach John Wooden, who lead the UCLA Men's Basketball program to ten championships and became a mentor to millions through his books and his teachings, used to tell his players, "Make each day your masterpiece." He explained that you must give 100% every day. You cannot give 50% today and 150% tomorrow. One hundred percent is all you can ever give.
Are you giving 100% every day? At work? To your kids? To your health? I know I am guilty of living a half-life. It's what motivates me to be up at this time in the morning on a Sunday writing instead of watching TV or sleeping (not that I'm much of a sleeper.) Wanting to give and get 100% every day is why I have cut out TV and why I read more and more books and have more and more conversations with friends old and new. I want to make each day my masterpiece.
When you start your day off late, yelling at your kids to hurry up, pissed off at the traffic in front of you, rushing to work, gossiping with co-workers about co-workers, doing a half-hearted job, and hated every minute of it, you are not living a masterpiece. You are living a piece of garbage.
When your day ends with three hours of mindless TV sitcoms which are more sarcastic than funny, which are negative, raunchy, recycled, unimaginative crap, your are a million miles from your masterpiece. I don't mean to be critical. I've been there, done that. If it's what you want your life to be - enjoy. But if this is how you live and you wonder why you're stuck in a job you hate, or why your relationships are stale, wonder no more. Begin creating your personal daily masterpiece. Begin making the subtle changes that will snowball into a new you.
101 days of this have given me time to reflect. I know that although I have made improvements, I have lost direction a couple of times. I need to continually refocus and make course corrections. Otherwise, it's like being in college and taking random classes with no focus or major. Sure, you learn stuff, but do you really get any better?
So, remember what Coach Wooden taught us: Make each day your masterpiece.
Make today your first masterpiece. God bless you.
- Adolfo
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Showing posts with label John Wooden. Show all posts
Showing posts with label John Wooden. Show all posts
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Monday, June 7, 2010
Day # 12 - This was supposed to be tough; lessons on leadership; day 4 within day 12
I set out to spend an entire year without reading, watching, or otherwise absorbing news. So far, no sweat. I'm moving away from all TV, which is a wonderful thing. Now, I have not become fanatical about it. If I walk into someone's house and the TV is on, I won't ask them to turn it off, I will choose to focus my attention elsewhere. Now, I'm not being cocky. 12 days without news may not sound like a difficult thing, but substitute whatever takes up most of your personal time. (Not including work, family, school, etc.) What do you do on a daily basis that is not benefiting you or your family. Is it hanging out at a bar? Is it an overwhelming obsession with sports? I don't know why I am prompting you. You know where your priorities lie. You may be on the right track. If you're not, I invite you to eliminate the time-leech in your life and do something better. Rise higher.
This experiment is difficult from the standpoint of having to shift priorities, of having to fill time that didn't used to exist. Fortunately, I was already committed to personal development, spending an hour or more a day on it before this project began. Now, I am just accelerating my progress.
This weekend I read a book called: "The Game of Life - and How to Play It." There was nothing new in the book, probably because it was written in 1925. But while the language was lacking the contemporary feel we're used to, the message was timeless. The program outlined in the book is heavy on declarations and big on the belief that what is yours cannot be taken away and what is not rightfully yours cannot become so without hurting someone in the process.
I am a believer in declarations. As a Christian, I believe that you should profess your faith. As a student of human behavior, I believe that what you say and hear determine what kind of day, career, relationships, and life you will ultimately have. Garbage in - garbage out. You cannot achieve what you do not believe. Or, as Donald Trump said, "If you're going to be thinking anyway, you might as well think big!"
The pastor Joel Osteen from Houston, Texas, is also a believer in declarations. You know Joel. He's the one they call the "Smiling Pastor." His message is one of positive faith, confidence, and expectancy.
These are biblical principals, which tells you two things: They are not a new fad, and they were written by God, so they work.
After the death of John Wooden, I wrote that the world had lost a giant. Giants are leaders and leadership is sorely lacking in this country. From elected officials who attack private citizens to a President and congress who seem completely unwilling to accept responsibility for anything that is not a success (with the current jokers, that means no responsibility at all.) *I haven't kept up with the news so if all that's changed and these losers have decided to man up, please let me know.
I think about leadership. I think about it a lot. I have been told on several occasions that I am a leader. That may or may not be. Maybe there is a diamond somewhere in there. I know that I want to be a leader and I am working toward that goal. I have some lessons on leadership to share with you.
Part of this quest of mine has been to become a better person. This is not, strictly speaking, about career advancement, money, prestige. This is about potential. Lots of wasted potential in a graveyard. When I look back at my life, many decades from now, I don't want to be the boulder at the top of the mountain, I want to have rolled down to the valley, expending all my energy... all my potential. I have not lost my temper in four days. That sounds frivolous, but it's true. I am also learning patience. I wish I had learned these things when I was 20 years old. (Three years ago... he said, tongue in cheek) But regrets and living in the past are a sure way to screw up your future. Let the next time you look at the mistakes of your past be the last time. Take what you learned from the experience and apply it to a brighter future.
Lessons:
- Nothing is as difficult if you have the right attitude.
- Success may be as simple as getting your priorities in order.
- Declare it with your voice, believe it with your heart, see it in your mind. This works both ways. If all you see are negatives, you are going to find them soon enough. Train your brain. You attract what you think about.
- To lead, you have to have been there. You must walk the talk.
- Leaders are in the trenches, not back at headquarters.
- Leaders share success, and take responsibility for failure.
- Leaders point only to lead the way.
I'm going to leave you with the declaration that Napoleon Hill used in his masterpiece, "Think and Grow Rich." You should say this out loud, daily, and make it part of your routine. Also, I would recommend reading "Think and Grow Rich," as part of your personal development.
The declaration is:
Day by day, in every way, I am getting better and better.
Say it out loud. Say it in the car. Say it in the shower. Even if you don't believe it or you feel silly, just do it. If you keep saying it, you will, soon enough, believe it.
Make it a great day. God bless you.
Adolfo
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This experiment is difficult from the standpoint of having to shift priorities, of having to fill time that didn't used to exist. Fortunately, I was already committed to personal development, spending an hour or more a day on it before this project began. Now, I am just accelerating my progress.
This weekend I read a book called: "The Game of Life - and How to Play It." There was nothing new in the book, probably because it was written in 1925. But while the language was lacking the contemporary feel we're used to, the message was timeless. The program outlined in the book is heavy on declarations and big on the belief that what is yours cannot be taken away and what is not rightfully yours cannot become so without hurting someone in the process.
I am a believer in declarations. As a Christian, I believe that you should profess your faith. As a student of human behavior, I believe that what you say and hear determine what kind of day, career, relationships, and life you will ultimately have. Garbage in - garbage out. You cannot achieve what you do not believe. Or, as Donald Trump said, "If you're going to be thinking anyway, you might as well think big!"
The pastor Joel Osteen from Houston, Texas, is also a believer in declarations. You know Joel. He's the one they call the "Smiling Pastor." His message is one of positive faith, confidence, and expectancy.
These are biblical principals, which tells you two things: They are not a new fad, and they were written by God, so they work.
After the death of John Wooden, I wrote that the world had lost a giant. Giants are leaders and leadership is sorely lacking in this country. From elected officials who attack private citizens to a President and congress who seem completely unwilling to accept responsibility for anything that is not a success (with the current jokers, that means no responsibility at all.) *I haven't kept up with the news so if all that's changed and these losers have decided to man up, please let me know.
I think about leadership. I think about it a lot. I have been told on several occasions that I am a leader. That may or may not be. Maybe there is a diamond somewhere in there. I know that I want to be a leader and I am working toward that goal. I have some lessons on leadership to share with you.
Part of this quest of mine has been to become a better person. This is not, strictly speaking, about career advancement, money, prestige. This is about potential. Lots of wasted potential in a graveyard. When I look back at my life, many decades from now, I don't want to be the boulder at the top of the mountain, I want to have rolled down to the valley, expending all my energy... all my potential. I have not lost my temper in four days. That sounds frivolous, but it's true. I am also learning patience. I wish I had learned these things when I was 20 years old. (Three years ago... he said, tongue in cheek) But regrets and living in the past are a sure way to screw up your future. Let the next time you look at the mistakes of your past be the last time. Take what you learned from the experience and apply it to a brighter future.
Lessons:
- Nothing is as difficult if you have the right attitude.
- Success may be as simple as getting your priorities in order.
- Declare it with your voice, believe it with your heart, see it in your mind. This works both ways. If all you see are negatives, you are going to find them soon enough. Train your brain. You attract what you think about.
- To lead, you have to have been there. You must walk the talk.
- Leaders are in the trenches, not back at headquarters.
- Leaders share success, and take responsibility for failure.
- Leaders point only to lead the way.
I'm going to leave you with the declaration that Napoleon Hill used in his masterpiece, "Think and Grow Rich." You should say this out loud, daily, and make it part of your routine. Also, I would recommend reading "Think and Grow Rich," as part of your personal development.
The declaration is:
Day by day, in every way, I am getting better and better.
Say it out loud. Say it in the car. Say it in the shower. Even if you don't believe it or you feel silly, just do it. If you keep saying it, you will, soon enough, believe it.
Make it a great day. God bless you.
Adolfo
Start building your Success Library!
Follow me on Twitter
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Sunday, June 6, 2010
Day # 11 - The Tao Te Broken Lawn Equipment - Goodbye, Coach Wooden
Great thing about Florida. In the winter months, you mow your lawn once a month and that's really just so your lawnmower doesn't completely seize up or rust. In the summer, you mow your lawn every fifteen minutes. So it only makes sense that if any of your lawn equipment is going to that great green field in the sky it's going to happen during the busy season.
Yesterday, it was the blower. You know, that noisy machine that cleans off your driveway after you cut the lawn. Man, I tried everything, but it would not behave. I managed to get most of the work done by playing with the choke levers. At one point, I was ready to throw it in front of the next car that came speeding by, but thought better of it. I am in control. My species created lawn equipment. I am the master in this situation. I kept fiddling with it and finished about half of the work before breaking out the rake and the push broom. My dad and I spent a while trying to fix it until I decided it was too hot and too pointless to continue.
On a more serious note: The world lost one of its giants on Friday. Coach John Wooden, who coached the UCLA men's basketball team to a million victories passed away at age 99. I never watched him coach a game. In all honesty, I am not a big fan of college basketball. I am, however, a fan of greatness, and Coach Wooden was greatness personified.
I have his Pyramid of success on the wall next to my desk and every now and then I peek at it. Coach Wooden married his high-school sweetheart and when she passed away, he visited her every month and wrote her a love letter every month on the anniversary of her passing, and placed them on her pillow. As a widower, he was a better husband than most men are as newlyweds.
He demanded excellence from his players and it is no coincidence that no one has been able to match his accomplishments on the court. I mean, ten championships? That's nothing to sneeze at. But his accomplishments as a human being are what make him a giant among men.
Lessons:
Let it go. Know when something has reached its useful life. Have the emotional maturity to say, "Oh well, this is as far as I can go with this," and move on.
Don't lose your temper. You destroy everything in your immediate perimeter. Tantrums are emotional napalm: indiscriminately destructive.
John Wooden's Seven Point Creed:
1. Be true to yourself.
2. Make each day your masterpiece.
3. Help others.
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 give thanks for your blessings every day.
John Wooden's Pyramid of success. I recommend printing it and keeping a copy at your desk.
http://www.coachwooden.com/pyramidpdf.pdf
That's all, Folks. Make today your best day yet. Repeat seven times for your best week yet. Multiply by 52 for your best year yet, and do it all over again for a great life.
- Adolfo
Start building your Success Library!
Follow me on Twitter
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Yesterday, it was the blower. You know, that noisy machine that cleans off your driveway after you cut the lawn. Man, I tried everything, but it would not behave. I managed to get most of the work done by playing with the choke levers. At one point, I was ready to throw it in front of the next car that came speeding by, but thought better of it. I am in control. My species created lawn equipment. I am the master in this situation. I kept fiddling with it and finished about half of the work before breaking out the rake and the push broom. My dad and I spent a while trying to fix it until I decided it was too hot and too pointless to continue.
On a more serious note: The world lost one of its giants on Friday. Coach John Wooden, who coached the UCLA men's basketball team to a million victories passed away at age 99. I never watched him coach a game. In all honesty, I am not a big fan of college basketball. I am, however, a fan of greatness, and Coach Wooden was greatness personified.
I have his Pyramid of success on the wall next to my desk and every now and then I peek at it. Coach Wooden married his high-school sweetheart and when she passed away, he visited her every month and wrote her a love letter every month on the anniversary of her passing, and placed them on her pillow. As a widower, he was a better husband than most men are as newlyweds.
He demanded excellence from his players and it is no coincidence that no one has been able to match his accomplishments on the court. I mean, ten championships? That's nothing to sneeze at. But his accomplishments as a human being are what make him a giant among men.
Lessons:
Let it go. Know when something has reached its useful life. Have the emotional maturity to say, "Oh well, this is as far as I can go with this," and move on.
Don't lose your temper. You destroy everything in your immediate perimeter. Tantrums are emotional napalm: indiscriminately destructive.
John Wooden's Seven Point Creed:
1. Be true to yourself.
2. Make each day your masterpiece.
3. Help others.
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 give thanks for your blessings every day.
John Wooden's Pyramid of success. I recommend printing it and keeping a copy at your desk.
http://www.coachwooden.com/pyramidpdf.pdf
That's all, Folks. Make today your best day yet. Repeat seven times for your best week yet. Multiply by 52 for your best year yet, and do it all over again for a great life.
- Adolfo
Start building your Success Library!
Follow me on Twitter
Friend me on Facebook
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