Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you did your best to become the best that you capable of becoming.
John R. Wooden
The pyramid of success progression includes 15 blocks
Wooden success principals:
Industriousness:
In plain and simple English this means hard work. Very hard work. There is no substitute for very hard work when it comes to success.
I have not known, heard of, or read about any individual anywhere who achieved real success without working extremely hard. In fact, the great successes we all know about are individuals who almost always have greatly outworked their competition.
Excerpt from Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections
There is no substitute for work – “Worthwhile results
come from hard work and careful planning,”
First of all, our MKE leaders and guides are taking care of the
careful planning. As participants, doing the daily work put forth to us.
Reading, sitting, writing, webcasts, blogging and other learning challenges to
show that we are serious about our future selves.
Friendship:
The two qualities of Friendship that are so important are respect and camaraderie. To me these are the most noteworthy characteristics of true Friendship as it pertains to leadership. Think how much you’ll give when asked to do so by someone you respect and with whom you share camaraderie. You will give plenty, all you’ve got.
Where Friendship exists you will find the makings of a formidable organization. That is why it is in the foundation of my Pyramid.
Excerpt from Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections
“Friendship comes from mutual esteem, respect and devotion.” Similarly, “like marriage it must not be taken for granted but requires joint effort.”
I love this explanation and comparison. Therefore, I agree that a
successful relationship needs a common and mutual friendship.
Creating or improving relationships is exactly what the MKE is wanting us to do. They want us participating in the alliances and commenting and supporting one another. The Law of Giving is correlating with Scroll II.
Loyalty:
Loyalty is part of our higher nature and it is also part of the nature of leaders who achieve higher goals. The power of Loyalty is the reason I placed it in the center of the Pyramid’s foundation.
A leader who has Loyalty is the leader whose team I wish to be a part of. This is true almost everywhere. Most people, the overwhelming majority of us, wish to be in an organization or part of a team whose leadership cares about them, provides fairness and respect, dignity and consideration.
Loyalty from the top inspires Loyalty from below. It is a most precious and powerful commodity and it starts with the leader.
Excerpt from Wooden on Leadership
Being loyal, “To yourself and all those depending on
you. Keep your self-respect”. Showing up for our daily chores,
committing to our future selves. Addressing that Gal in the mirror and making
her proud of you.
Cooperation:
Sharing ideas, information, responsibilities, creativity and tasks is a priority of good leadership and great teams. This is Cooperation. (The only thing that is not shared is blame. A strong self-confident leader gives credit to others, when deserved, and takes blame. A weak leader takes credit and gives blame.)
You are not the only person with good ideas. Others too have brains. In order to reach your organization’s full potential there must be Cooperation.
Two strong field horses could not pull an empty baby carriage if they work at cross purposes. The carriage will not budge unless there is Cooperation.
Excerpt from Wooden on Leadership
While using cooperation – “With all levels of co-workers. Listen if you want to be heard. Be interested in finding the best way, not in having your way.”
After we all exhibited cooperation in the “kindness” week, working together as a team. Yet again, going into the mastermind alliance and taking a bit of our time supporting our fellow MKE members and new found friends by sharing their blogs to help ensure their future success also.
Enthusiasm:
The two cornerstones of my Pyramid of Success, Industriousness and Enthusiasm, provide strength individually but much more strength when combined as one.
I described Industriousness: very hard work. But hard work is not enough. It must be ignited, lit afire by something that will raise it to the extraordinary level required for success. That ‘something’ is your Enthusiasm which infuses hard work with inspired power that all great competitors have.
Your heart must be in your work. Your energy and Enthusiasm stimulates those you work with. It is the ingredient that transforms Industriousness into something of great magnitude – the engine that powers all blocks of the Pyramid. It is why I chose Industriousness and Enthusiasm as the cornerstones of my Pyramid of Success. It is where everything begins.
Excerpt from Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections
Enthusiasm – “Brushes off on others – Enjoy
what you are doing” Connecting to your higher self, God or Spirit
in you!
We have the knowledge from the exercises we do, we just need to have imagination to bridge it together with enthusiasm to have success.
Competitive Greatness:
Competitive Greatness is having a real love for the hard battle knowing it offers the opportunity to be at your best when your best is required.
The great competitors I have played for and against, taught and admired all shared a joy in the struggle itself – the journey, the contest and competition. The tougher the battle the better.
A leader must convey this to those you lead: a tough fight can bring forth Competitive Greatness. The hard battle inspires and motivates a great competitor to dig deep inside. That’s why I relish the challenge a worthy competitor presents. You are tested. When properly prepared you will rise to your highest level and achieve Competitive Greatness.
Excerpt from Wooden on Leadership
“Be at your best when your best is needed – Enjoy a difficult challenge”
We started creating this competitiveness with ourselves by starting with the gal in the glass reading while looking in the mirror. Learning how to mastermind with others. Asking ourselves questions that make us possibly uncomfortable. “What am I pretending not to know?” or “What would the person I intend to become do next?”
The 3 corner stones &
base of success pyramid covered:
Since day one there’s been a bigger progression for the success of
our “future selves.” I am getting so much out of this program. It is helping me
progress in so many areas of my life!
The whole is greater than the sum of the parts!
Poise:
Just be yourself. Don’t pretend to be what you are not. Don’t get rattled, thrown off or unbalanced regardless of the circumstance or situation. Leaders with Poise do not panic under pressure.
Poise means holding fast to your principles and beliefs and acting in accordance with them regardless of how bad (or good) the situation may be. Know who you are and be true to yourself.
Those with Poise have a brave heart in all circumstances. Poise is a powerful gift you give yourself when you acquire the qualities of the Pyramid in the supporting tiers beneath it.
Excerpt from Wooden on Leadership
Poise is “Just being yourself. Being at ease in any
situation. Never yourself.”
We are working with Scroll II bringing our best qualities, and
gifts. Being attentive to the virtues, challenging our awareness and skills and
beliefs. As a result, a situation or feeling that is not familiar or
comfortable arises. It is taking definite poise and control during those times.
Confidence:
There is no stronger steel than well-founded belief in yourself; the knowledge that your preparation is fully complete and that you are ready for the competition.
Confidence cannot be grafted on artificially. True abiding confidence is earned through tenaciously pursuing and attaining those assets that allow you to reach your own level of competency; that is, excellence.
You must monitor Confidence because it can easily turn into arrogance which then can lead to the mistaken and destructive belief that previous achievement will be repeated without the same hard effort that brought it about in the first place.
Excerpt from Wooden on Leadership
Confidence is “Respect without fear. May come from
being prepared and keeping all things in proper prospective”
With the understanding that the world within creates the world
without, our MKE team made sure they added small tasks to our all ready
occurring habits. They certainly made sure that we were replacing the old
routine with the new routine giving us a sense of accomplishment and
completion.
As a result we develop within ourselves a priority to work on the
world with-in we align our priorities differently 1. World within &
relationship with Creator 2. Family and fellowship 3. Keeping promises 4.
Finishing what you start, meeting requirements 5. Business,
By doing this, asking us to show up every week, ready for next
weeks lessons. Therefore, combining these small tasks, developing a sense of
confidence within ourselves, knowing we’re capable of so much more! We are on
our way to success.
Condition:
You must be in physical Condition, but you must also have mental and moral Condition. All three are components in this block of the Pyramid because you can’t have one without the others. Weak mental or moral Condition precludes top physical Condition.
Some observers felt that our players had top physical Condition. That was only part of it. They also had top mental and moral Condition.
I reminded them, the players, of their responsibility to achieve Condition with this little rhyme:
“There is a choice you have to make, In everything you do.
So keep in mind that in the end, The choice you make makes you.”If you make the right choices you will achieve Condition.
Excerpt from Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections, and Wooden on Leadership
Condition is a combination of “Mental-Moral-Physical.
Rest, exercise and diet must be considered. Moderation practiced,
dissipation eliminated.”
Within the MKE, leadership made sure that we implemented a
combination of this by doing our reading, not once but 3 times a day. That took
discipline, as well as doing our sits which put our minds to work while morally
seeking and connecting to source.
We also did the mind gym thing, which was using our shapes, our
affirmation in combination with movement or exercise. Finally, the evening read
of the gal in the glass kept us morally and mentally responsible to ourselves.
Skill:
At the very center of the Pyramid of Success is Skill. You have to know your stuff and that includes a mastery of details.
This is true whether you’re an athlete, a surgeon, or a CEO. You’d better be able to execute properly and quickly and that requires Skill. As much as I value experience, and I value it greatly, I’d rather have a lot of Skill and less experience that the other way around.
Mastery of the skills you need in your job requires learning and it is why leaders and those who are high achievers are lifelong learners. I had this motto tacked on my office wall for many years: “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts.”
Skill is an ongoing and lifelong process.
Excerpt from Wooden on Leadership
Skill is “A knowledge of and the ability to properly
and quickly execute fundamentals. Be prepared and cover every detail.”
Therefore, in the MKE we are carefully started to add to our
service cards skill sets or plan of action details to move our journey to
success in each of our fields. We just worked on the ‘Fox & Hedgehog’ theory
this week so we could focus more on our primary activities and skills we need
to spend more time on.
Team Spirit:
This block of the Pyramid addresses a most important characteristic: selflessness which is the opposite of selfishness. I mean by this that you are eager to sacrifice personal glory or gain for the greater good, namely, the welfare and success of your organization, your team, your group.
For me it meant I was constantly searching for that player who would make our team ‘great’ rather than a someone who was just a ‘great player’. There is a big difference and that difference is what constitutes Team Spirit.
I did not want a person on our team who was reluctant to sacrifice for the good of the team. I prized the individual who was eager to sacrifice for our common good.
Excerpt from Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections
Team Spirit is a “Genuine consideration for others – An
eagerness to sacrifice personal interests of glory for the welfare of all.”
Consequently I felt like the successful team spirit really sky
rocketed around the ‘Kindness’ week. We are supporting each other while we are
reading, tweeting, sharing and commenting on each others blogs or posts.
Self-Control:
Getting to the top and staying there (somewhat different tasks) present unique and formidable challenges. To do either requires great Self-Control. This characteristic within the Pyramid of Success addresses the importance of controlling yourself in all areas – avoiding temptations, avoiding emotionalism, avoiding peaks and valleys of effort.
I viewed Self-Control, both personal and by our team, as a sixth Bruin on the court during my years at UCLA. That invisible sixth player was as important as any of the visible players.
I like to remind those under my supervision: “Control yourself so others won’t have to do it for you.”
Excerpt from Wooden on Leadership
Self-Control requires discipline and needs practice to “Keep
emotions under control.”
Control and discipline are a big part of the changes being made within our new habits and routines. Hence, the sits require mind and body discipline as well as time. The reading requires time, the flipping of cards, doing these things when it would be much easier many times to just not do them. Instead we are “doing it now” and retraining our brain.
We utilize the R2A2 method, of recognize, relate, assimilate and apply. Therefore, we are retraining our brain by taking control and keeping our promises!
Alertness:
My favorite American hero is Abraham Lincoln. Abe had Alertness. Mr. Lincoln once said that he never met a person from whom he did not learn something although most of the time it was something not to do.
There is activity going on around us at all times from which we can acquire knowledge if we have Alertness. Too often we get tunnel vision and don’t see the full picture which precludes learning things that are available.
Basketball is played as much between the ears – Alertness – as between the lines on the court. This is true in life and business. Alertness is that asset that keeps you awake and perceptive and increases Skill. The driver who’s asleep at the wheel will crash. The same happens to organizations lacking Alertness: they will crash.
Excerpt from Wooden on Leadership
Alertness is to “Be learning constantly, stay open
minded, eager to learn & improve.”
Alertness, openness and paying attention to the shapes, the
Franklin Make-over, Haanel. Being successful observers – most people have 21 to
42 days to build a habit. We are over 90 days in creating this new future
selves. Blogging, reading, sitting, thinking, flash cards repeatedly. Alertness
means finishing the assignments and being eager, open to be constantly
improving!
Initiative:
Failure to act is often the biggest failure of all. Initiative is the ability to act. Simple as that. You must prepare thoroughly in all ways. If you have done that you must then summon the wherewithal to apply Initiative.
Failure happens. None of us is perfect but you must train yourself not to fear failure. Fear instead inaction when it is time to act.This is true in all areas of life. Proper preparation must be followed with Initiative. As I reminded myself and others often: “Be quick, but don’t hurry.” That’s a good motto for Initiative.
Excerpt from The Essential Wooden
Initiative – “Cultivate the ability to make decisions and think alone. Do not be afraid of failure, but learn from it.”
Each successfully completed task demonstrates initiative. Looking for “linkage” with Og, Haanel and the exercises. We are learning to take initiative by making and keeping promises and completing all assignments. We take it upon ourselves to do up blogs and comment on others. In addition, daily sits which require a fair bit of time management to be successful.
Intentness:
This personal quality may be as important as any within the Pyramid. It is the ability to stay the course even when that course is most difficult and the obstacles seem insurmountable. You do not quit: Intentness.
Be persistent. Be determined. Be tenacious. Be unrelenting. The road to achievement is rocky, hard, and long. Things easily achieved are rarely long-lasting or significant.
If you have Intentness and your ability warrants it you will eventually reach the top of the Pyramid.Excerpt from The Essential Wooden
Intentness – “Set a realistic goal. Concentrate on its achievement by resisting all temptations and being determined and persistent.”
Learning the 7 laws of the mind, mastering the law of substitution realizing attention of our focus or what we think about grows. Therefore, intention will allow us to look deep within ourselves to find PPN’s and our definite major purpose.
The Process of Effortless
Change:
The Future You Has Wooden’s Success Pyramid
Once we start mastering the process, change becomes automatic and effortless. Learning so many different techniques is helping train our brains easier and faster. Deciding what we wanted to achieve we just had to execute on that plan and envision it with feeling, then execute.
Slowly our brain is replacing new behaviors into our lives helping us getting ride of old habits that are no longer serving us. Once our brain knew the plan, the law of the subconscious can now help us out! We are now creating our own personal plan for success.
“People don’t plan to fail;
they simply fail to plan.”
