OLD SCHOOL GRIT reveals the 15 unbreakable rules for building grit and achieving your goals.
Here are five of my favorite motivational quotes from John Wooden, the legendary basketball coach who ruled the NCAA tournament like no one else in history…
“The most important key to achieving great success is to decide upon your goal and launch, get started, take action, move! … The individual who is mistake-free is also probably sitting around doing nothing. And that’s a very big mistake.”
You can’t sit around waiting for conditions to be just right before going after your goals. While some preparation is obviously necessary, you will never have all the answers in advance. You will never reach a point where every step on your journey is mapped out perfectly.
If your goal is a worthwhile one, you will encounter unforeseen obstacles along the way. You will make mistakes no matter how prepared you are.
But once you start making mistakes, you can start learning from those mistakes and changing course. And that is how goals are accomplished.
Attack and adapt. Keep moving forward.
Remember, you can’t adapt or move forward until you first put yourself on the line and get started.
“You can do nothing about tomorrow. It is yet to come. However, tomorrow is in large part determined by what you do today. So, make today a masterpiece. You have control over that.”
Successful people are great at compartmentalizing each day. They don’t spend a lot of time dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. Instead, they put all their energy into making this day as successful and productive as it can be.
High achievers know that consistently stacking enough good days on top of one another leads to the accomplishment of huge goals in the long run.
“I believe one of my strengths is my ability to keep negative thoughts out. I am an optimist.”
Like most high achievers, John Wooden knew how important it was to eliminate negative thoughts as much as possible. He didn’t bury his head in the sand and ignore reality, but he kept his focus on what he could control and what he wanted to achieve.
Wooden knew that if he focused on negative thoughts, it would only lead to worry and stress.
What you focus on most, you tend to attain. So focus on the positive. Focus on what you want to achieve and then adapt to whatever happens.
Don’t stress yourself out stewing about all the things that might go wrong. You’ll handle them if they actually occur.
“Things work out best for those who make the best of how things work out. … Time is limited. Focus on that which you can improve, correct, or change. Ignore what you can’t control.”
John Wooden won ten National Championships as UCLA’s basketball coach. But for a man who did so much winning, he made it a point to rarely discuss winning. Instead, he wanted his players to focus exclusively on what they could control.
Wooden knew that sometimes his team would not be able to fully control the final result. There were simply some factors outside of his and his players’ control, which could affect whether the team won or lost.
But John Wooden knew that if his teams relentlessly focused on the things they could control – namely, their effort and their attitude in the present moment – the wins would naturally follow. His incredible results proved his theory correct.
Unforeseen things may come your way, but if you keep your focus on only what you can improve, correct, or change; the results will take care of themselves.
“If we magnified blessings as much as we magnify disappointments, we would all be much happier.”
This one is easier said than done. Most coaches will tell you the pain of losing packs a bigger emotional punch than the joy of winning. No matter your line of work, we can all relate to this feeling. It’s easy to spend more time dwelling on past hurts and disappointments instead of joys and achievements.
John Wooden recognized the importance of changing this habit and modern psychology backs up Wooden’s hunch. Studies show that happier and more successful people are better at recalling past successes and not ruminating on past defeats.
This mindset takes discipline and practice, but it can be developed.
Make it a point to catch yourself whenever you’re dwelling on a negative memory from the past and remind yourself to change the channel. Change it to the thought of something you’re grateful for, a positive memory, or the vision of something you want to see happen in the future. You’ll instantly feel happier and more positive.
John Wooden recognized that happier, positive people tend to be more productive and more successful.
