Wooden's Wisdom | Leadership Resource Center

Issue 111 - Things Turn Out Best for Those Who Make the Best of the Way Things Turn Out


Wooden's Wisdom - Volume 3	Issue 111
Craig Impelman Speaking \| Championship Coaches \| Champion's Leadership Library Login
THINGS TURN OUT BEST FOR THOSE WHO MAKE THE BEST OF THE WAY THINGS TURN OUT This famous quote of Coach Wooden's is reflected in the lives of countless people with amazing rags to riches stories. Here are just a few examples: Howard Schultz grew up in the Brooklyn projects before discovering, and now leading, Starbucks. Leonardo Del Vecchio was an orphaned factory worker whose eyeglasses empire today makes Ray-Bans and Oakleys. Ingvar Kamprad was born in a small village in Sweden and created a mail-order business that became IKEA. J.K. Rowling lived on welfare before creating the Harry Potter franchise. Before Sam Walton founded Wal-Mart, he milked cows and sold magazines in Oklahoma. Oprah Winfrey spent the first six years of her life living with her grandmother, wearing dresses made out of potato sacks. After being molested by two members of her family and a family friend, she ran away from home at age 13. At 14, her newborn child died shortly after he was born. She went back to live with her mother, but it wasn't until her mother sent her to live with her father that she turned her life around. She got a full scholarship to college, won a beauty pageant — where she was discovered by a radio station — and the rest is history. Certainly, financial wealth is not always the only indicator of happiness or success. The happiest man I ever knew was John Wooden. His amazing marriage to his wife Nellie was a primary source of that happiness. In his book A Game Plan For Life with Don Yeager, coach described it this way: My Nellie was the one and only woman I ever loved, ever kissed, ever hoped to share a life with. And even though she passed away in 1985 after fifty-three years of marriage, my love for her remains as strong as it ever was. I still keep her pajamas laid out on her side of the bed, and I’ve written a letter to her every single month on the date of her passing. She was my strength and encouragement, my comfort and my support—she taught me so much about love. In his book My Personal Best with Steve Jamison, Coach describes his situation two days before he was supposed to be married: At 6 P.M. on August 6, 1932—two days before Nell and I were supposed to get married—I had exactly two dollars to my name, The Martinsville Trust Company—where I had put my entire life's savings, exactly $909.05—went bust. When the bank went broke, so did I. Coach and Nell made the best of the way things had turned out. A local business man lent them $200 and rather than delay or make excuses, they went to Indianapolis the next day and were married. A marriage that certainly turned out the best for them. Yours in Coaching, Craig Impelman www.woodenswisdom.com Twitter: @woodenswisdom	COACH'S Favorite Poetry AND PROSE Today You Can Today you can choose to count your blessings or you can count your troubles. Today you can live each moment or you can put in time. Today you can take action towards your goals or you can procrastinate. Today you can plan for the future or you can regret the past. Today you can learn one new thing or you can stay the same. Today you can seek possibilities or you can overwhelm yourself with the impossible. Today you can continue to move forward or you can quit. Today you can take steps towards resolving your challenges or you can procrastinate. You see today the choices are up to you in deciding what you do today. Catherine Pulsifer
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