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Issue 144 - Earn the Right to be Proud and Confident

Woodens Wisdom
Wooden's Wisdom - Volume 3 Issue 144
Craig Impelman Speaking |  Championship Coaches |  Champion's Leadership Library Login

 

EARN THE RIGHT TO BE PROUD AND CONFIDENT

 
Coach Wooden's teams won 10 national championships in his last 12 years of coaching. This was accomplished with essentially five different groups of players
 
A key element in Coach Wooden's consistency was to convince each team that the legacy they were following would have no bearing on them winning their own championship.
 
Once a group won their first championship, Coach had to remind them that the previous championship had nothing to do with the possibility of the next one.
 
Coach was adamant that each player and each team understood they had to earn the right to be proud and confident.
 
Before each season, Coach sent the members of the team a letter. The following is an excerpt from the preseason letter sent to Kareem Abdul Jabaar and his teammates after they had won two consecutive national championships, and prior to them winning their third in the 1968-69 season:
 
The past cannot change what is to come. The work that you do each and every day is the only true way to improve and prepare yourself for what is to come. You cannot change the past, and you can only influence the future by what you do today.
 
The following is an excerpt from the preseason letter sent to Sidney Wicks and Curtis Rowe and their teammates after they had won their first national championship, and prior to them winning their second in the 1970-71 season:
 
It has been almost four months since our basketball season came to a close. It was a very successful season but it is now history and we must look toward the future. The past cannot change what is to come. It is what you do today that counts, and I sincerely hope that you are looking forward to an outstanding 1970–71 season and are eager, not just willing, to make the necessary personal sacrifices to reach that goal.
 
The following is an excerpt from the preseason letter sent to Bill Walton, Jamaal Wilkes and their teammates after they had won their first championship and prior to them winning their second in the 1972-73 season:
 
I must caution you that you cannot live in the past. The 1971–72 season is now history, and we must look toward the future. The past cannot change what is to come. The work that you do each and every day is the only true way to improve and prepare yourself for what is to come. You cannot change the past, but you can influence the future by what you do today.
 
The theme was simple and consistent. Confidence is a result of hard work and preparation. It is not a gift or a birth right.
 
As Coach liked to say: You must earn the right to be proud and confident.
 
 

Yours in Coaching,
 
 
Craig Impelman
 
 
Twitter: @woodenswisdom


 

 

 

Watch Video

Application Exercise

COACH'S
Favorite Poetry
AND PROSE

 

For a' That and a' That

 

Is there, for honest poverty,
That hings his head, an' a' that?
The coward slave, we pass him by,
We dare be poor for a' that!
For a' that, an' a' that,
Our toils obscure, an' a' that;
The rank is but the guinea's stamp;
The man's the gowd for a' that,

What tho' on hamely fare we dine,
Wear hoddin-gray, an' a' that;
Gie fools their silks, and knaves their wine,
A man's a man for a' that.
For a' that, an' a' that,
Their tinsel show an' a' that;
The honest man, tho' e'er sae poor,
Is king o' men for a' that.

Ye see yon birkie, ca'd a lord
Wha struts, an' stares, an' a' that;
Tho' hundreds worship at his word,
He's but a coof for a' that:
For a' that, an' a' that,
His riband, star, an' a' that,
The man o' independent mind,
He looks and laughs at a' that.

A prince can mak a belted knight,
A marquis, duke, an' a' that;
But an honest man's aboon his might,
Guid faith he mauna fa' that!
For a' that, an' a' that,
Their dignities, an' a' that,
The pith o' sense, an' pride o' worth,
Are higher rank than a' that.

Then let us pray that come it may,
As come it will for a' that,
That sense and worth, o'er a' the earth,
May bear the gree, an' a' that.
For a' that, an' a' that,
It's coming yet, for a' that,
That man to man, the warld o'er,
Shall brothers be for a' that.


Robert Burns 

 

 

 

 

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