America is a bit of a sports-loving country. That’s why the National Football League has almost reached the status of a religion, with devotees devoting long hours on Sunday to watch their teams with adoration. There are enormous positive side effects, of course, to a love of sports. Kids that participate in everything from soccer to long-distance running enjoy tremendous health benefits.
John Wooden, left, after UCLA beat Notre Dame for their NCAA-record 61st straight win
It’s no wonder, then, that diehard sports fans can tell you all about their heroes, citing arcane statistics that will make your eyes glaze over if you’re not a fellow fan. But there’s another aspect to famous sports personalities that transcends their respective sports. Many sports heroes truly affect society at large. Jackie Robinson, for example, the first Black man to break the color barrier in baseball in 1947, preceded and undoubtedly helped inspire the civil rights movement that followed.
Sports coaches have had a similar impact. John Wooden coached the UCLA basketball team to an amazing 10 NCAA basketball championships, including seven in a row. Beyond those championships, though, members of his teams went on to credit Coach Wooden with inspiring them to achieve more in their personal and professional lives than they ever thought possible. Perhaps the most famous pillar of Wooden’s philosophy was his Pyramid of Success. That philosophy lives on in the website, TheWoodenEffect.com.
In an article on the website, Craig Impelman explores just one aspect of the second tier of the Pyramid of Success: Self-Control. Wooden’s insightful thoughts about the importance of self-control point out that it is a fundamental trait required for success in everything from parenting to business. Impelman cites a quote from Wooden about the quality: “Self-control, regardless of what we are doing, whether it involves a physical act or a mental decision, must be maintained to produce desirable results. If emotion takes over, reason usually flies out the window and the acts or decisions are not likely to be as productive as they should be.”
Self-control is invaluable in every walk of life. Parents need it to effectively instill values in their children. Leaders, whether in business, the military or a charitable organization, must lead by example. Again quoting Wooden, Impelman writes, “Remember that discipline is not to punish, but it’s to correct, to improve, to prevent, to help, so we must maintain our self-control at all times if we are going to function anywhere near our own particular level of competence, whatever that might be. Self-control is self-discipline.”
Wooden was a big believer in the power of reason to control unbridled emotion. Snap decisions made in response to an emotion can lead to disastrous consequences. As Impelman points out, “Coach stressed that self-control requires us to keep our emotions under control at all times. We must make decisions based on reason not fear, because fear is an emotion and therefore cannot be reasonable. Lack of self-control will compromise our judgment, common sense and confidence.”
In your personal or professional life, a favorite saying of Wooden’s can be a guiding light: “Discipline yourself and others won’t need to.”