Pyramid of Success

The Pyramid of Success
John Wooden

Block 1:Industriousness

"There is no substitute for work. Worthwhile results come from hard work and careful planning."

Being industrious doesn't necessarily mean working in a company. It relates to what you do in a company not being involved in a company. It is suppose to mean that you are busy that you always have work to do and that you have no time to slack off. That is why i put a picture of bees. Bess are one of the most industrious insects around just like ants. They tend their young and queen and then they have to go on really long flights just to get some pollen. Its tiring but they don't slack off because the hive depends on the success of one another, just like in basketball. That is why John wanted his players to stay industrious so that they can learn not to slack off and work hard. So that one persons success is everyone's success.

Block 2: Enthusiasm

"It is 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."

Being enthusiastic makes the difference in great outstanding work or mediocre work. If your excited then the subject will have your full attention. Your mind will be completely focused on that singular thing. A focused mind is what makes great work happen. Unlike when your not enthusiastic so that do couldn't care less. You think its not fun or exciting so you try to occupy your mind with better thoughts. That just makes it so that the subject or work does not hove your full attention, Causing mediocre work. No one likes mediocre its boring its common its everywhere it doesn't get recognized. Unlike great work its amazing it gets rewarded it gets all the attention. Thats is why you should always try to be enthusiastic

   Block 3: Friendship

"Comes from mutual esteem, respect and devotion. Like marriage it must not be taken for granted but requires a joint effort."

Friendship is important because being lonely is no fun. You will always need a shoulder to lean on. Now would you rather do that to a stranger or a good trusted friend. It will be easier with a friend since they know you. They will be able to connect with you on a personal level unlike a stranger. Plus having a friend can help finish work faster. You could bounce ideas of them. You could get inspired by them or their actions. They could even help you out to improve productivity. Those are just a few reasons why you should always have at least one good friend.

 Block 4: Loyalty

"To yourself and to all those depending upon you. Keep your self-respect."

You have to know where your loyalties lay. Are they to your parents. will you obey their every command no matter what. Will you put them above your education. Are they to yourself so that you will do everything that is best for you. Such as Spend hours studying to ace the big test. Or join a sport or club to better your chances to go to college. If you don't know to who or what your loyal to then you need to figure it out. Since if you know what your loyal to then it will be easier making choices that would normally rip you apart.That is why you need to know o who or what your loyal to.

Block 5: Cooperation

"With all levels of your co-workers. Listen if you want to be heard. Be interested in finding the best way, not in having your own way. "

When humans work together they accomplish the impossible. The seven wonders of the world did not make themselves

Block 6: Ambition (For noble goals)

Everyone has a plan to success.That's because every one wants to succeed in something. In sports, school, video games, politics, etc. but only some will get what they want. It Depends om their ambition. Your ambition is like your engine. If you have great ambition you will go further than anyone else. You will get their faster than others. That's because ambitious people will do whatever it takes to succeed. That is exactly the kind of attitude it takes to make it to the top. Ambition will take all the way there.

Block 7: Self-Control

"Practice self-discipline and keep emotions under control. Good judgement and common sense are essential."

FIst or harsh words are not always the answer. Sometimes you need to stuff and wonder is it worth it. Should i call her a stupid girl. Should i hit her over and over and over again. Sure she may deserve it but think of the repercussions. You could go to jail for many years ruining your life. You would be committing an action that you will never forget. So sometimes its good to just stop and think. Think about how it will impact your life. Don't let emotions control your actions. Especially anger since you will do rash things. Use your head instead. It is a better answer than emotions.

Block 8: Alertness

"Be observing constantly. Stay open-minded. Be eager to learn and improve."

Be alert at all times. Staying alert helps you improve your mind. If it is always on a state of alert then it has no chance to slap off. A brain that slacks off is not as sharp as an active brain. You need a sharp brain if you want to be ready at all times. During a football game an alert mind is the best mind. That's because it will always know where the ball is and where it is going so acting on it will be simpler. A person who is not alert will probably be lacking behind not knowing what is happening Those are useless players that nobody wants. So stay alert in sports class or at work. To be the best you can be. 

 Block 9: Initiative

"Cultivate the ability to make decisions and think alone. Do not be afraid of failure, but learn from it."

Those who are destined to succeed take initiative. They don't wait around for and order they do the task without being told. Leaders tend to notice this when looking for some to promote. So those who take initiative are usually leaders in no time. They make great leaders because they will always push their employees to be better that what they already are. They won't wait for someone to tell them how they can improve they look for the way themselves. So take initiative to be a better person. To be above average.

    Block 10: Intentness

"Set a realistic goal. Concentrate on its achievement by resisting all temptations and being determined and persistent."

In order to give something your very best you need intentness. You need to stay focused on your task and you need determination. If your not focused and being distracted by other things then your task doesn't have your full attention. Which results in it only getting half of your best. That is not good enough. Give every task your 100% best. Determination helps keep you focused. So these two work in harmony. Plus everytime you fail you will just come back with higher spirits. That's all because of a good determination. So stay focused and determine to give everything you 100% best.  

Block 11: Sincerity (keeps friends)

Sincerity is what keeps us humble and good. No one 

Block 12: Adaptability (to any situation)

You have to constantly adapt in life. That is because life is unfair. You will face many twist and tuns in life and mostly none will be advantageous towards you. You could get fired, fail school, get kicked out of your house, etc... Anything can and will happen to you. That is why you need to be able to adapt to your environment. If you get fired you need to be able to adjust to being unemployed and seeking for a job. When you do get the new job you need to adjust to it in order to succeed in it. Adjusting is a big part of life. 

  Block 13: Condition

"Mental-Moral-Physical. Rest, exercise and diet must be considered. Moderation must be practiced. Dissipation must be eliminated." 

Your condition is what effects your motivation. If your sleep you wont be working at full capacity. But if your well rested you will be working at peak efficiency. 

Block 14: Skill

"A knowledge of and the ability to properly and quickly execute the fundamentals. Be prepared and cover every little detail."

Block 15:  Team Spirit

"A genuine consideration for others. An eagerness to sacrifice personal interests of glory for the welfare of all."

Team spirit is the way to go. When trying to complete a difficult task get a team. Two heads are better than one but 5 heads. There is no way you can fail. Unless those heads are very dumb. For example it takes an entire team to design a house. They slip up the work and review each others work afterwards. Making them incredibly efficient workers. One person by themselves would take months on ends because they have to do 5 times as much work and they are more prone to make mistakes. What would take a team with good team spirits 5 weeks would take a lone person 5 months. So get a team and have team spirit.

Block 16: Honesty (in thought and action)

"Honesty is the best policy." (Ben Franklin)

Lie once and you will forever be know as a liar. You can't trust a liar with anything because you can never believe them. Now as the liar that sucks because it will be hard to make relationships. You need relationships to help make life easier. Doing things on your own is really difficult that is why humans work together when they want to accomplish something big. Now no one would ever want to work with a liar because you never know that what they are saying is true. That is just the most annoying thing in the whole world. So don't lie say the simple truth that's all anyone ever wants. 

Block 17: Resourcefulness (proper judgment)
 “Make the most out of what you have.” (Anonymous)

"If you have a dream, if you have something you've always wanted to do, look within yourself because that is where resourcefulness resides; and go for it. (Jennifer Witterick)

In life it pays to be resourceful. Thats is because you wont always have what you need when you want it. You need to be ready to make do with what is handed to you. That is why the saying when life gives you lemons is famous. It means make the best with what you got. You won't get what you want but you can still make what you need. Resourceful people always find a away to achieve their. goal. That is why they are super successful, they make do with what they have. So be resourceful and achieve greater things. 

Block 18: Poise

"Just being yourself. Being at ease in any situation."

Having balance makes one graceful and elegant. These are important in a good person because they make them look good. A good appearance goes a long way. Especially when your trying to impress someone. Like someone in a job interview. Why would they hire someone who comes in late and not dressed appropriately. Someone who is loud and obnoxious who has no manners. Those are the most annoying and despicable types of humans. The person with great Poise has a great chance to leave a good impression. So that when they think of who to hire. They will be the first thing that pops to mind. So have good poise leave a good impression on people   

Block 19: Confidence 

"Thorough preparation breeds confidence" Gerald Bell in
"The Carolina Way"

If you don't believe in yourself why how could you ever succeed. You need confidence to give your best in anything. You need to believe that you can do it so that when you are actually doing it you won't doubt yourself. Doubt is the worst thing you can have when trying to accomplish anything. That's because it will be in your self conscious eating a way at you. Causing a massive distraction. You won't be giving your goal a 100%. anything below 100% is already pretty bad.

Block 20: Reliability (creates respect)

You can always count on someone who reliable. That's because they are responsible hard working people. You can always count on them to fulfil their word.   

Block 21: Fight (determined effort)

Block 22: Competitive Greatness

" Be at your best when your best is needed. Enjoyment of a difficult challenge."

Competitive greatness is the ability to be at your best when your best is needed. We all should do our best in whatever aspect of life, but when our best is needed, that is the perfect moment when your best should be showed. Competitive greatness is not about winning or losing, but doing the best of ourselves, it is also having a real love for hard battles. That means not being scared of failure, and loving challenges in life. The tougher the battle, the better. When we have challenges in life, we should not be scared on the contrary we should be happy of knowing that challenge offers the opportunity to be at your best when your best is required. There is more enjoyment and pleasure in being involved in something difficult than there is involved in something that anybody else could do. Remember challenge is the best way to learn how to master something, and besides the enjoyment you feel is incomparable. 

Block 23: Integrity (purity of intention)

Block 23 will inform you about integrity and what it is. Integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. Its important that you know how to have respect for others around you and value their morals. An example would be when you are true to yourself like if you see a person struggling with their groceries, what should you do. If your parents taught you to do the right thing, then you should help that person. The quote explains, that integrity means to always do the right thing even when no one is there to watch you. It just makes you feel better from the inside knowing that you are doing some good. Something my family constantly tells me is to follow my belief and don't let anything or anyone interfere. Always have a positive mind and believe in yourself to achieve anything you want. I can apply this goal into my life by always doing what is right to me.

Block 24: Faith (through prayer)

Believe and Achieve. Positive belief

Believe and Achieve. Positive belief.The mortar on the left side of the Pyramid is made up of ambition, adaptability, resourcefulness, fight and faith. The mortar on the right side is sincerity, honesty, reliability, integrity and patience.Coach Wooden explained his strategic placement of faith and patience by describing how they are “leading up from competitive greatness to the top, success—according to my definition—at the apex. On one side, I have patience, and on the other side, I have faith. You need those two things.”More than once, Coach said that faith and patience could have been placed at the very top or the very bottom of the Pyramid. He believed that these qualities are both the goals and the bedrock of what we need to maintain the other blocks on the Pyramid as we overcome obstacles on our journey to success.Just as Coach Wooden made enthusiasm and industriousness the cornerstones of his Pyramid and explained that poise and confidence are a result of the blocks below them, he ultimately chose purposely to have success resting on top of nothing other than faith and patience.Coach summed it up this way: “Distrust begets distrust; it takes trust, faith and patience to acquire peace of mind

Block 25: Patience (good things take time)

Having patience is an important building block in the pyramid of success because without patience, you wouldn't be able to wait for the good things in life to happen and you won't have an enjoyable life. Having patience is a great skill that someone should develop as early as they can because when you are patient, you are able to out wait other people who are also as patient as you. This can come into hand in a real life situation, such as when you are waiting in line for something. Someone who is inpatient wouldn't be able to wait in line for a long time without getting frustrated. When you are patient, you are able to enjoy life better knowing you have gotten everything you need by being patient and waiting your turn. Another example of patience is life itself. Many of the things we earn has to deal with patience. We go to college because we know that if we are patience and study rather than finding a job right out of high school, then we could get an even better career later once you've spent more time at school.

Reflection:

All of these blocks mean something good if apply these blocks into your life you will be the best version of yourself. For example Industriousness shows you how if you want something in life you must work for it. Enthusiasm is what keeps a person alive and happy. Friendship comes from respect and mutual esteem. Loyalty comes from being true to others and having self respect.  When you co operate you get more done than just being one person trying to do all the work. Ambition drives you to try your best and be better than other while being humble. Self control allows you to respect other including yourself. Alertness is important because it makes you aware of your surrounding and prevents and danger or failure. Initiative when you know whats your  mission you will more likely succeed in your goals. Intentness prevents you from disappointment.