Not too long ago, we featured a couple +1s on John Wooden and his wisdom.
We talked about the fact it took Coach Wooden nearly THREE DECADES (!) before he won his FIRST championship. (Note: Once he figured it out, he “won forever.”)
We also talked about the fact that Wooden didn’t win by focusing on winning per se. Nope. He focused on the two things we can control: Effort and Attitude.
I got that Wooden wisdom from a great book called Think Like a Warrior by Darrin Donnelly. Coach Wooden was the first of FIVE coaches the Hero in his sports fable meets on his quest to turn his season around.
Today we’re going to talk about the wisdom from one of the other legendary coaches our Hero meets. Then we’ll quickly look at the wisdom from the others.
THEN we’re going to explore some more wisdom from Donnelly’s “Sports for the Soul” series of fables featuring some surprisingly great stories and EQUALLY great practical wisdom.
To put in perspective: I read ALL SIX of the books in his series in ONE WEEK. They’re astonishingly inspiring. Think: If Paulo Coelho wrote sports fables. (Seriously. They’re that good.)
More on all that soon.
For now…
As I said in the prior +1, Think Like a Warrior is a fable about a college football coach going through hard times who is lucky enough to spend time with five of the most legendary sports coaches in history: John Wooden, Buck O’Neil, Herb Brooks, Paul “Bear” Bryant, and Vince Lombardi.
Those coaches each share ONE Big Idea to help him navigate his challenges and fulfill his potential.
Wooden tells him it’s all about EFFORT and ATTITUDE.
What’s Buck O’Neil tell him?
First…
You might be wondering…
WHO IS BUCK O’NEIL?
Well…
Buck O’Neil is the second great coach we meet in this great fable.
Have you ever heard of him?
I hadn’t before reading this book. His story is astonishingly inspiring.
His grandfather was kidnapped as a young boy and brought to America on a slave ship. But he never lost hope and never became bitter as he encouraged his son and his grandson to dream and then go do the hard work to achieve those dreams.
And that’s what Buck did.
He became one of the all-time great players in the Negro Leagues of the 1930’s and 1940’s. Then he became a scout for the Chicago Cubs and the first African American coach in Major League Baseball. More recently, he was inducted into the MLB Hall of Fame. (You can watch a tribute video and learn a little more here.)
Buck was an incredibly inspiring and joyful man whose enthusiasm and love for life deeply affected everyone he met. And, that’s what he teaches us in the book.
Darren has our Hero capture the essence of each coach’s wisdom so he can share it with his players. Here’s the inspiring summation of the wisdom from our time with Buck O’Neil:
“I LOVE WHAT I DO AND I ATTACK EACH DAY WITH JOY AND ENTHUSIASM. I am passionate about what I do for a living. I am grateful for the talents and interests I’ve been uniquely blessed with that lead me to my purpose in life. I am fully committed to doing something I love and something I was born to do. I do not wait for someone to hand me the life I want to live, I go out and create it on my own. My passion for what I do gives me a competitive advantage over those who don’t have the same level of passion. I zap negative thoughts and focus on the positive. I find opportunities in every obstacle. Life is good. I am grateful for all the wonderful blessings of my life.”
That’s Today’s +1.
Let’s love what we do and attack each day with joy and enthusiasm.
Day 1. All in.
With JOY and ENTHUSIASM, I say…
LET’S GO, HERO!
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