In +1 #57, we talked about John Wooden and “How to Put on Your (Life-) Socks.”
As you know if you’ve been following along, Coach Wooden is one of my all-time favorite Heroes. In fact, a young, SUPER intense, Soul Force-infused Heroic portrait of Wooden is staring at me from my office wall as I type this—challenging me to show up as my absolute best TODAY.
So…
You can imagine my joy when I read Ryan Holiday’s take on the subject of John Wooden teaching his players how to put on their socks in his latest book Discipline Is Destiny.
Here’s how Ryan puts it…
“Even though they were some of the best recruits in the nation, even though they’d been doing this nearly every day for their lives, Coach Wooden started his very first team meeting at the beginning of each UCLA season with a simple exercise.
‘Men,’ he said, ‘this is how you put your shoes and socks on.’
This, certainly, was not what they expected. Not the kind of instruction they thought they’d get from one of the winningest coaches in the history of sports. But it was actually exactly what they needed, and as they eventually came to understand, the real secret to success both on the court and in life. Of course, we all think we’re past this.
We have something more important to think about. We want something more exciting to do. Less basic, less fundamental.
We want to really challenge ourselves, not waste time running through some checklist, stretching before a workout, reading the instructions instead of diving in.
But that’s the point: We’re fit to tackle the big problems only if we do the little things right first.”
That’s from the chapter called “Sweat the Small Stuff.”
Want to win championships?
Fantastic.
Coach Wooden says…
You’re not allowed to even TOUCH a basketball until you learn how to put on your socks.
PERIOD.
Does the idea of having simple checklists and dominating the basic fundamentals bore you?
PERFECT.
Dominate them anyway. 🤓
When?
TODAY.
It’s Day 1, Hero.
Put on your socks.
LET’S GO!
🏀 🧦 🙌
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