What Does Wooden Really Mean To Be Successful?

Improved Essays
What does it truly mean to be successful? Would you consider yourself a success if you have loads of money, a nice car, or a beautiful house? When most people picture success, they imagine images of millionaires, championship athletes, or business tycoons. But does success really have to be about the money? Does it really have to be about the notoriety? I think success is something entirely different. A teacher enriching the lives of countless students can be a success. A bank teller can be a success. Contrary to societal beliefs, you do not have to be a household name in order to be considered successful. Success is not having riches and fame; it is a piece of mind from doing what you love and doing your best at it. Former UCLA basketball coach John Wooden won an unprecedented 10 national championships during his tenure at UCLA, including a miraculous string of 7 in a row. If anybody has the right to be considered successful by any measure, it is Wooden. However, Wooden does not deem himself a success by the championships he has won or the accolades he has collected over the years. Wooden has a unique approach to the word success and it goes like this, “Success is peace of mind which is a direct …show more content…
I did not realize it at the time, but strength training is a process. I would never be able to lift a weight just because I thought I should be able to. I would need to commit to the everyday steps that would allow me to reach my goal eventually. This is true for all realms of success. It takes a while for results to start to show, but that is no reason to not start at all. Success is like building a house. It is impossible to build a house overnight. You must do the little things every day in order to eventually have the house that you want. You have to build the house brick by brick, nail by nail and day by day. Like building a house, success is a long and arduous process that does not occur

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Merriam-Webster defines success as the attainment of wealth. Society seems to agree behind this standard of success Most people believe success only pertains to money or has to be some grand achievement. However, wealth does not always equate to money. A student could finish a project two weeks prior to a deadline and deem that achievement a success. Success is an ideal measured by the individual.…

    • 514 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    What does success mean? Success can be defined as, “the gaining of wealth, respect, or fame”, according to Merriam-Webster dictionary. Everyone has different ideas on what success is and how to become successful. In this Essay I’ll be comparing how two authors think success is achieved. Paul Tough and Michael Lewis has completely different ideas on how success is achieved.…

    • 722 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    John Wooden is believed to be the greatest coach in sports history. John Wooden grew up in Indiana, where he learned to play the game of basketball from his father, Joshua Hugh Wooden. John spent most of his time growing up, playing basketball with his three brothers in their barn. Reasons for Coach Wooden’s success were because of his father, who had taught him essential things about basketball and being a good coach. John was in love with the game of basketball and worked every day to be the greatest play he could be, since doing that it made him know a lot about basketball and how to play the game properly.…

    • 662 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Everyone has their own definition of success and a set of rules they abide by in order to achieve a goal. Life is a learning experience and each individual has a different level of what they believe is success. In the end, it is a genuine happiness, memories, and adventures that determine success in…

    • 773 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Success In Into The Wild

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The textbook definition of success is “the accomplishment of an aim or purpose,”. From personal experience, however, success is anything that can make an individual feel content with the life the person lives, whether planned or not. Success is not required to be something that leaves a mark on the entire world; success can just be something that leaves a mark on you. As Jon Krakauer, author of Into The Wild, once wrote “The basic core of a man’s living spirit is his passion for adventure,” (77) I believe that everyone should follow their dreams and accept what comes without hesitation. For Chris Mccandless and Henry David Thoreau, however, success was more about finding out who a person really is by life experiences, personality, and attitudes…

    • 660 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    People have different a different meaning of success.…

    • 109 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Great Essays

    What is Success? Introduction: Dictionary definition of Success Happiness is different for everybody so is success. What defines a person’s success has changed over the years and continues to change for years to come.…

    • 1047 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Mackoy On Success

    • 310 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Webster Dictionary defines success as, “getting or achieving wealth, respect, or fame”. While this describes some aspects, I think there is a lot more to success. I believe that success is about glorifying God by making an impact in people's lives. One of the most successful people I know is my grandfather, Jerry Mackey, who has impacted more people than we can even count.…

    • 310 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    What is the meaning of success? Success means different things to different people. One person thinks that success is becoming the CEO of a company while another thinks that success is living to ninety years old. In general, however, people achieve success when they accomplish their own life goals. Most people go about their lives making choices and acting in ways which will lead them to success.…

    • 1017 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    In everyday media we hear about success all the time. Like how this person is so successful,how someone shouldn't be successful because they didnt do anything, and most importantly how to be successful. Laurence Shames wote a essay called “The Sweet Smell of Success Isn’t All That Sweet”. It is about there interpretation on how and what it means to be successful. They explain that to be successful is to challenge lifes ideas and to make great works of art.…

    • 516 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Success takes many different forms in people’s lives. Different people have different interpretations of what success means to them. For some, success is measured by social status and wealth; for others, success is determined by the amount of happiness one feels. Many people consider success a way of starting life based on their own expectations and terms. Similarly, Vicomtesse and Phil have different views on what success is, due to the nature of their lives.…

    • 685 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Action Theory Of Success

    • 988 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Everyone goes through life trying to be successful; but what actually is success? It is very difficult to define success because it is subjective to the person experiencing it. For instance, to a little child, success could be getting a gold star on his test, for a college student, success could be not failing an exam. Many people, however, just think of success in terms of money. If they cannot buy the same things their neighbors can, they do not see themselves as successful compared to those neighbors.…

    • 988 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    The literal definition of the word success is "a person or thing that achieves desired aims or attains prosperity." (Google search). However, throughout my own life experiences, I have perceived that there are multiple interpretations regarding the true meaning of the expression "success". What is success?…

    • 1980 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Great Success Definition

    • 735 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Great Success Success is the lofty idea of accomplishing some type of task that can make someone feel extraordinary. Everyone can think back to a time where they experienced some success, whether it is closing a major business deal or as simple as helping someone out. The concept of success morphs from person to person, but most people can agree the dictionary definition misses the true essence, the idea of success evolves as a person does, and true success is related to morals. The definition of success and the average person’s perception of success can be very similar and slightly deceiving. The Webster’s definition of success is, the attainment of popularity or profit.…

    • 735 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    Success comes in different forms Success is within the mind of the individual. A large portion of one’s life is spent working to be successful. Everyone is told throughout their childhood to work hard to become successful and make money, but success comes in many different forms. Everyone has different interpretations of what success means to them. For some, success is measured by social status and for others success is determined by happiness.…

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Decent Essays