My Personal Best

John Wooden was the greatest athletic coach this country has ever seen. His UCLA basketball teams won 11 NCAA national championships. At one point, they had an 88-game winning streak. (As an aside, I remember as a kid in 1974 watching the game where the streak was broken. John Shumate and a young Adrian Dantley led Notre Dame to the historic victory.)

So looking for a little inspiration, I just read My Personal Best: Life Lessons from an All-American Journey, a short autobiography sprinkled with anecdotes about the principles he has learned. The man's bedrock character oozes from the pages. He's all about fundamentals, in basketball and life. And the principle he stresses most is one I have held deeply through all my years of coaching kids--winning or losing is not that important, but doing your best is everything.

He includes a little poem which is as profound as any I have read:

There is a choice you have to make
In everything you do.
So keep in mind that in the end
The choice you make, makes you.

Our character is a simple function of all the many choices we make (with the more recent ones counting for more, I think). And we make new ones all day every day. These choices define us.

I've read other books by and about John Wooden (They Call Me Coach is another classic). They are all quite a bit alike. And they are all great.