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7 Life Lessons from One of the Greatest Leaders of ALL-TIME
Matt Karamazov
August 20, 2025 • Estimated Reading Time: 29 minutes
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John Wooden will never know what he’s done for me, but his example changed the entire direction of my life.
He was a basketball coach (I don’t even play basketball, and he still changed my life), one of the most successful NCAA basketball coaches of all time, with more national championships than any other coach, racking up 10 total victories.
A virtually untouchable record in that sport. And yet…
He never talked about winning.
For John Wooden, it was about more than that. It was about doing your absolute best. Achieving what he called “competitive greatness.” It was about being disciplined, acting with unimpeachable integrity, and leaving it all on the court.
If a focus on those things led to winning basketball games (and they obviously did), then great. But for him there was something above winning. Something that “just” winning a basketball game didn’t guarantee that you achieved.
Wooden on Leadership was the first of his books that I read, and his example inspired me to take immense pride in the level of effort I expended in service of my goals, increase how much I dedicated myself to making it to the top, and focus on how I treated people on my way up.
Tonight I’ve got a complete breakdown of all the key ideas from another book of his, The Essential Wooden, including action steps, takeaways, and more (all free).
Before we dive in, I wanted to remind you that I’m launching a brand-new coaching program this September for experts and educational content creators who want to turn their expertise into a highly profitable, scalable business bringing in at least $1,000 more per month within the next 90 days.
When we set up your profitable and efficient systems, and position you as a highly trusted, knowledgeable expert, you’ll then be ready to achieve your first $5,000 month.
You’ll also have complete confidence that you know exactly what to do to get there, without burning out or wasting time on strategies or tactics that don’t work.
If that sounds like something you might be interested in, I’ve got more details here. Look those over, reply to this email with the word “waitlist,” and I’ll be in touch!
And now…before our coffees get cold, let’s dive deep into The Essential Wooden!
“The way to live is to throw ourselves, not into faith, but into our own lives, conducting them in affirmation of every moment, exactly as it is, without wishing that anything was different, and without harboring resentment against others or against our fate.”
“When most people say they want to be a millionaire, what they might actually mean is 'I'd like to spend a million dollars.' And that is literally the opposite of being a millionaire."
Inside my private business mastermind, Creator Launch Academy, we’re tackling one nonfiction book per month and implementing its lessons inside our businesses.
This month’s book is The Psychology of Money, by Morgan Housel, a great book about the crazy things we all do with money, why we do them, and how we can (slowly, eventually) learn to behave differently. Click here to claim your free trial, and join our business book club for educational content creators!
After achieving my (somewhat meaningless) goal of reading 1,000 books before I turned 30, I set a new (also meaningless but cool) goal of reading 10,000 books. As of today, I’ve read exactly 1,405 books, including 53 books so far this year, and if you’re interested, here’s my full Reading List.
This Book is For:
*Anyone who is deeply interested in the study of human potential, and especially those who know that they themselves have much more inside themselves to give than they've ever been called upon to contribute before.
*Businesspeople and leaders in all areas of civic life who want to learn how to inspire themselves and their teams to greatness, and who want to learn from the very best about exactly how to do that.
*Athletes and coaches who want to bring the absolute best out of themselves, and increase their own contribution to the success of the teams of which they are a significant part.
*Everyone who knows that there's more to life than winning and that a life defined by competitive greatness and unshakeable self-worth has nothing to do with whatever it happens to say on the scoreboard.
Summary:
“Coach Wooden was more upset if we won but didn't work up to our potential than if we lost playing at our best."
It's hard to do your best, much harder than most people realize. By definition, "your best" is the absolute greatest effort you are capable of giving, and sadly, most people just never even come close to that.
Legendary basketball coach John Wooden was a master when it came to seeing potential greatness and infinite self-worth lying dormant inside the players on his teams, and his leadership style - that you can learn to adapt for yourself - was perfectly suited to drawing excellence from the teammates entrusted to his care.
For Wooden, there was a standard that ranked above winning, and he believed that if you give every single thing you have within you to be your very best, then you're already a success no matter what.
Doing your best is all that can ever be asked of you; it's literally everything, and although winning may be a natural byproduct of that supreme effort, it could never be the sole reason for a team's or a person's existence.
Before people start to think that this "gentle" approach may be good for building self-esteem and making players "feel good" but wouldn't translate into winning actual ballgames, they should know that John Wooden was also one of the greatest basketball coaches of all time.
Teams he coached won 10 NCAA championships in 12 years, including winning 88 consecutive games, setting legendary records that likely will never be broken. So yeah, there might be something to this "gentle" approach after all.
Additionally, just like some people underestimate what the gym can teach them about life (Spoiler Alert: a lot), they may also underestimate what this book can teach them about leadership and achieving greatness in whatever it is they're called to do.
On the contrary, John Wooden always believed that basketball was simply a vehicle for teaching his players the most important lessons about life itself.
You can take the leadership principles and maxims concerning personal excellence and adapt them to whatever situation you find yourself in, whether that be leading a sales team, helping your children become the people you've always known them capable of becoming, or stretching yourself to fulfill more of your own potential.
I won't pretend that winning isn't important to me. Indeed, John Wooden and his elite basketball players loved to win, but it was the way they played and behaved that was ultimately more impressive than any of the records or the championships themselves.
Disciplined, intensely focused on executing the fundamentals, self-controlled, team-focused, and unselfish, they would have been winners no matter what, and this is because of Wooden's exceptional leadership style.
John Wooden also possessed an immense moral strength that was given expression in many of the actions he took as a coach and leader. For one thing, when racism was still a significant presence in collegiate sports, he refused to enter basketball tournaments that his black players weren't allowed to participate in. They were a team, and if they couldn't all play, then none of them were going to be there.
It was this strict, incredibly demanding coaching style, combined with this gentleness, and a strong, enduring belief in human potential and infinite human worth that made John Wooden such a spectacular role model. One that we would all do well to emulate in our own lives.
There's so much that we can all learn from John Wooden's example, and we're going to examine several of his most fundamentally important lessons here in this book breakdown. For example, we're going to discuss "Competitive Greatness," what it is, how it's achieved, and how it fits into a development model he called the Pyramid of Success.
We're also going to take a look at his extreme time management methodology and how exactly he was able to motivate and enable his players to reach deeper - and stretch further - than even they thought possible.
This isn't just about basketball, it's about life, and in life, there are effects and there are causes. To get the effects you want, you need to repeat the causes, over and over and over again, and you have to commit to doing your utmost in every situation, every circumstance, and while facing down any challenge.
Winning is never guaranteed, but if you give your absolute best to something, and you commit to standards of personal excellence far beyond anything that anyone else could ever ask of you, then you will be rewarded. You're going to get somewhere, and you're going to be damn proud of yourself once you do.
The mindsets, tactics, and strategies laid out in this book will arm you with virtually all of the tools you'll need to achieve championship results in your life, whatever that looks like for you.
The Essential Wooden is about determining what true success looks like and how you can achieve it, no matter what it says on the scoreboard. So let's find out what your best actually looks like. Time for tip-off!
Key Ideas:
#1: Doing Your Best IS Success
“Just before our team took to the court before a game, including the 10 to decide a national championship, these were my final words to the players: 'Make sure you can hold your head high after this game.' They all knew I wasn't talking about the final score.
I did not say it as a fiery exhortation, but with all the seriousness and sincerity I had in me. It was the most important message our players could take with them into the battle: 'Do your best. That is success.'
Believing that simple truth gave us tremendous strength. Teaching it gave me tremendous satisfaction."
One of my core beliefs - and something I've repeated over and over again in my work - is that you don't need to "do" anything to make yourself worthy of basic human dignity and unconditional positive regard.
In a similar way, success, as John Wooden defines it, has nothing whatsoever to do with what it says on the scoreboard at the end of the game. Winning or losing will never define your worth as a human being, whether that's in sports, business, or anything else.
What matters is that you do your best, that you put in every single thing you have within you to become the best person you can possibly be, in whatever you happen to be doing. That is true success, and if you gave it everything you had, there's nothing that can ever appear on the scoreboard that will make you a loser.
That being said, doing your best is not easy. It's not simply shrugging your shoulders and saying, "Oh well, I guess I did my best." No, doing your best is literally the hardest thing you'll ever be called upon to do, and that's why so few people are actually doing their best in life.
It's hard - it's unbelievably hard to do your best - and if you're willing and able to give that much to something, then you're automatically a success. So no, doing your best is never easy. It's hard; "easy" is not a part of it. But what you'll find is that it's worth it. Here's why, according to John Wooden's philosophy:
“Early in his career, John Wooden embraced the belief that success, as measured by each one of us individually, is the peace of mind derived from making the absolute and complete effort to do the best of which you are capable.
The quality of your effort to realize your potential counts first and foremost. For John Wooden that is success. And it is different from winning - beating an opponent in basketball, business, or life.
This is important to recognize: that success and winning are two very different concepts in the world of Wooden and that success is the foremost of the two."
Winning is sometimes the byproduct of success (doing your best), but success is never the byproduct of winning. You could do your best and still lose, but that will never make you a loser. Not to John Wooden, and not to me.
What's much more important than all of that is the personal pride - the tremendous satisfaction - that comes from doing your absolute best in life.
If you give your best effort every moment, you will be a winner for the rest of your life no matter what, and that pride in yourself that comes from doing something incredibly difficult and meaningful will matter to you more than anything else you could ever win.
#2: The Pyramid of Success
“These five blocks - Industriousness, Enthusiasm, Friendship, Loyalty, and Cooperation - form the foundation of the Pyramid of Success. These are powerful personal attributes essential for both you as leader and those you lead. It is a foundation upon which a structure of significance and productivity can be built."
There are 15 essential qualities of a competitor that make up John Wooden's "Pyramid of Success," a teaching aid he developed over decades while helping to lift the teams he coached to the highest levels of university sports.
The full pyramid is introduced below, and you can read about each block right here in more depth, but the main takeaways are that greatness isn't an accident and that success leaves clues.
There is a specific, intentional structure to Wooden's Pyramid, and these qualities are literally the building blocks upon which success - in any endeavor - is constructed.
You don't have to memorize the whole thing, but if you begin to consciously develop these qualities within yourself, then lasting success will be the inevitable result. See the full Pyramid of Success laid out below, and notice how each level builds upon the level underneath it, culminating in the achievement of Competitive Greatness at the very top of the Pyramid:
You may also notice that along the sides are listed the qualities "faith" and "patience." When you assimilate these qualities within yourself over time, consistently strengthening them with faith and patience, then you will be a winner, no matter what happens.
But it's not going to happen by accident. You need to prepare for greatness, invite it to come by working hard, and never taking your eyes off the top of that Pyramid. This takes time, you need to have faith in the process, and you have to work hard today, with patient assurance that your efforts will be rewarded in the end.
Greatness is never an accident. It is always the intentional result of consistent, never-ending self-improvement, preparation, of constant striving toward a worthy goal. Eventually, if you keep stacking those blocks one on top of another, fortifying them with patience and faith, you will get to the apex. You will achieve Competitive Greatness. It's all in the preparation:
“Prepare properly, and you will be given Poise. Next to Poise, near the apex of the Pyramid, is Confidence - the knowledge that you and your organization are ready for the competition in whatever form it takes.
There is respect for, but no fear of, the competition. You are comfortable letting the score take care of itself because you have taken care of your preparation: Industriousness, Friendship, Loyalty, Cooperation, Enthusiasm, Self-Control, Alertness, Initiative, Intentness, Condition, Skill, and Team Spirit.
Confidence and Poise are conjoined in a manner much like Industriousness and Enthusiasm. Each is potent by itself, but when combined, they become an identifying characteristic of exceptional leadership and extraordinary organizations.
When they are in place, you have risen above the rest and can set the crowning block of the Pyramid in place: Competitive Greatness."
#3: Strength and Gentleness
“His teaching went beyond just trying to win. Before games, he told us to do our best, never harbor ill feelings if we lost, never denigrate our opponent, and, if they played well, to congratulate them. And, of course, no profanity.
His morality - that basic decency he has - affected me deeply. He was a gentle man who was a very strong coach. I came away from him with a feeling of wanting to do my best in whatever I took on. We were prepared and trained well. And not just for basketball."
The old model of mental toughness was based on fear and ridicule, shame and doubt. It was based on hiding all evidence of weakness, and the old style of coaching and leadership involved yelling and screaming at people until they get closer to what we wanted them to be - not for the purpose of allowing them to reach their full potential.
Certainly, it wasn't a common belief that strength and gentleness could coexist within the same leader's style, much less that such a leader could win 88 games in a row and help his team win 10 championships in 12 years. And yet here we are!
Just to make this explicit: John Wooden loved to win. His players loved to win. Everyone loves to win, and that's what every competitor shows up to do. It's just that Wooden didn't consider it a victory if his team couldn't hold their heads up high after the game, and whether they could do that or not had nothing to do with the final score.
Book Notes:
“Over and over I have taught those under my supervision that we are all given a certain potential unique to each one of us. Our first responsibility is to make the utmost effort to bring forth that potential in service to our team. For me, that is success.
Then perhaps when circumstances come together, we may find ourselves number 1. If that happens, it is merely a by-product of the effort we make to realize our own competency - our full potential. Success may result in winning, but winning does not necessarily mean you are a success."
“If each of you makes every effort to develop to the best of your ability, follow the proper rules of conduct and activity most conducive to good physical condition, subordinate individual acclaim for the welfare of the team, and permit no personality clashes or differences of opinion with teammates or coaches to interfere with your or a teammate's efforts, it will be a very rewarding year."
“The next time you wake in the middle of the night, ask yourself, 'Am I fretting about the future, or figuring out what to do?' If it's the former, have a warm glass of milk and try to get back to sleep. If it's the latter, have a cup of coffee and make some notes."
“I focused our team’s attention on 'us' to the exclusion of everything else. Virtually no mention was made of the upcoming opponent - its style, tendencies, or key players. Nor did I talk about the standings or the consequence of other games being played in our conference.
A joke even circulated that UCLA's team manager would go out into the lobby before a game and buy an official program so our players would know who the opponent was."
“Afterward, Coach Wooden said he was proud of us, how we gave it everything we had, that we could hold our heads high. There was disappointment in our locker room, but I don't believe any player felt like a loser. We had given it our best."
Action Steps:
#1: Measure Your Own Best Effort
Everything begins and ends with a promise - an unbreakable promise to yourself - that you will always, in every situation and at all times, do your absolute best at whatever's in front of you. That's basic. That's your new normal. That's who you are and what you do.
Beyond that, it helps to actually measure your progress towards this ideal (because it won't happen overnight; you'll still have to work up to doing your best over time), and thus keep your efforts at the front of your mind. I do this myself. I track - literally on a sheet of paper - how close I came to doing my best today.
It's a subjective measure, sure, and no one except you will know whether you actually did your best or not, but most of the benefits will come simply by adopting the practice of reviewing your day and asking yourself, sincerely and honestly, whether you did in fact do your best. This will change your life, I guarantee it.
What's beautiful about this method is that doing your best automatically makes you a winner, and it's within your complete control whether or not you do your best. This means you can be a winner every single day because you can always give your absolute best effort in every single thing that you do.
Do this for a year and watch your current situation transform before your very eyes. It did for me. You won't even recognize yourself - it's honestly more than a little bit astonishing the positive changes you'll begin to see from committing to this simple, but extremely challenging, daily practice.
#2: Focus on Just One Block at a Time
It's exceptionally difficult to install more than one new habit at a time, and it's the same with assimilating all the blocks of John Wooden's Pyramid of Success. Don't try and perfect the entire Pyramid all at once. Just take one single block per month and do your best to develop that quality within yourself. That's a lot, and that's enough.
Again, measuring your progress is part of the magic. What you can do is pick the one block (quality) you most want to strengthen and record at the end of each day whether or not you did anything to help this process along.
For example, you could pick the quality of industriousness and track how hard you worked during the last 24 hours and whether or not you're improving in this area. Or, say that it's poise that you want more of. In that case, practice taking negative events in stride and track whether you let adverse conditions or circumstances threaten your equanimity that day or not.
Track that one particular quality for the next month and then move on to the next one. With patience and faith - trust in the process - you'll stack one block on top of another and ascend to the peak of the Pyramid eventually.
#3: Help Someone Else Rise with You
One of the best ways to learn something is to teach it to someone else, and the same idea applies when it comes to inspiring positive change. Helping other people grow and move forward in their lives will do the same for you in the process. Isn't it wonderful that the universe is set up this way?
Network effects are extremely powerful and who you surround yourself with matters. It matters so much. It's absolutely one of those things I wish I could shake people by the shoulders and make them understand. Truly!
So help the people around you to stand taller, and you will stand taller as well simply by virtue of helping them. If they want to stand taller, that is. Because just as you can help other people advance, they can also hold you back if they're headed in that direction. Choose your company carefully!
What you might want to do is spend time with people in these three categories: people who are ahead of you, people who are at your same level, and people who are a few steps behind you.
Learn from the people who have what you want, lead the people around you who are headed in the same direction, and inspire the people behind you to follow in your footsteps.
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OK, that’s it for now…
I’ve got plenty more excellent book recommendations coming your way soon though!
And if you want to learn how I’ve built an audience of 160,000+ followers across social media, became a full-time creator, and how I’m rapidly growing my audience and my profits in 2025, join us inside Creator Launch Academy and that’s exactly what I’ll teach you — we’d love to have you in the community!
With that said, I hope you enjoyed this edition of The Reading Life, and enjoy the rest of your day!
Until next time…happy reading!
All the best,
Matt Karamazov
P.S. Whenever you're ready, here are two more ways I can help you:
Content Creators: Book a 1:1 call and I’ll help you hit $5K/month with a plan tailored to your business (If the link works, I can still fit you in this month).
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