The above video is of John Wooden, former UCLA Basketball Coach and one of the most successful coaches ever, discussing his definition of success and his approach to teaching and coaching.
Wooden's definition is: "Success is peace of mind which is a direct result of self-satisfaction in knowing you made the effort to become the best that you are capable of becoming."
There are many ideas about what "success" is - there are objective measures and subjective measures. Objective success would be based on the end result or by comparison to others. Wooden's definition is purely subjective and for each individual to decide. If effort is the measuring stick for success, then everyone is capable of being very successful. However, if one sets the bar low, success is much easier to attain than one who has very high expectations.
I think it is difficult to measure success purely based on effort or results. Both ideas have their limitations. We all know an athlete who is bursting with natural ability and does not live up to his or her true potential, yet may be pretty successful in terms of results. The flipside is an athlete who is not as naturally gifted, but has worked extremely hard and used every one of his assets to reach his highest potential. That potential might not allow for the same results as that of the gifted athlete. Which athlete is more successful?
I personally prefer the effort-based definition of success over a pure objective measure, but I think it is a bit more complex than Wooden's definition. I believe that the standard of effort is the aspect of effort-based success that is the most important.
John Wooden's effort-based approach worked because his standard of effort was incredibly high. I suspect that many of his players were forced to re-define their "best effort" once they began playing at UCLA. Once everyone was on the same page with Wooden, then things could begin to progress.
If Wooden's standards and expectations for effort and excellence were lower and his teams were perennial losers, no one would put much value in his approach. Yet, by his definition, they could still have lost every game and been successful.
So, how do we determine standards of effort or excellence? There has to some method of comparison - even if its a re-definition of one's own best effort. For example, maybe the first week of practices at UCLA became the new standard of effort for most freshman. If they strive to achieve the same level of effort on a daily basis, they are judging success based on effort, yet now that their standards are higher, their objective success will likely be higher as well.
The reason I prefer Wooden's effort-based approach is because it allows us to focus on the things that are under our control. Time spent worrying about things beyond our control is time wasted. For example, the preparations of a competitor are beyond our control. Weather and course conditions are beyond our control. The only things under our control are our own preparation and actions. When we do these things to the very best of our ability, that is when it is possible to achieve the peace of mind that John Wooden emphasizes.
