Success Building Blocks: Skill

In our minds, John Wooden was the best coach in the history of college basketball. Even more than that, though, we love what he contributed to the field of personal success. Perhaps his greatest gift has been his Pyramid of Success, a wonderful tool that will help you succeed BIGG in any endeavor you choose.

So far, we’ve discussed the bottom two rows of his Pyramid. Industriousness, Friendship, Loyalty, Cooperation, and Enthusiasm form the foundation. The second row consists of Self-control, Alertness, Initiative, and Intentness. We’ve now covered two of the three blocks that sit in the middle of the Pyramid –  Condition and Team Spirit.

Now we’ll move to the success building block that sits at the heart of the Pyramid, above Alertness and Initiative.

Skill

The science of peak performance has come a long way. Wooden hits on the “flow” concept with this building block – body and mind working effortlessly, completely immersed in the moment, to accomplish some task.

He felt that his athletes needed to know the fundamentals so well that they didn’t have to think about them. They could just execute instinctively given the situation.

Just like great athletes, we need to know the fundamentals of our game so well that we can quickly pull them out when they’re needed. We’re prepared to deal with any situation because we’ve practiced it over and over again. We know what to do without thinking about it and we’re able to perform at our highest level at every moment.

We’re in the flow, or the zone. We know what we know so well that we don’t have to think about it. When we see it in others, we admire it. When we feel it ourselves, it’s one of the greatest experiences we can have!

Explore all of the success building blocks

Industriousness
Enthusiasm
Friendship
Cooperation
Loyalty
Self-control
Intentness
Alertness
Initiative
Condition
Team Spirit
Skill
Poise
Confidence
Competitive Greatness