Make Everyday a Masterpiece

I read this from Today Matters by John Maxwell and wanted to share this with everyone. John Maxwell was quoting John Wooden, who's John Wooden?

He is the best college basketball coach of all time. Yes, the best! Better than Coach K and Pat Summit! His high school coaching record is 218-42. He also coached at Indiana State University (ISU), where in 1947 they received an invitation to the National Association of Intercollegiate Basketball (NAIB) but he refused it becuase the NAIB banned African American players. In 1948, the NAIB reversed it's ban of African-American players and ISU lost in the finals.

In late 1948, Wooden wanted to coach at the University of Minnesota (UofM) because his wife and he wanted to remain in the midwest but due to weather issues the UofM was not able to contact him in time. In fact, the story is that he waited for the UofM to contact him but since he never got a phone call from them he thought that they had lost interest. Minutes after he accepted the UCLA position, the UofM was finally able to make a connection with him but he refused because he had already gave UCLA his word. How sad... the UofM could of became a NCAA powerhouse!

In the 1948-1949 season, Wooden turned a 12-13 UCLA team into a 22-7 team. He coached the next 27 years at UCLA winning 620 games. He lead the Bruins to 10 NCAA title in his last 12 seasons, including 7 in a row (1967-73)! He also had 4 undefeated seasons!

Just think about those stats! Those are the craziest stats ever! 10 NCAA titles within 12 seasons! 4 UNDEFEATED SEASONS!!!

Now that we know who John Wooden is. Here's a paraphrase of what I read from John Maxwell's book, again Maxwell is quoting Wooden and I am paraphrasing it:

You need to give 100% everyday! You need to make everyday a masterpiece. You can't give 75% today and try to make up the other 25% tomorrow. That's not how life works. No matter how hard you try, you can't give 125%. You have to try to make everyday a masterpiece, you have to try to give 100% everyday.

My personal reflection: CURSES!!! Why does this ring so true inside of me! It's because I know that I don't give 100% everyday! It's because I know that I always put things off and give less than 100% everyday! Man oh man... I have to change this about myself. I need to give 100% everyday! I need to make everyday a masterpiece!