Pyramid of Success

Pyramid of Success

John Wooden

The 25 Building Blocks of the 

Pyramid of Success 

Block 1:  Industriousness
"In plain and simple English this means hard work. Very hard work. There is no substitute for very hard work when it comes to success."
What this block refers to is that if you don't succeed on what you're striving for, it means that you're not trying as hard as you should. When you're persistent and work really hard to accomplish your goal, you get amazing results and realize that hard work pays of. This quote is a great for people that procrastinate and don't try as hard as they should. Using block one is something that individuals should apply in their daily activities. "If you are lazy, and accept your lot, you may live in it. If you are willing to work, you can write your name anywhere you choose," this quote supports the idea of industriousness because it's saying that if you shape on what you do, live in it but if you try hard and be determined, you'll have no problem doing other things that you may not do while you procrastinate.  

Block 2: Enthusiasm"It is the engine that powers all blocks of the pyramid. It is why i chose Industriousness and Enthusiasm as the cornerstones of my Pyramid of Success. It is where everything begins."
Block two is trying to say that, enthusiasm and industriousness are the most important ones in the pyramid. I believe that they are the most important ones because when you want to do something or you are going to do something then you need to have enthusiasm and industriousness. Everything begins at the root of enthusiasm and and industriousness. You need to be motivated and you need energy to start what you want to start or what you want to learn. You need to have industriousness and enthusiasm because that means you have to work really hard and you need to be excited for what you are about to do. You need to be passionate about your hard work and the success that's going or is coming out of that hard work. Enthusiasm makes you not care about what people have to say about you or your industriousness. When you believe in yourself and your hard work it's okay because you need to self motivated yourself to be a better person for yourself and the other people around you who believe in you. Enthusiasm is a super natural serenity. Enthusiasm brings you ideas about the things you are creating or other stuff. It inspires you to make it better so it will be successful later on and maybe it will become something big in a few years. I believe that enthusiasm and industriousness is the key to success. 

Block 3: Friendship
" Comes from mutual esteem, respect and devotion. Like marriage it must not be taken for granted but requires a joint effort."friendship is one of the most important things in life. You meet people that make an impact in your life either if its good or bad. Block number three is trying to say that, you need to respect and put in your all in all types of relationships. Nothing should ever be taken for granted because sometimes you don't even know when you could lose it. Taking things for granted is bad because you are not really showing how you feel about certain things and people sometimes take it the wrong way. Like John Wooden used marriage as an example. Marriage needs to have two people putting in effort not only one because if it's only one then it probably won't work out. Mutual esteem, respect, and devotion needs to be put in friendships and relations such with parents and your significant other. Friendships help you get through the things that you cannot go through alone. Friends that say that they are your friends will be there through good and bad. Friendships don't always last but those happen because you are just learning a lesson that you didn't know about. Having a bad friendship or relationship is a lesson and a blessing as well because you start to realize things that you did not know before. Every friendship and relationship have a lesson.

Block 4: Loyalty 

" To yourself and to all those depending on you. Keep your self-respect."

o yourself and to all those depending upon you. keep yourself respect.
what this means is that you have to be loyal to your self, family, and friends. you cant be a fake person. you have to be loyal in order for people to like you if you aren't loyal then no one will like you no matter what. without this important skill you will never complete nothing in life.what this means is that people think that you wont stick to your word. they wont rely on you. to be loyal means to always be someones side. you have to be supportive to that person no matter what happens. you have to help you friends when they are in hard times. you also have to stick to your promise that you made with someone no matter what happens. being loyal is the most important thing in a relationship. this is important because you have to be 100% honest with you partner no matter what. "Loyalty isn't grey. It's black and white. You're either loyal completely, or not loyal at all." what this quote means is that ether you are loyal or you aren't. 

Block 5: Cooperation

"With all levels of your co-workers.Listen if you want to be heard.Be interested in finding the best way, not in having your own way."

Block number five is trying to state that, you need to work together and put all your thoughts in together so your voice and choices could be heard. You are not always going to get your way so you need to find a new way you need to find a solution to what you are thinking and trying to do. You have to listen to people and be interested in what they are saying because then they will do the same when it comes to you speaking. Cooperation means to work together and put in parts of yourself to make the things you are working on with your co-workers. You will work together to get in the same end as the others. That is called cooperation because you are working with someone else in making yourself or someone else better. Cooperation could also be used as teamwork. It could also be used as teamwork because you're working in a team. Being cooperative could also be you trying to work with others and just not having it your way because if you just have it your way then you won't ever learn new things about life or the future. Cooperation could bring you a brighter future than you probably already have. Coming together and making an effective action could actually help you and others that around you. That is such as, your family, neighborhood, friends, etc. Cooperation is a higher moral than just being competitive.

Block 6: Ambition 
For Noble goals 
Ambition means to desire to do or to achieve something, typically requiring determination or hard work. What block number six is trying to say is that, for the goals that you have you need to be ambition. Without ambition there is no way that you will achieve your goals either if they are long term or short term goals. An example of being ambitious is when you plan to do all your work at home and school work and you make a plan so you could get everything done. That is ambition because you desire to do those things and you want to achieve them so you make a plan. Ambition is the key to success also. I believe this a path to success because you plan goals for yourself. It's like a life planning journal where you right down things that you want to do later on in the future. You need to be determined on what you want to do. Being determined takes you on the path of achieving your goals. When your ambition is big then the effects on it is that you will get a great outcome of what you are working in. I believe that with time you get more and more ambitious. I will apply this block to my daily life by achieving the goals that I have in mind at this point. How I will do this is by working hard and writing it down on my life planning journal. With the ambition that I have I believe that I will achieve all my goals.

Block 7: Self-Control
"Practice self-discipline and keep emotions under control. Good judgment and common sense are essential."
lock number seven is trying to say that, self-everything is the key to success. Self-control means that, you have power over yourself and your thoughts. You control your emotions and your desires or the expression of them in one's behavior especially in difficult situations. Self-discipline says a lot about you and your education or how you were educated. As you see this world is really judgmental and people have to judge about everything. People care about getting good judgment depending from who its coming from. Common sense is used daily but some people that haven't matured yet don't have common sense. Common sense is not making a fool out of yourself or saying irrelevant comments. Your emotions will always get in the way of how you feel or how you react towards the situation. You have to learn how to cope with those emotions of yours. You have to cope with your emotions because what if you're really sensitive? and your boss screams at you and you cry. That is showing that you are weak and you are not capable of motivating yourself. Letting feelings get in the way could hurt you physically and emotionally. They could hurt you physically and emotionally because you let other people bring you down and at the end of the day you don't get good judgment all people are going to think that you are weak. I apply this block to my daily life. I apply this block to my daily life because I don't let my emotions get in my way. Some days I do but those are rarely and its only when I feel stressed or overwhelmed. 

Block 8: Alertness 
" Be observing constantly. Stay open-minded. Be eager to learn and improve."

Alertness means the quality of being alert. What block number eight is trying to say is that, being alert to your surroundings is one of the most important things in life. Being alert is the way you learn new things later on in life. You have to watch what you have surrounded yourself with including people and things. Surrounding yourself with bad people won't make you successful. Be enthuse when you are learning something new because what's the whole point of learning something or just sitting there for hours if you are not really paying attention to what is being said. Alertness is the hidden discipline of familiarity. Staying open-minded is spilling all your ideas out when you come up with one or when you know something and you share it. Being open-minded could probably encourage people to be open-minded as well. Also an advantage of being open-minded is that you could teach others what you already know. But being open-minded needs to be the truth not lies that you make up just because you feel like it. You have to be honest when you are being open-minded. Look at things everyday, share your ideas, and learn and make the ways you already know better. People just need a little bit of alertness to see and find out what they are missing out on just because they are scared. I will apply this block to my daily life bye; being open-minded, observing my surroundings or who I surround myself with, and when I learn something new to try to learn it and improve the skills that I already have. 

Block 9: Initiative

" Cultivate the ability to make decisions and think alone. Do not be afraid of failure, but learn from it."

nitiative means to take the power or opportunity to take charge before others do. It could also mean the ability to asses and initiate things independently. What block number nine is trying to say is that, when you are independent and you have no one then you have to make choices for yourself. If you fail from the decision you made then try again but with another method. It doesn't always come out perfect as you want it to be. Things take time to accomplish. You must not fear failure so you could be successful. Failure might be scary but without failure you will never learn what you did wrong. You have to accept when you have failed. Accepting failure is the right path to success because you will get a new outcome of what you did't do right. No one is perfect but they just work hard from the mistakes they make so they already know what not to do the next time they try it again. Preparing yourself has to be followed with being initiative. You have to take risks daily. Don'e be scared to miss what you are planning to do. It takes time and practice. Initiative doesn't come to you from one day to another, it also takes time. I believe that initiative takes time and practice for you to get use to it. An example of being initiative is when you plan a project on your own and you fail but you keep on trying. I will apply this block to my daily life by not giving up every time I fail or when I feel like I cannot do it.

Block 10: Intentness

" Set a realistic goal. Concentrate on it's achievement by resisting all temptations. Be determined and persistent."

intentness means to have an aim or a purpose on doing something. It's also being steady and focused on a certain thing that is being intent in one job. What block number ten is trying to say it that, to stay focused on the goals that you set for yourself. Do not let anything distract you from not achieving those goals that you have set for yourself. Be determined on achieving those goals that you have in mind. Don't let anyone come and brain wash you just because you want to fit in. Not everyone sticks around you forever. That is why you also have to be persistent on what type of friends you need and what type of friends you want around you. You have to resist on not doing bad things that other people around you are doing. By saying no and being serious about it then people will take it serious. Also by saying "I want a future and I want to be successful later on in life" is being temptations. This could also make those people doing it think will I have a future or be successful if I continue doing these things? You could make someone realize things with just saying a sentence or just by saying no. I will apply this goal to my daily life by achieving all of the goals in my journal.

  

Block 11: Sincerity
Keep Friends 
Sincerity is a good quality for the reason that without it, no one would really have the trust to tell you or put you in charge to do something important. Having sincerity to one another is something that make a friendship/relationship better. You could be sincere in many ways as in when you say a opinion to a friend or whomever may ask you. "You can't let the truth bring out the worst and let it get the best of you." What this quote means is that no matter how hard the truth is, you shouldn't hold back and not say it no matter how bad it is. Being sincere is something that everyone should tend to have.

Block 12: Adaptability 

To any situation

What block number twelve is trying to say is that, there is going to be situations where things change. When things change you might not like it but you need to get use to it. Adaptability means that you get use to the things that change over time or just in a second. For example when seasons change you have to get use to it because it could go from being very cold to be super hot. Some people take adaptability as a normal thing. They don't complain or anything because they know that it's normal and things change for a reason. Getting adapted to new things could affected you physically, emotionally, and socially. They could affect you in these ways because you don't know what others may think but I believe that, that doesn't matter as long as your happy with your own self. Another example of adapting to something new is when you move houses or schools you have to get adapted to the people around you and your new community or neighbors. There will be changes when you adapt to a new thing. There is going to be challenges, success, achievements, goals, missions, strategies etc. When plan A is not working then you have to adapt to plan B. If you don't have a plan B then make one and adapt to it even if it doesn't seem right. I will apply this block to my daily life by, when a new things is changed around me I will try to adapt to it with time

Block 13: Condition 

"Metal-Moral-Physical.Rest exercise and diet must be considered. Moderation must be practiced. Dissipation must be eliminated."

Condition means, have a significant influence on or determine (the manner or outcome of something). What block number thirteen is trying to say is that, when you are in condition you have to watch what you eat, how much rest you get, and how much water you are putting in your body. When you start to condition it takes time and practice. For example when you start practicing for a sport or exercise you get tired and sore because it's something new that you haven't tried before. With time conditioning starts to get use to your body. Either way around or your body starts getting used to the conditioning you are putting it through. But it doesn't only have to do with your body it could also be in your brain. It could be in the brain because you could control what you want to learn and what you don't want to learn. If you start to tell yourself I will memorize everything that is said in class it is going to take practice and condition. At first you might think that it's hard but if you continue on working on it and studying then you get use to it. I believe that this block could be part of the path to your success. I believe this because condition is practically you practicing to do what you want to be or become. I will apply this block to my daily life by getting more in condition. I will get in condition not only physically but mentally as well. I just need to practice every day from now to be a better me.

Block 14: Skill

"A knowledge of and the ability to properly and quickly execute the fundamentals. Be prepared and cover every single detail."

Block number fourteen is trying to say that, skill takes time to develop. Skill comes with practice. Or sometimes people are born with something that they could do all their life. But you could have a skill if you keep on repeating what you want your skill to be. You need to make sure that you are doing every single thing that you are suppose to be doing. For example if you want to be smart and have the skill to complete an rubrics cub then all you need to do is practice because not everyone could solve an rubrics cube. Another skill is to memorize the whole numbers that represent pie. That is a skill because there are many numbers involved. Skill means to have an ability to do something that only a few people could do. Or a skill that no one else could do. I will apply this block to my daily life by, keep on practicing on the skill that I want to be able to do. The skill I am still practicing are being flexible and being able to land most of my flips. Skill could be part of being successful. It could be part of being successful because sometimes people look for skills and your capability of being able to try and try to learn a new skill.

Block 15; Team Spirit

" A genuine consideration for others. An eagerness to sacrifice personal interests of glory for the welfare of all."

What block 15 means is that in order to win games in order for you and your team to win you must have team spirit you  ust have everyone in your team believe in themselves and in the team to get that victory. A good example of team spirit is last weeks champions league match with Fc Barcelona versus PSG where PSG were up 4-0 in aggregate score but Fc Barcelona had 10000% team spirit and won the game 6-1 which on aggregate was 6-5. The greatest comeback in history all the Barcelona players had team spirit, they their fans helping them chanting Barcelona so they can win and they did. So if you want to accomplish something in life you must have spirit you must believe in your self that you can do it. 

Block 16: Honesty

In thought and action 

Honesty means that, its the quality of being honest. What block number sixteen is trying to say is that, honesty is the key to success. You have to be honest when you are thinking and when you are in action of doing something. For example, when you are taking a test you need to be honest because if you are not honest then you won't get anything out of the score you get especially if you get a perfect score. Honesty is used everyday of your life. It is used every day because every word you say is probably true and you are being honest to the person you are talking to. If you are being honest then you are not hurting anyone but if you are not being honest then you are hurting someone with the lies that are coming out of your mouth. Being honest with people may not get you a lot of friends or many people that like you, but it gets you the people that you actually need in your life. Honesty is appreciated it in this world. It is appreciated because not everyone is honest. There is people who love to tell lies. I will keep applying this block to my daily life by always being honest and truthful to every single person that I know. People should always be one hundred percent honest. People should always be honest because if they are caught not being honest then no one will every trust a word you say. Once you are caught not being honest there is not going back because other people tend to let others know everything and everything just goes from mouth to mouth. That is why you should always be honest.

Block 17: Resourcefulness

Proper judgement

Resourcefulness means to find a solution to things are difficult to you at the moment. What block number 17 is trying to say is that, people always judge and there's even judgments that could be harsh and could hurt people physically. But there is other types of judgment that are negative but are said in a nice way so you won't hurt the others persons feelings. You use things that you already know as resourcefulness. Or you find a way to to solve that difficult situation. An example of being resourceful is when you break something and you find a solution to fix it. I will apply this block to my daily life by thinking more critically and trying to find ways to fix the situation.

Block 18: Poise

" Just being yourself. Being at ease in any situation."

Graceful and elegant bearing in person.

What block number eighteen is trying to say is that, one of the things that is important in your daily life is being poised which means to just be yourself and not someone else. You have to develop confidence in yourself and once you have then you have build poised in yourself. I believe that poise needs to be a big part of your life. I believe this because everyone should be confident of themselves and believe in themselves as well. Confidence is one of the keys to success. If you are not confident and you are not being poised then you are being someone you are not and that will not make you happy once you make a mistake. If you are not poise then you will put yourself down every time you feel that you have failed. You have to be graceful for the type of person you are because everyone has their own unique thing. I also believe that success brings poise. I believe success brings poise because you learn new manners and new ways to make your posture and your whole body confident. The key to winning is poise because you get stressed and everything but you know at the end of the day you will end up getting it right even if you fail many times. I will apply this to my daily life by learning new things. Also by being more confident in myself than I already I am.

Block 19: Confidence

'' Respect without fear. May come from being prepared and keeping all things in proper perspective."

To have confidence it means to have the feeling or belief that one can rely on someone or something; firm trust. It is important to have confidence because you need this to face things. There will be times in life that will ask for you to have confidence and if you don't then you won't be able to do what you have to do without being uncomfortable like when you have presentations. You need to have a lot of confidence to face the audience. One must have confidence to do many other things as well. Another example is when you have a  job interview. When you have a job interview you have to have confidence that you will do great on it and get the job. Being confident could be shown in the way you walk, talk, and look at people. When you have your head down and you are speaking low that is not being confident. Being confident means you have a great posture and you are speaking loudly so everyone in the room could be able to hear you. Looking at a person straight to the eyes is being confident because you are not scared to look at them in the eyes. Always be confident within yourself as well as within others. You could even teach others to be confident. I will apply or keep applying this block number nineteen to my daily life by staying as the confident person that I have become over the past few years and months that I had to change myself.

Block 20: Reliability

Creates Respect 

Reliability means, the action of being trustworthy and people being able to rely on you or the other way around. What block number twenty is trying to say is that, reliability creates the respect that people have towards you. Being able to rely on someone or someone being able to rely on you means a lot to some certain people. Sometimes all people as for is reliability because not every single day is easy for everyone. Usually everyone has one or more than one person to rely on. It is very important to have a person to rely on. It is very important to have a person to rely on especially when you are having a bad day or it could also be when you are having a good day. An example of a person being reliable is, your best friends, siblings, parents, cousins etc... You just need to be careful on a person you rely on. You need to be careful because some people just tend to be there for a while and then they leave or turn their back on you. Some people tend to let you fall when they have found someone knew or if they heard some rumors. Not everyone is like this but you just need to keep an eye out for the person who is like that. I will apply this to my daily life by, being reliable to my friends and never letting them fall. Always have there back in the good days and the bad days as well. That is why friendships are made for.

Block 21: Fight 

Determined Effort 

What fight means here is that you are fully focused on what you believe in and you are willing to fight for it. Not fight physically but pushing yourself and getting through obstacles that you need to get through to be where you want to be. For example, if you want to fight to be the best of the best of the school then you have to be able to get through tough things. You need to fight for what you believe in and fight the people who want to bring you down by ignoring their negative comments. Mostly every day is a tough day and you need to fight for your day to go good. There will always be things that will get in the way and people to bring you down. But what I believe is that all you need to do is never let yourself look down or like you have gave up. If you ever look like that then people will know you have lost the fight that you were fighting for. That's what people wanna see, they want to see you down on the floor and at the very lowest. The key to success is not giving up and always fighting for what you believe in. I believe that everyone now in days fight for what they believe they are capable of doing just to prove others wrong. I always fight for what I believe in because I believe in myself and I believe that I could make a whole better person out of me. I will apply this goal to my daily life by never giving up no matter how hard it gets. Also by always fighting for what I want and never giving people the privilege to see me down on the floor and seeing me give up on a fight that I once believed in.

Block 22: Competitive Greatness

"Be at your best when your best friend is needed. Enjoyment of a difficult challenge." 

Competitive greatness means, the ability to be at your best when your best is needed. what block number twenty two is trying to say is that, to never give up and always take a challenge when its possible. Life is full with difficult challenges and you have to push yourself to challenge it and make it successful. It takes time for a challenge to be completed and so you could say "I have made it." For example, a challenge is when you say you want to make straight A's in your four years of high school. This is a challenge because it's not easy because there will be challenges and you will have to go through obstacles just to make that challenge happen. This challenge will take time for it to happen. Challenges may take days, weeks, months, or even years. But if you don't give up and don't let others bring you down then you will accomplish what you have in mind. I will apply this to my daily life by not giving up on challenges that I believe in or never giving up on a challenge that someone challenges me to. I will try my best to make the challenges happen because I believe that challenges also take you to the path of success. 

Block 23: Integrity 

Purity if Intention 

integrity means, the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness. What block number 23 is trying to say is that, you have to have pure intentions for yourself and others. An example of integrity is when it comes down to a relationship or a friendship. This is an example of integrity because you have to be honest and have strong morals into a friendship or a relationship. Another example of integrity is when you take test or when you are in a situation where you have to tell the truth. This is another example because when you take test you have to be honest and not cheat so you could know what you are capable of doing. Being in a situation where you have to tell the truth about everything you have to be 100% honest. The final example that I have of integrity is when you have to accept how things are and if things have changed. You have to be honest with yourself not just with others. You also have to tell yourself the truth. Do not dishonor yourself or others because you could start to not trust yourself and others may not trust you as well. I will apply integrity to my daily by being honest with myself and accepting the changes that are being made in my life. Also by staying honest to others and to myself along the whole way I have to my successful life.

Block 24: Faith 

Believe and Achieve

Faith means complete trust or confidence in someone or something. What block number twenty four is trying to say is that, to achieve the goals that you believe in. To achieve goals it takes maybe days, months, years etc. But just believing in things that you want to do gives you power. Faith doesn't always have to do with religion but it's part of it. Sometimes people and kids have lack of faith. They have lack of faith because they look for evidence they don't go with what they believe in. I believe that this is wrong because what if you only believe in it? Not everyone has the same believes. An example of faith is, when an elevator is not working and not moving but you say, "I have faith that the elevator will stop where I need it to stop" there might be people in the elevator as well that think that it won't because it is not working. This example is an example of faith and lack of faith. Faith could come to you in different signs. There might be negative signs but later on there could be positive signs or the other way around. I will apply this block to my daily life by having faith in all my goals also by believing in them and achieving them with time.

Block 25: Patience

Good things take time

Patience means, the capacity to accept or tolerate delay, trouble, or suffering without getting angry or upset. What block number twenty five is trying to say is that, if you want good things to happen it will take its time to happen. Good things just don't happen all of a sudden. The two strongest things in life is patience and time. Everything takes time and it will happen when it is the right moment. An example of being patience is, when you have to wait for your turn in line and it is taking forever. You need to have patience and wait your turn. Another example of being patient is when you want to pick up your bad grades. You have to be patient and you also need to take your time for it to happen. Patience is the key which solves all problem. Patience is also a key element to success. It's like they say Rome wasn't build in one day. It took patience to build and time to complete it. Patience is also an action. It is also an action because you just need to wait and wait until you get what you want. I will apply this to my daily life by being more patient. Also by not getting frustrated and giving up just because I get tired of having patience. Finally I will also apply this to my daily life by having patience with certain types of people.  

Reflection:

These 25 blocks have given me a boost of confidence and a good understanding on what i need to do in order to be success by my self and with other people. I will try to use all of these blocks through out life. These blocks are making a difference in school when i don't think i am going to past a test but i have to have faith in my self that i will pass the test