I recently read The Wisdom of Wooden. It is essentially a compilation of the thoughts of John Wooden (for those who do not know, John Wooden was the coach of UCLA basketball, winning 10 NCAA championships in 12 seasons). He praised his dad for establishing good moral values in him. One of his dad's concepts was the 2 sets of 3. As some of you know, I have been doing "Daddy's School" with the kids over the summer. We tweaked Wooden's sets of three just a little and came up with our own sets to live by.
Set 1
Never lie.
Never cheat.
Never steal.
Set 2
Don't complain.
Don't make excuses.
Don't quit.
Obviously we are not perfect on the sets of three everyday, but we will continue to try. Every night I ask the kids how they did on the 2 sets of 3. Not only when they succeeded, but also when they failed.
The other day I was doing my tire mile (fun!) and Kayla (my 8 year old) wanted to run with me. After the first lap, she was only 20 feet in front of me. She complained about the run and I told her she could do better on the next lap and she did a little but not great. Later that night we were talking about what happened during the run. She made a few excuses (headphones kept falling out, trying to pace herself, etc). We discussed what it takes to make a great athlete and if she could have done better. She of course said yes. An hour later (around 7:00) the family and I were watching a movie and Kayla comes downstairs with her Vibrams and heaphones on. She walked out the front door and started trotting down the road. After the first straight away she throws the headphones at me because they kept falling out. At the end of the first lap, she starts to hobble a little bit from a blister she got the other day. I told her she could stop and she gave me a look as if I was the biggest idiot in the world. She continued down the road, finishing the mile 3 minutes faster than earlier in the morning.
This is the set of three at its best. Excuses were made. Complaints were spoken. And even though she finished the first mile, she still quit on herself. But instead of letting that go, she decided to make a change and do it over the right way. Obviously I was proud as well as inspired. Maybe even you are too.
