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Most people misunderstand Focus, but John Wooden saw it differently. This collection isolates their contrarian insights, backed by full source attribution so you can verify the context. Whether you're questioning conventional wisdom or seeking a fresh perspective, these quotes challenge how you think about Focus. Keep this archive close when you need to cut through groupthink and see clearly.
"Love is the most important word in the English language - and the most important thing is to love."
"Enthusiasm is the engine that powers all the other blocks of the Pyramid."
"You must be interested in the process, not just the result."
"Patience is a virtue when you're waiting for the right things to happen."
"Patience is the antidote to anxiety. It allows us to focus on the process rather than the outcome."
"Competitive greatness is having the strength to be at your best when your best is needed."
"Patience is a necessary ingredient of genius."
Book: Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and off the Court
"True confidence is not loud; it is a quiet state of mind."
"Confidence is not having all the answers; it is being prepared for all the questions."
"The mind must be fit to guide the body through the rigors of competition."
"Make each day your masterpiece."
"You must be alert to your physical needs to stay in peak condition."
"Everything should be done with a purpose. If there is no purpose, there is no goal."
"I was passionate about every detail of the game."
"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."
"Don't look at the scoreboard; look at the execution."
"Be quick, but don't hurry. Hurrying leads to mistakes; quickness comes from preparation and patience."
"A confident leader is one who has mastered the fundamentals."
"It is the little details that are vital. Little things make big things happen."
"Poise is just being yourself. Being at ease in any situation. Never fighting yourself."
Book: Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and off the Court
"Don't let yesterday take up too much of today."
"Enthusiasm makes the hard work seem easy."
"Failing to prepare is preparing to fail."
"Without physical fitness, the most brilliant mind will eventually lose its edge."
"Do not permit what you cannot do to interfere with what you can do."
"The more concerned we become over the things we can't control, the less we will do with the things we can control."
"Don't let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do."
Book: Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and off the Court
"Do not fear the outcome. Fear only that you did not do your best to prepare."
"If you don't have time to do it right, when will you have time to do it over?"
"You can't let praise or criticism get to you. It's a weakness to get caught up in either one."
"Today is the only day. Yesterday is gone."
"Do not look back. And do not dream about the future, either. It will neither give you as much as you think, nor take as much from you as you fear."
Book: Wooden: A Lifetime of Observations and Reflections on and off the Court
"Never mistake activity for achievement."
"Activity is not achievement."
"Condition is the second block in the heart of the Pyramid. It involves the physical, the mental, and the moral."
Seeing how John Wooden approaches Focus helps you apply the idea with more precision.
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"Use this collection whenever you need John Wooden's lens on Focus."