The Quickest Route To A Successful Life: Radical Responsibility
“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” — John Wooden
Too often in life, we, as people, fixate on the barriers to our success. We look critically at ourselves, and at the circumstances which are beyond our control, and begin shooting down our God-given dreams without ever having given ourselves a fair chance to achieve them.
We judge our education, our upbringing, or our financial resources as substandard — and decide that we will never be able to accomplish great things.
In truth, barriers like these are rarely the greatest threats to our success. Much more often, it is our perception of those barriers — and our tendency to use them as excuses — that stands between us and the life of our dreams.
In fact, it is often our failure to accept total responsibility which defeats us.
About 30 years ago, when I first heard the story of how Conrad Burke became a member of UCLA’s basketball team, the concept of taking radical, personal responsibility crossed my radar screen for the first time.
Though Conrad walked-on to the Bruins court as a freshman with no real basketball skills to speak of, by the time he graduated, he’d carved out for himself an honored spot on a nationally recognized team and earned the respect of the legendary coach, John Wooden.
Wooden — a man affectionately referred to by many as the Wizard of Westwood — pounded out the longest winning streak in the history of collegiate basketball history. He also described Conrad, early on, as “hopeless.”
According to Wooden:
“Conrad Burke showed little promise as a player when he arrived at UCLA. When I first saw him scrimmaging as a freshman, I shook my head and thought, “My, he’s hopeless. If this young man makes the varsity team when he’s a sophomore, it’ll mean the varsity is pretty terrible.
Imagine my surprise and delight when the very next season he became a starter on a varsity team that was anything but terrible. We won the conference title with a 16–0 record. Even though Conrad lacked the physical skills a coach likes to see, he made up for it with a great mind and very hard work. He came extremely close to achieving his potential, his own greatness.
For example, even though he couldn’t jump very well, and was relatively short for a center, he learned through constant practice and observation how to gain position under the basket. Of course, gaining position is vital to rebounding.
Conrad worked relentlessly to bring out all he had, and he came very close to doing that. He figured out how to make a contribution to the team — a big contribution. The key lesson is that anyone with ambition, properly channeled and focused, has the potential to achieve more than anyone would have imagined.”
Amen.
There are at least three important lessons we can learn about how to take radical responsibility from Conrad Burke’s example.
Lesson #1 — Focus On What You Can Do, Not On What You Can’t
When Conrad walked onto the Bruins court more than half a century ago, I’m sure that Coach Wooden wasn’t the only one to take note of his deficits.
I expect that the assistant coaches, the players, and Conrad himself, also realized in pretty short order that he was, indeed, rotten at the game.
Imagine how he must have felt, lining up behind his teammates each afternoon to practice free throws.
Player 1 steps up to the line.
Player 1 shoots.
Swish.
Two points.
Player 2 steps up to the line.
Player 2 shoots.
Swish.
Two points.
Player 3 steps up to the line.
Player 3 shoots.
Swish.
Two points.
Conrad steps up to the line.
Conrad shoots.
Conrad misses by a mile.
Zero points.
The differences between Conrad and his teammates were probably quite obvious.
But Conrad clearly refused to focus on the attributes which he lacked. Instead, the young walk-on chose to focus on the strengths that he had at his disposal — and to use them to his full advantage.
Ultimately, because Conrad chose to focus in that way, God crowned his efforts with success.
The “hopeless” freshman became a starter by his sophomore season, and earned varsity letters three years in a row.
Focusing on your weaknesses is a waste. Focusing on your strengths is wise.
Lesson #2 — In The Absence Of Natural Talent, A Whole Lot Of Work Will Prevail
When one of the greatest coaches in the history of the game says that you lack natural talent — there’s a strong possibility that you do.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t play.
What it does mean, however, is that you’ll probably have to sweat a lot more than some others to get the same results.
That’s exactly what Conrad Burke did.
At a time when it would have been easy — and logical — for the walk-on to walk back off, Conrad buckled down.
He studied those doing what he wanted to do, and diligently applied what he learned.
Natural talent is good. A strong work ethic is even better.
Lesson #3 — Follow Your Dreams Instead Of The Experts
While I doubt that Coach Wooden told Conrad what he thought of his playing ability directly, I suspect that the young walk-on somehow sensed his lack of confidence.
Thankfully, Conrad didn’t let that stop him.
Experts know some things. They certainly don’t know everything.
Opinions are like rear ends. Everybody’s got one.
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