Coach Bob Wooden led the UCLA basketball program to 10 national championships in 12 years. His success as a college basketball coach is legendary. The philosophy that he implemented in his record breaking tenure at UCLA has come to be known as the Golden Pyramid. Because I am not a basketball fan, I learned about the coach from a TV show recently. I picked up his book, explaining the principles behind the Golden Pyramid. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that it is actually a collection of Bible studies explaining the various character qualities you need to live out to do your best in whatever endeavor you take on. The first two “cornerstones” in the pyramid are the most important. They are also obvious and make. It clear that the pyramid isn’t a gimmick or a shortcut.

The first corner stone is “industriousness.” This is more commonly referred to as “really hard work.” We often hear about folks who succeed without trying or through luck, but in reality an ethic that embraces hard work is vital to success in life. Wooden divides the idea of hard work into two parts. The first is sweat. Practice, training, learning, and working. The idea is to develop an ethic and focus that willingly puts in the hours and effort. The other side of industriousness is planning and thinking. Wooden explained that he approached practice with his players with intentionality. He often spent more time planning than they did practicing. He plotted every detail to the second. The other. Thing he did was start and end practices exactly on time, so players knew what to expect. He argues that carefully maximizing all of his resources led to the best performance. Simple as it seems, industriousness is not a very common character quality to find in life. Hard work and careful planning paired together are dynamite and individuals should focus on learning both.

The second cornerstone in the golden pyramid is enthusiasm. Wooden explains that learning to be enthusiastic in work and life reflects a wholehearted commitment to our goals. It is also contagious. Our excitement and energy will bring others. Up to our level. It isn’t easy to be enthusiastic in all of our work. We must cultivate our hearts in that direction. We must also learn to rest well, so that we are able to bring enthusiasm to bear in our day to day lives.

The neat thing about these two character qualities is something I didn’t expect. They are re both a byproduct of seeing our lives and work as an act of service to God. If I look at my efforts as though they well be set before the all powerful creator of the universe, it makes it easier to try really hard and think carefully about my approach. It also makes it easier to work with enthusiasm if I understand that I am doing what I was made to do and doing it is a form of worshipping God. This added frame of reference makes the two character cornerstones seem like easier tasks to accomplish.