Character and Reputation

“Be more concerned with your character than your reputation, because your character is really what you are, while your reputation is really what others think you are.” John Wooden

John Wooden was a college basketball coach for 29 years, and retired in 1975. Last year The Sporting News named Wooden the greatest coach of all time as selected by a panel of 118 Hall of Famers, championship coaches and other experts. That’s character and reputation.

What are you concerned with today? Are you worried about what you’re going to wear or whether you’ll have a good hair day? Or are you worried that you may not know what you’re doing or how to get from point A to point B? There are important things that should concern you today, and then there are things that don’t really matter – clothes and hair are in the latter category. But it’s easy to get hung up on the superficial stuff, to overlook the things that really matter because you’re focused on the wrong things. Who you are and what you do, whether people can rely on you and your word, questions about your integrity and how you handle important issues – those are the things that make a difference to your family, friends and colleagues. So, if you want to be remembered then you better be impeccable in these things – that’s how to measure and define your character and reputation.