Library / Personal Development | Human Psychology
Date of review: August 2020
Book author: Tim Grover
Вook published: 2013
Book author: Tim Grover
Вook published: 2013
Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable by Tim Grover (2013)
This is a book full of messages aimed at motivating you to go beyond yourself in pursuing excellence. Very similar to books written by Tony Robbins, which I also have in my library. The only big difference is that Tim Grover has focused on professional athletes, and for those who enjoy sports, this may be an even more powerful motivation that built on corporate careers.
'Success is not the same as talent. The world is full of incredibly talented people who never succeed at anything'
Grover's own story is quite interesting as he started as a basketball player but could not succeed and suffered from injuries. Eventually, he managed to use his love for basketball and overcome his physical constraints to achieve the biggest success in this sport by acting as a personal physical and mind coach to the best players ever, starting from Michael Jordan. What is quite amazing is that he managed to persuade Jordan to become his personal coach even without any real track record as a coach.
The book does not have any practical steps and 'how to' formulae, which is probably its main downside. But on the other hand, as famous investors say that there is no 'magic formula' in investing, it is probably naïve to expect someone to share with you a secret formula to become the next Michael Jordan in your industry.
The book is still highly valuable just by providing examples of true commitment to achieving professional success and the efforts and sacrifices star athletes have gone through.
Grover calls the highest achievers 'cleaners' as opposed to just very good players ('closers') or normal ones ('coolers'). Similar to a Mindset book, Grover emphasises mental focus and psychology, saying 'success is not the same as talent. The world is full of incredibly talented people who never succeed at anything'.
The book does not have any practical steps and 'how to' formulae, which is probably its main downside. But on the other hand, as famous investors say that there is no 'magic formula' in investing, it is probably naïve to expect someone to share with you a secret formula to become the next Michael Jordan in your industry.
The book is still highly valuable just by providing examples of true commitment to achieving professional success and the efforts and sacrifices star athletes have gone through.
Grover calls the highest achievers 'cleaners' as opposed to just very good players ('closers') or normal ones ('coolers'). Similar to a Mindset book, Grover emphasises mental focus and psychology, saying 'success is not the same as talent. The world is full of incredibly talented people who never succeed at anything'.
The book is arranged around 13 key characteristics of true leaders/superachievers (or 'Cleaners' as the author calls them)
These are:
- Pushing yourself harder when everyone else has had enough;
- Getting into the Zone, shutting everything else, and controlling the uncontrollable;
- Knowing exactly what you are;
- Having a dark side that refuses to be taught to be good;
- Not being intimidated by pressure, but thriving on it;
- When everyone is hitting the 'In Case of Emergency' button, they're all looking for you;
- You don't compete with anyone, you find your opponent's weakness, and you attack;
- Making decisions, not suggestions;
- You don't have to love the work, but you're addicted to results;
- You'd rather be feared than liked;
- You trust very few people, and those you trust better never let you down;
- You don't recognize failure, you know there's more than one way to get what you want;
- You don't celebrate your achievements because you always want more.
Key notes
- 'To be the best, whether, in sports or business or any other aspect of life, it's never enough to just get to the top; you have to stay there, and then you have to climb higher because there's always someone right behind you trying to catch up. Most people are willing to settle for "good enough'. But if you want to be unstoppable, those words mean nothing to you. Being the best means engineering your life, so you never stop until you get what you want, and then you keep going until you get what's next. And then you go for even more. Relentless'.
- 'Most people give up because everyone has told them what they can't do, and it's easier to stay safe in the comfort zone…But if you don't make a choice, the choice will be made for you. It's time to stop listening …Let them judge you by your results and nothing else; it's none of their business how you get there where you're going'.