I want to start off this blog post by shouting out Kyle Mattevi for the name. He texted me after my first book review post with this name and I thought it was awesome! Thanks Kyle!!!
My reading goal has kinda gone to the wayside for the past couple of months. I didn't forget about it necessarily, but my writing and teaching schedule picked up more in the winter than I anticipated (which is a good thing). However, I put reading to the side in order to get things like a little time to relax and sleep. My writing schedule is still as busy but this is my "post-winter, pre-drum corps, but still have school" teaching lull, so I picked up back up the reading. So here is book review #2, "Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable" by Tim S. Grover.
Tim Grover is known for his work with championship and hall of fame athletes, including Dwayne Wade, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. He is also the CEO of Attack Athletics, a company he founded in 1989. Outside of training athletes, Tim also works trains business professionals.
With a subtitle "From Good to Great to Unstoppable," you would think that "Relentless" is a guide to being successful in sports or business. That couldn't be farther from the truth. In fact, there is no part of the book that tells you "how" to do anything. In one of the last chapters, Grover talks about such guides being shams that do not actually work over the long term.
So what does "Relentless" address? It address 13 characteristics of highly successful people. Not only does it address those characteristics, but it address 3 different levels of successful people. Those levels are "Coolers, Closers, and Cleaners," also correlated to "Good, Great, Unstoppable." Here are a few examples of the differences between "Coolers, Closers and Cleaners" -
"Coolers can have an amazing game.
Closers can have an amazing season.
Cleaners have amazing careers."
"Coolers worry about the competition and how they measure up.
Closers study the competition and plan their attach based on the opponent.
Cleaners make the competition study them; they don't care whom they're facing, they
know they can handle anyone."
While these definitions, or examples, are sports oriented there are examples of how a "cooler," a "closer," and a "cleaner," operate in other aspects of life such as business, relationships, family, etc. Much of the content of the book is gear towards what makes a person a "Cleaner," but it addresses the difference is most chapters between the three.
One thing I found interesting about the book is that Grover didn't number the chapters, or the characters. That is because he feels that each characteristic is equally important to how a "cleaner" operates. Instead each chapter starts with "When You're a Cleaner..." and then has a statement to set up the characteristic of the chapter. Here are a few of the characteristic statements (remember each one is preceded with "When You're a Cleaner...")
"...You keep pushing yourself harder when everyone else has had enough."
"...You get into the Zone, shut out everything else, and control the uncontrollable."
"...You know exactly who you are."
"...You're not intimidated by pressure, you thrive on it."
"...You don't recognize failure, you know there's more than one way to get what you
want."
Each chapter is loaded with examples of how "cleaners" handle different situations. They also have stories about working with Michael and Kobe, and how Grover got his start. In fact, my favorite story is of him starting out. He reached out to train everyone on the Bulls except for Michael Jordan because he thought MJ already had a team of trainers. Out of that, he gets a meeting, which turns into a couple training sessions, which turns in a career of training some of the best athletes in the world.
Now, I will say that this book is not for everyone. The stories are good, but the mentality the book is based on is not for the faint of heart. He talks a lot about how a "cleaner" has to block everyone, and everyone, out in order to chase greatness. He also talks about "cleaners" being unapologetic for their actions. To that note, this book is not for everyone. However, if you are just getting into a field (or career) that is competitive. This book might be a good source of insight has to how some of the most competitive, and successful, people are wired. There are parts of the book that resonated with me and parts that did not. I would imagine it will be the same for a lot of people.
Therefore if this is something that sounds like it is of interest to you, I definitely recommend this book. Otherwise, this is not as good a read as the last book, "No is a Four Letter Word" by Chris Jericho.
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