Relentless by Tim Grover - An Honest Book Review

Relentless by Tim Grover – An Honest Book Review / Book Notes. Unparalleled insight on the mind-sets of the most successful and accomplished athletes like Micheal Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Dwayne Wade

It was a typical Wednesday afternoon when I heard a knock on the door. I wasn’t expecting any visitors and so I wondered who it was. It was the Fedex guy delivering a package.

A little box arrived for me and was sent by my good friend Ro who lives in San Francisco. Curious as to what was inside the box and why he sent me something, I opened the box. Inside was Tim Grover’s Book, Relentless. Then I remember, Ro has been raving about this book on our conversations but I didn’t really pay much attention to it.

In my mind, I told myself that I was already relentless. I have a goal, an obsession, a mission in life that I will stop at nothing to accomplish… I am already relentless! What will this book teach me? I am sure that whatever is in this book, I’ve heard of before or I’ve already learned from good ole Tony Robbins.

I then set it down on my “Books to Read” pile behind my desk and went on with my day.

Days went by and for some odd reason, this book was always calling my attention. Every time I would walk away from my desk, I glance at the book. When I go back to my desk, I glance at the book. Is it the book cover? It does have a nice classic color palette – black background, fonts are white, red and gray. I do not know but it wasn’t enough for me to pick it up and read it. Plus, it wasn’t my reading day yet so it had to wait.

A week went by and my glance turned into a stare. I stared at the word unstoppable. Then the moment of insight… I asked myself, “What is something you want that is so big, you can’t even imagine what it would be like to have it?”

It’s funny how our minds work, if you ask yourself a question, it will stop at nothing to answer it.

It was 12pm in the afternoon when I finally took the book from the pile and placed it on my desk next to my computer mouse. Then worked on a few a normal work tasks (checking our facebook campaign analytics and talking to our developer about a client mobile app submission to itunes).

Then I sat down to eat lunch and brought the book with me. Went to the bathroom, brought the book with me. I was holding this book wherever I go. I even brought it to bed. I laid it on my nightstand, set my alarm, then I opened the book. My thought was, this book will help me fall asleep… That was 11pm.

Well… this is the part when I had a realization. As the classic saying goes,” Do not judge the book by its cover”. On a marketing perspective, people do judge the book by its cover. It is human nature! But that’s another topic… Maybe I’ll talk about book cover designs on another blog post.

Back to my realization, yes I did judge the book by its cover. It was simple, classic and there was nothing fancy about it. But it was more than that… I judged the book by its topic. I assumed that Tim Grover’s understanding and definition of Relentless is the same definition I have.

I was wrong.

The way he defined Relentless is far from what and how I understood Relentless.

So lesson of the story is Stop judging the book based on how it looks, or its topic – only judge it after reading it. (lol)

Here is my judgment. There are 2 parts to my judgment. First the book was horrible. Here’s why… when I started reading, it was 11pm. After a couple of pages, I went back to my desk and grabbed a pen and highlighter. Then I went to my kitchen table and started reading more. I read the book from cover to cover and I couldn’t stop reading it. By the time I was done, it was already 8am. I didn’t notice that the sun was already up. So yes, it was horrible because it was so good that I didn’t sleep.

The second part, The book was aaaamazing! it was right on point about certain mindsets that I have that I’ve been working so hard to change a.k.a Chris’ not so appealing personalities. This book gave me so much insight on why those mindsets, personalities and characteristics are important to success and we do not need to change it. We need to accept it, embrace it and enhance it to get the results faster.

WHO IS TIM GROVER?

Tim Grover is the “Emergency, Break Glass” guy that Sports Superstars like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade call to make “impossible” things happen. He trains athletes for one thing and one thing only… a championship. Tim is the person to call when elite athletes need emergency intervention or long term program or a psychological kick in the butt.

WHAT THIS BOOK IS ABOUT?

Relentless is about raising your standard of excellence, going beyond what you already know and think, beyond what anyone has tried to teach you.

It is a compilation of insights into the mentality and guts of World Class Athletes who have found unparalleled success by trusting in their own instinct to get to where they want to be – win championships, dominate and be the best in the league.

This book will show you how to stop thinking about how you’re going to think, and do something instead.

WHAT THIS BOOK IS NOT

This book is about mental states. It does not tell you what to do to get to that mindset. So if you are looking for a step by step process, a method, a blueprint to get the mindset you need then this book is not for you.

The whole point of this book is… if you want to truly be successful, STOP WAITING TO BE TOLD WHAT TO DO AND HOW TO DO IT.

WHAT IS RELENTLESS?

Tim Grover describes Relentless as a state of mind. This state of mind can give you the strength to achieve, to survive, to overcome, to be strong when others are not. It means craving the end result so intensely that work becomes irrelevant not just in sports but in everything you do. It is about achieving the impossible.

Being Relentless means:

Demanding more of yourself than anyone else could ever demand of you. Always striving to be the best and getting even better.
Knowing that every time you stop, you still can do more. You must do more. Never being satisfied. The minute your mind thinks, “Done” your instincts say, “Next”
Facing fear and getting rid of excuses that are stopping you from getting what you want.
Being feared for your mental strength and toughness, not just your physical abilities.
Being a Cleaner

WHAT IS A CLEANER?

According to Tim Grover, a cleaner is his term for the ultimate competitors and achievers who refuse to be satisfied with just trying or merely giving it “their best”; they recognize themselves in those individuals who don’t just do a job, they define the job.

A Cleaner is not about skill or talent. It is about complete focus, being In The Zone and never letting up until the end result is accomplished. They are the most intense and driven competitors imaginable.

Cleaners have the ability to:

Trust their instincts
Shut out doubt and fear
Keep going when everyone else had given up

A Cleaners attitude can be summed up in 3 words: I. OWN. THIS.

WHY DID TIM GROVER CALL THEM CLEANERS?

Because they take responsibility for everything. When something goes wrong, they do not blame others because they never really count on anyone else to get the job done in the first place. They just clean up the mess and move on.

CLEANERS CHARACTERISTICS

Here are characteristics of Cleaners described throughout the book

Cleaners do not have to love the hard work; you just have to crave the end result.
Cleaners refuse limitations and does not recognize failure.
Cleaners understand the insatiable addiction to success – it defines their entire life.
Cleaners walk with confidence and leave with results.
Cleaners have the guts and vision to steer everything to his advantage.
Cleaners are completely focused on taking responsibilities and taking charge.
Cleaners are rule-breakers when they have to be because they only care about the end result.
Cleaners are self made. They can’t be invented by media or hype.
Cleaners know who they are and what they are worth. Keep that in mind because a Cleaner will remind you if you make a mistake of forgetting that.
Cleaners don’t care about “having it all”. They only care about the end result, their goal, their obsession.
Cleaners get into the Zone and control the uncontrollable.
Cleaners make decisions, not suggestions.
Cleaners would rather be feared than liked.
Cleaners trust a few people, and those they trust better not let them down.

THE DARK SIDE OF BEING A CLEANER

Yes, the Cleaners have a dark side, a zone no one can enter. Quiet, dark and alone.

Always alone, even in a crowd. When a Cleaner is in the Zone there are no emotions, only the sensation of anger, a quiet, icy anger simmering under a Cleaner’s skin.

Cleaners get what they want but they pay for it in solitude. Excellence is lonely. Cleaners never stop working, physically or mentally.

They are addicted to the exquisite rush of success. A Cleaners lust for it is so powerful, the craving so intense, that he will alter his entire life to get it. As soon as he feels success, tastes success, holds success, the moment is over and the Cleaner craves for more. Everything a Cleaner does is to feed this addiction. Not because he loves the process but because he just loves the end result.

Cleaners doesn’t celebrate success or achievements because they always want more.

CLEANERS LAW:

Control your dark side, don’t let it control you.
When you reduce your competition to whining that you “got lucky”, you know you are doing something right.
When you are going through a world of pain, you never hide. You show up to work ready to go, you face adversity and your critics and those who judge you. You step in the Zone and perform at the top level when everyone is expecting you to falter. That’s being a professional.
Surround yourself with those who want you to succeed, who recognize what it takes to be successful.
If your name is on the door, you’d better control what goes on behind that door.

WHAT IS THE ZONE?

The deep personal space when you can quiet your mind until you have no thoughts, it’s just you and your instincts, focused and unemotional. This is where you feel no external pressure, only the internal pressure to prove yourself, over and over because you want it for yourself, not anyone else.

Once a Cleaner steps in the Zone there is No Fear, No Intrusion… TOTAL CONCENTRATION.

There is no thinking because thinking turns thoughts on to everything. The Zone is the opposite, turn thoughts off to everything except the task at hand. The Zone keeps a Cleaner where they need to be.

Things that puts us in the Zone:

Tim Grover mentioned a few ways to get in the Zone. It is different for everybody but we all have triggers that puts us in the Zone.

Something that ignites our competitive intensity
Laser focus
Relentless craving to attack and conquer

RELENTLESS BOOK GOLDEN NUGGETS:

Don’t think – Trust your instincts
“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 climb higher, because there’s always someone right behind you trying to catch up. These means engineering your life until you get what you want and then keep going until you get what is next.”
Most people are willing to settle for “good enough”. But if you want to be unstoppable, those words should mean nothing to you.
Everything you need to be great is already inside you. All your ambitions and secrets, your darkest dreams… They are waiting for you to just let go.
If you don’t make a choice, the choice will be made for you.
Decide. Commit. Act. Succeed.
Success is not the same as talent. There are a lot of talented people who are not successful.
Your Strategy is to get everyone on your level; you’re not going down to their level. YOU ARE ONLY COMPETING WITH YOURSELF. THEY ARE GOING TO HAVE TO COMPETE WITH YOU.
In order to have what you want, you must first be who you are.
Greatness makes you a legend; being the best makes you an icon. If you want to be great, deliver the unexpected. If you want to be the best, deliver a miracle.
When you are great, you trust your instincts. When you are unstoppable, your instincts trust you.

I highly recommend reading this book. It will change your perspective in so many levels. Here is the link to Amazon to Get a Copy of Relentless.