Chambers Veronica - Wake up happy: the dream big, win big guide to transforming your life

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PREVIOUSLY BY MICHAEL STRAHAN

Inside the Helmet:

Life as a Sunday Afternoon Warrior

An Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.

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www.SimonandSchuster.com

Copyright 2015 by Michael Strahan

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Atria Books Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

: Along Came Jones. Words and Music by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. Copyright 1959 Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC. Copyright Renewed. All Rights Administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, 424 Church Street, Suite1200, Nashville, TN 37219. International Copyright Secured. All Rights Reserved. Reprinted by Permission of Hal Leonard Corporation.

: Can You Stand the Rain. Written by James Harris III & Terry Lewis. 1988 EMI April Music Inc. & Flyte Tyme Tunes Inc. All rights administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC. 424 Church Street, Suite 1200, Nashville, TN 37219. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

97: I Dont Want to Miss a Thing (from Armageddon ). Words and Music by DIANE WARREN. Copyright 1998 REALSONGS (ASCAP). All Rights Reserved. Used By Permission of ALFRED MUSIC.

First 37 INK/Atria Books hardcover edition October 2015

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Interior design by Dana Sloan

Jacket design by Albert Tang

Jacket Lettering by Ella Laytham

Jacket Photograph by Peter Yang / August

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for.

ISBN 978-1-4767-7568-5

ISBN 978-1-4767-7570-8 (ebook)

I dedicate this book to all the people who have shaped me and continue to shape me to be the best that I can be. None of us do it alone and the best of me is really a reflection of you. Thank you.

If you want to be successful, its just this simple.

Know what you are doing. Love what you are doing.

And believe what you are doing.

WILL ROGERS

N OT TOO LONG AGO , I sat anxiously in a dark theater as the MC began his introductions. I was a bag of nerves. The MC didnt speak for very long, but it seemed to take forever.

Come on, I wanted to jump up and say. Lets get on with it!

The longer he talked, the more nervous I got. At last, he began to wrap up his remarks.

Its going to be okay, I told myself. Its going to be okay.

Sure, it was a kids talent show in North Carolina. Yes, my daughters were the ones performing, not me, but that didnt make me any less fidgety. Finally, the MC stopped talking and the curtains opened. Then my youngest girls, Isabella and Sophia, came out and sang My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music. Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. I love that song. And even though I was such a wreck, the girls sung beautifully. On the outside, I may have come across as cool and collected, but inside I was a mess.

All my life, people have always told me, You look so comfortable, whether it was on the football field or hosting a television show or any of the other things Ive done in between. If they only knew. The truth is, Im a shy guy. I get nervous for myself and I get nervous when someone I love is out there on the line. But Ive known ever since I was young how to take that nervous energy and turn it into positive energy. My goal in this book is to share with you what Ive learned about developing a winning attitude and putting your most productive habits to work to craft the life of your dreams. Ive had more than a few jobs, challenges, and personal transformations to which Ive applied my philosophy, which I share with you in the pages that follow. Beyond my own experiences, throughout the book, I turn to other experts and people whove thought deeply and written about the power of positive thinking and transformation, from happiness expert Shawn Achor to Po Bronson, from Thor Muller and Lane Becker to Dr. Joseph Cardillo, an expert on energy management, to the figures whove meant so much in my life, from my dear friend Dr. Ian Smith to the late, great Giants coach Earl Leggett. In the second half of the book I talk specifically about how to use these principles not only to reach your goals but also to transform your attitude. In ways that may be counterintuitive, former professional athletes know a thing or two about transformation. Our career choices are, by definition, limited in duration. We can play only as long as our bodies, first and foremost, and our willpower allow us to. Then we have to reinvent ourselves.

Using stories from my own life and from those whose journeys have inspired me, I draw upon the power of positive thinking often. Take the time the producers of Good Morning America approached me about joining the team. I was scared to death. I was just getting my sea legs on LIVE with the talented Kelly Ripa and didnt think I could handle sitting at a news desk with esteemed journalists like George Stephanopoulos and Robin Roberts. Then I had to ask myself, Well, am I not trying it because Im afraid or is it because I think I cant do it? After some reflection, I admitted to myself that I was afraid of trying and failing, and that wasnt a good enough reason not to give myself a chance.

Thats a recent example of my working through my fear, but its something Ive been doing since I was a child, even when it comes to football. I dont remember the first time I ever held a football any more than I remember being handed my first bottle of milk. The youngest of six, with three older brothers and two sisters, I was surrounded by football enthusiasts. My brothers loved football. My parents loved football. Before I could walk or crawl properly, I could hold a football.

My brothers and I were always good at the game. It wasnt so much that we were innately talented as that we persevered. When I was seven years old, our family lived on an army base in Fort Bragg, North Carolina, where my father, Gene Strahan, served as a captain in the military. I still remember how excited I was to begin my first season on the Pee Wee Falcons team and the pride I felt in seeing that black-and-white uniform laid out on the bed. From the first time I donned a football uniform, Ive loved the ritual of putting on the game pants with the built-in pads and the eyelet front. Then the shoulder pads with elastic bands and metal clips that make a distinctive sound when theyre fastened.