Grover Tim - Relentless: from good to great to unstoppable

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To my parents,
Surjit and Rattan Grover,
whose love and support taught me
what it truly means to be relentless.
Everything I have, everything I am,
is because of them.

I t was 10:00 p.m. when the black Suburban pulled up to the security gates of Attack Athletics, my training facility on the West Side of Chicago. Not unusual. Pro athletes would show up at all hours to the place where Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and Dwyane Wade had permanent lockers, where countless superstars would work out or play ball or just hang out with other guys who got it.

On this particular night, though, only one guy is in the gym, and no one else knows hes there. Not his team, not the media, not his family. His teammates are in a hotel two thousand miles away; reporters are blowing up his phone with calls and texts.

And its the middle of the NBA playoffs, with less than seventy-two hours until he has to be back on the court.

The night before, the whole world watched him limp off the floor in pain. Now everyone wants to know the story. Is he okay? Can he play? Im fine, he said at the postgame press conference. Hes fine, said the coach, who has no idea where his star is tonight. Well get him some treatment and hell be good to go, said the GM, who already knows the player wont go near the teams training staff.

Finally, when hes alone in the privacy of his room at the teams hotel, he makes one call, to the confidential number saved in the phones of countless athletes around the world.

Need some help, he says.

How soon can you get here? I answer.

Getting to me without anyone knowing is the easy part when youre an elite athlete: call for a plane, grab your security guy, and go, confidentiality guaranteed. Typically, the hard part comes when you arrive, whether youre in need of emergency intervention or a long-term program or a psychological kick in the ass. Some guys arrive thinking theyre going to fill out paperwork and stretch a little, and within the first hour theyve sweated through three T-shirts and theyre puking in a trash can.

But that night, the player and I knew the real issue wasnt physical; its the end of the season, everyone has injuries. Im not going to fix anything major in a few hours, and the teams training staff could have handled the usual aches and pains. Lets be honest: you dont secretly charter a plane and fly two thousand miles to get iced and taped. We can adapt around the limitationheres how you adjust your shot, push off this way, land that way, do this before the game, do that at halftime, get something done to the shoes. Ignore the pain for now. Youre going to be uncomfortable, get used to it. Lay out the whole script, leaving nothing to chance; if he follows the plan, hell be physically ready to play. Or as ready as he can be.

But mentally, thats another story... and thats why he made the call to me. Hes listening to all the talk about whether hell be ready to go, whether he can get the job done, whether hes lost a few steps. And now hes not even sure himself.

The pressure is getting to him. External pressure that distracts and derails, not the internal pressure that can drive you to overcome anything.

And instead of shutting it all out and trusting his instincts and natural ability, hes thinking.

He flew two thousand miles to hear these two words: Dont think.

You already know what you have to do, and you know how to do it.

Whats stopping you?

To be the best, whether in sports or business or any other aspect of life, its never enough to just get to the top; you have to stay there, and then you have to climb higher, because theres 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 whats next. And then you go for even more.

Relentless.

If that describes you, this book is your life story. Youre what I call a Cleaner, the most intense and driven competitor imaginable. You refuse limitations. You quietly and forcefully do whatever it takes to get what you want. You understand the insatiable addiction to success; it defines your entire life.

If that doesnt describe you yet, congratulations: you are on a life-changing journey to discover the power you already possess.

This isnt about motivation. If youre reading this book, youre already motivated. Now you have to turn that into action and results.

You can read clever motivational slogans all day and still have no idea how to get where you want to be. Wanting something wont get you anywhere. Trying to be someone youre not wont get you anywhere. Waiting for someone or something to light your fire wont get you anywhere.

So how are you going to get there?

Believe this: Everything you need to be great is already inside you. All your ambitions and secrets, your darkest dreams... theyre waiting for you to just let go.

Whats stopping you?

Most people give up because everyone has told them what they cant do, and its easier to stay safe in the comfort zone. So they sit on the fence, unable to decide, unable to act.

But if you dont make a choice, the choice will be made for you.

Its time to stop listening to what everyone else says about you, telling you what to do, how to act, how you should feel. Let them judge you by your results, and nothing else; its none of their business how you get where youre going. If youre relentless, there is no halfway, no could or should or maybe. Dont tell me the glass is half-full or half-empty; you either have something in that glass or you dont.

Decide. Commit. Act. Succeed. Repeat.

Everything in this book is about raising your standard of excellence, going beyond what you already know and think, beyond what anyone has tried to teach you. Kobe says he wants six rings? I want him to have seven. A guy tells me he wants to come back from an injury in ten weeks? Ill get him there in eight. You want to drop thirty pounds? Youll drop thirty-four. Thats how you become unstoppableby placing no limits on yourself. Not just in sports, but in everything you do. I want you to want more and get everything you crave.

I dont care how good you think you are, or how great others think you areyou can improve, and you will. Being relentless means demanding more of yourself than anyone else could ever demand of you, knowing that every time you stop, you can still do more. You must do more.

The minute your mind thinks, Done, your instincts say, Next.

What you wont find in this book is a lot of garbage about passion and inner drive. I dont have any feel-good strategies for dreamers who love to talk about thinking outside the box. There is no box. Im going to show you how to stop thinking about how youre going to think, and do something instead.