As some of you know, I listen to books quite often and talk about how this process has been life changing for me. In a time where I would just mindlessly listen to music, I am now expanding my knowledge on a daily basis. I started this process to become a better coach, but now realize, diving into all genres of books is helping me become a better person. In coaching, a lesson I’ve learned is that moments are perceived differently by everyone. You can explain a drill to a group of 10 hitters…and each hitter will be getting something different from what you are trying to explain. As baseball coaches, we often struggle at times to see how many lessons learned in baseball can be expanded into everyday life. This is one lesson that I’m not going to let slip by me. I really enjoy telling my story through my blogs and different player development initiatives that we have done at Maryville College. I found out that I also love the act of writing. I took a look at what I was writing about and realized that I was limiting my opportunities to write about my topics. A light bulb went off. I should write about takeaways from the books I listen to. This will help me further digest the content through writing, and I can help you guys see if it’s something that you’d like to read about! Now that you know how the book club blog came about, here are my first 2 book reviews/takeaways! If you like a book, just click the title above the review and it’ll take you to it!

5 AM Club 

Rating: 9/10

In the past, I’ve talked about how I’m not a morning person…ask my wife! I’m getting better at it though, and this book definitely put a big boost into that mission. To be honest, I didn’t realize that it would be in a fictional story format. It was my thought that this would be just another self-help book explaining what to do to get better at waking up in the morning. It reminds me of the work by Jon Gordon and Joshua Medcalf. This book takes more time to get through than most of their books, but it is well worth you time. There are 4 main characters in the book. The spellbinder, the billionaire, the entrepreneur, and the artist. Here’s 3 lessons that I got out of this book from the above 4 characters: 

These images are from the accompanying PDF with the audible. I love that audible has now added the option to see these PDFs through the app now. This 3 step success formula hit home to me because of where I’m at in my life/coaching career. My consumption of information over the last 3 years has been at an all time high. It wasn’t until the season we had last year, that I realized how little it matters about what you “know”, it’s all about what you DO. In this 3 step process, I have step 1 down pat and cemented into my daily life. I really enjoy books and consuming information that will make me better. Now I need to cement step 2 so I can reap the benefits of all that I “know”. 

Implementing a morning routine was the reason I first grabbed this book and the 20/20/20 method is super simple…and pretty easy to follow. The 3 pieces in the method above are move, reflect, and grow. In this book, the billionaire talks about how you can make this method your own and what you need it to be. I think for me personally, I will be doing the 30/30 method. I will walk + listen for 30 min and then have 30 min of vigorous workout. This fits my schedule better because I can find 20 minutes later in the day to reflect. It is tough for me to find 60 min throughout the day to find a consistent workout schedule. This method, like many other things in life, is a good format that you can make into your own. 

The “flow” state is something that I’ve heard in many books, but the author Steven Koltor has multiple books devoted to this topic. They are “The Rise of Superman”, “Stealing Fire” and “The Art of Impossible”. Last year, I found my way to this state was through long duration running. Now, long duration to me means a mile or more. I’ve always known that I needed to run in the morning to get things going. I’ve never really had an environment that would pop me out of bed. Now what I’m about to say has only been in place for two days…so ask me a few months later if I’m still in love with this setup. My garage lighting sucks and stepping foot into a cold garage didn’t make me run down stairs to get my workout in.So, I found this lighting system that would change that. The idea first came from Trevor Bauer’s recent videos. I loved the fluorescent lighting and I wanted that in my garage. I went on Amazon and found this multicolored lighting system for only $25, so I ordered it and put them up.

 In my two runs since adding this to my garage, it seemed like my 30 min run was only about 10 min. There are other factors in why I think this will help me stick to my running goals, but lighting is a big part of the reason I’m getting downstairs and onto the treadmill. You can call this soft or whatever you want, but it’s moving me closer to where I want to be as a person- and whatever works for someone, works. It doesn’t have to make sense to anyone else. 

Steve Kerr

Rating: 7/10

I saw this highly recommended book on twitter and I knew I had to listen to it. I vaguely remember playing NBA live back in the day with Steve Kerr and the Bulls. MJ’s Bulls are my favorite sports dynasty of all time. I didn’t know the story of his life and moved it to the top of my reading list. To avoid spoiling the entire book, this will be a short review. Steve had a very diverse background with going back and forth from across the pond to the US. I related to the amount of pain he had to go through while he was in college. This book may have a big impact on those who don’t understand what it’s like to have such a massive part of your life ripped away from you. I also related to the amount of luck that led to Steve being on the 2nd half of the Bull’s dynasty. I had no business playing in the Cape Cod League and working for the New York Yankees, I was just in the right place at the right time…just like Steve Kerr. I think that Steve’s life up until 30 is so similar, in my perspective, that this book didn’t really open my eyes. I really enjoyed the way that Scott Howard-Cooper did a great job telling the story and if you have a different life than mine, it could be an eye opening experience.