Motivation
by Tim S. Grover
Good, great or unstoppable?
Tim Grover spent years as the personal trainer of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. In Relentless he sets out what he thinks separated them from other gifted players. Most people, he argues, settle for good or great. A few become what he calls unstoppable, and he describes what that takes.
Hear a sample · read by Laura
Grover sorts competitors into three types. Coolers are good, dependable players who do what they're told and leave the big moment to someone else. Closers can deliver under pressure but want the attention for it. Cleaners, the rarest, take responsibility for the whole result and are never satisfied.
Grover's Cleaners get into what he calls the Zone. The crowd noise and their own doubts drop away, and they act on instinct. In the moment, he says, thinking gets in the way. You get there through preparation so thorough that the thinking is already done.
Grover argues that everyone has a dark side, the anger, obsession and hunger to win that most of us learn to hide. His Cleaners don't bury that side. They keep it under control and use it as fuel.
One of Grover's traits is that Cleaners don't celebrate their achievements, because they always want more. A trophy is already in the past. Where others stop to enjoy the win, a Cleaner is working out what comes next.
Grover says Cleaners trust very few people, and the few they do trust had better never let them down. They don't need to be liked, and they don't go looking for approval.
Three types
Grover sorts people into Coolers, Closers and Cleaners. Cleaners want to win more than anyone.
The Zone
The best stay calm under pressure. They shut out the noise and focus on the task.
Dark side
Don't hide your hunger to win. Grover says the best use their dark side as fuel.
Instinct
Cleaners trust their gut and act. They don't wait to be told what to do.
Never satisfied
A win is only a start. The best are never satisfied and go after the next one straight away.
One thing to try
For one week, keep a tally on your phone. Mark each time you waited to be told what to do. Mark, in a second column, each time you saw what needed doing and did it. In Grover's terms, the first column is how Coolers work.
Knotd has the key ideas from 250+ non-fiction books, each in a few minutes, in plain words. Relentless comes with a Name That Idea round to make it stick.
Get the whole book on KnotdOpen in the appGood, great or unstoppable? Tim Grover spent years as the personal trainer of Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. In Relentless he sets out what he thinks separated them from other gifted players. Most people, he argues, settle for good or great. A few become what he calls unstoppable, and he describes what that takes.
Coolers, Closers, Cleaners; The Zone; A dark side, kept on a lead; No victory laps; A small circle.
For one week, keep a tally on your phone. Mark each time you waited to be told what to do. Mark, in a second column, each time you saw what needed doing and did it. In Grover's terms, the first column is how Coolers work.
Yes. Knotd has the key ideas from Relentless in a few minutes, in plain words, plus a Name That Idea round to test them. It's one of 250+ non-fiction books in the app.
