Relentless
Hardcover | Paperback | eBook | Audiobook
Book Reviews aim to provide succinct, thoughtful summaries of books I have read. They contain quotes from the book, thoughts from others, and also some thoughts of my own. Typically they will be structured in the following order: author, introduction, message and purpose, remarkable chapter, and conclusion. This review will cover Relentless, a book that outlines how the best in the world continue to get better, and how you can too.
Author
Tim Grover
Introduction
Relentless is not your typical self-help, motivational sports book. It is an in-your-face, brash and no-nonsense guide that reflects the personality of the author, Tim Grover. Grover has been the personal trainer for legends like Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and many others; Relentless reflects on stories from these legends and how they continuously improved even past their prime.
Message and Purpose
To properly understand the message and primary theme of the book, it's important to identify and define three terms Grover uses throughout the book. Cooler, Closer, Cleaner—in short—are respectively summarized as good, great, unstoppable. In thirteen chapters, Grover describes what Cleaners (the unstoppable competitors) do that separates them from Coolers and Closers. When you're a Cleaner:
You keep pushing yourself harder when everyone else has had enough.
You get into the Zone, shut out everything else, and control the uncontrollable.
You know exactly who are you.
You have a dark side that refuses to be taught to be good.
You're not intimidated by pressure, you thrive on it.
When everyone is hitting the "In Case of Emergency" button, they're all looking for you.
You don't compete with anyone, you find your opponent's weakness and you attack.
You make decisions, not suggestions; you know the answer while everyone else is still asking questions.
You don't have to love the work, but you're addicted to the results.
You'd rather be feared than liked.
You trust very few people, and those you trust better never let you down.
You don't recognize failure; you know there's more than one way to get what you want.
You don't celebrate your achievements because you always want more.
In fact, Grover lists each chapter as "Chapter 1" because he doesn't believe any one chapter is more important than another. Throughout the book, he refers to Coolers, Closers, and Cleaners and how each handle various situations differently.
Remarkable Chapter
I really got a lot out of Chapter 12 (again, still referred to as Chapter 1 in the book), which discusses failure. This excerpt was an important reminder for me regarding failure and adaptation:
"One of the hardest things to do is to change course once you've set your goals. You made a decision, you worked for it, you earned the payoff . . .but for whatever reason, it's not going the way you planned. It's not weak to recognize when it's time to shift directions. It's weak to refuse to consider other options and fail at everything because you couldn't adapt to anything."
Adaptation is the name of the game today. Pursue your dreams, but know when to pivot and re-route. This chapter helped me overcome my stubbornness and encouraged me to stay fluid on my path. When water is flowing down a river and runs into a rock, it simply moves around the rock and continues forward. This was a key reminder!
Conclusion
While I don't always agree with Grover and his methods, his track record is undeniable. He is very arrogant, but he has a reason for it. Michael Jordan trusted him with his game. Kobe Bryant believed he could make him better. Dwayne Wade had ultimate faith in him. Grover is a renowned guru for increasing overall performance and Relentless describes exactly how he's taken the best in the world and made them ever better.