September Best Reading List in 2015

Have you been reading more than enough to educate yourself to perform better in your sport?

You don’t have to receive a university degree to read. In fact most people arrived to study at a university through reading.

That said, you shouldn’t get involved in sports to avoid books. It’s not a situation of either books or sports. Both are essential to life and the more you have decided to be part of the competitive environment in the realm of sports, the more you have to educate yourself with perspectives of experts in similar fields.

I read lots of self-development books every month, not necessarily all about sports. I read a variety that helps me grow to be a better version of myself and I strongly encourage you to do so as well. If you missed the first round of book reviews in August, you can check it out here => August Best Reading List in 2015

Otherwise, moving forward, I will make sure to recommend as many relevant books as possible based off my bookshelves.

This is what you will get in each list:

• a super short summary of what the book is about
• 5 high performance quotes to unlock your athletic genius
• a very good reason why you should buy the book

Hope you gain as much knowledge as I do with these lists! If there’s more you prefer or if you’ve also read the book and wish to share with us, leave us your feedback and comment below the list and let’s discuss.

Here are the few books I’ve read recently to make up this September Best Reading List in 2015:

Print | eBook | AudioBook

Short Summary of this Book: According to Bob Knight, there is no such thing as chicken-and-egg question. Fundamentals come first, the simpler the better. Sometimes it’s not about being negative that led to one’s failure but being overly optimistic, what Bob Knight called the optimism bias.

Best Quotes from this Book: Here are power quotes to get you fired up.

• “You’re risking disaster because of blind optimism…don’t be caught thinking something is going to work just because you think it’s going to work. Planning beats repairing”
• “Victory favors the team making the fewest mistakes”
• “You have to develop enough common sense to know what you can’t do and focus on what you can. Know your limits. If you can’t do it, don’t, and say so.”
• “As a player, recognize what you’re good at, what you can do, and get as good as you can at it. But at the same time recognize what you don’t do well now, but can with work, and–as important as anything–what you simply cannot do, now or ever”
• “It’s not about how we would win. We’d do it by doing what we do better than we let them do what they do”

Why You Should Buy this Book: Although you don’t see ground breaking system here to get you to success, it certainly brings you back down to earth. Sometimes as athletes when we master new skills and get better, we tend to overlook the common sense basics that we used to learn and think we need not look at them again. Bob Knight’s philosophies will remind you and reinforce the fundamentals of what you can rely on in times of chaos or when the stakes are high.

Print | eBook | AudioBook

Short Summary of this Book: Mark Divine takes his experience with SEALFIT and speaks a lot on mental toughness and emotional resiliency. Those are the key aspects to drive your purpose, passion and principles. He also shares that you need to challenge yourself up to 20X and improve daily. Finally, never, ever quit.

Best Quotes from this Book: Here are power quotes to get you fired up.

• “Too much of a good thing turns it into a bad thing. Moderation helps us remain content with what you have and where you are.”
• “We easily see the shortcomings of other people’s beliefs and behaviors while remaining ignorant of our own limitations, which are equal or worse”
• “Focus on the next meal, the next event, or even the next footstep, and you will make it happen”
• “One’s character ultimately becomes the most important aspect of success or failure, all else being equal. You can be highly skilled, super-smart, good-looking, charismatic, and hardworking. With these traits you will attain some level of success. But if you lack character, ultimately you will fail”
• “Hopefully none of you is a Rambo operating solo, avoiding human contact. No, I imagine you operate as part of several teams, which include your family, work teams, and an “inner circle of friends” team (or sport team)….a powerful team elevated me as an individual…crappy teams brought me down and caused me to be less effective and powerful”

Why You Should Buy this Book: It’s important you learn a bit more about how your mind and emotions work before knowing what you are doing with them everyday. This book doesn’t get too much science into the brain but it helps connect knowledge to practice so it’s a softer approach rather than some other books that are too theoretical with scientific jargons.

Print | eBook | AudioBook

Short Summary of this Book: Look no further from yourself. Linda Kaplan Thaler and Robin Koval writes with reference to Angela Lee Duckworth’s research on grit. You don’t have to be born with something you don’t have, as soon as you realized this, the sooner you are on your way to success and building your resiliency along the way.

Best Quotes from this Book: Here are power quotes to get you fired up.

• “Talent alone is overrated. In fact, we would argue it’s worthless unless you apply it consistently, in the right ways. Without putting in the required hard work and sweat equity, talent is nothing more than a great masterpiece unpainted, a sonata unwritten, a scientific breakthrough undiscovered, an invention unrealized”
• “Visualization can actually be more detrimental than useful when it comes to realizing goals. That’s because, unlike elite athletes, who first popularized visualization training, we tend to fast-forward the fantasy to the good part, picturing ourselves accepting the gold medal, rather than visualizing us training for it, and anticipating injuries or other obstacles and setbacks along the way”
• “Positive thinking should not be about the outcome of your dreams, but about all the roadblocks in the way and what you can do to move past them”
• “While dreamers are still sleeping, the doers are taking victory laps, because they had the sense to wake up and get to work. They put themselves in a grit state of mind”
• “You’re nothing special…no longer is it how you play the game, no longer is it even whether you win or lose, or learn or grow, or enjoy yourself doing it. Now it’s ‘So what does this get me?'”

Why You Should Buy this Book: A lot of athletes think that looking cool and charming will win the day. So this book is great for those who have been putting so much effort in their training day by day but never seemed to be given any credit. Not that you are out to claim credit, but some form of encouragement helps. This book is a way to give you that encouragement that you are going the right way even when it is tough and when nobody seems to care.

Print | eBook | AudioBook

Short Summary of this Book: Eckhart Tolle explains very vividly about how if you are willing, that you can transform into any kind of human being you are possibly set out to be. This book answers your doubts about being present, centered or grounded. If you have been trying to use these techniques in your sport, try this book.

Best Quotes from this Book: Here are power quotes to get you fired up.

• “Just because you can solve a crossword puzzle or build an atom bomb doesn’t mean that you use your mind. Just as dogs love to chew bones, the mind loves to get its teeth into problems. That’s why it does crossword puzzles and builds atom bombs. You have not interest in either.”
• “So the single most vital step on your journey toward enlightenment is this: learn to disidentify from your mind. Every time you create a gap in the stream of mind, the light of your consciousness grows stronger.”
• “Emotion arises at the place where mind and body meet. It is the body’s reaction to your mind – or you might say, a reflection of your mind in the body.”
• “Certain things in the past didn’t go the way you wanted them to go. You are still resisting what happened in the past, and now you are resisting what is.”
• “Hope is what keeps you going, but hope keeps you focused on the future, and this continued focus perpetuates your denial of the Now and therefore your unhappiness”

Why You Should Buy this Book: I believe in being mindful of oneself before one can perform up to one’s maximum potential. This book simply says of what’s not just at the core, but beneath it to help us break into our unconscious mind in the gentlest way possible. This is not a book specifically sports related, but since this book works in a holistic way with life and as sports is part of life, this book is largely relevant to what you do daily with reference to your mind and spirit.

Print | eBook | AudioBook

Short Summary of this Book: Thomas M. Sterner combines self-discipline, focus, patience and self-awareness with living in the present moment and being process-oriented in order for one to live with true inner peace and contentment in life.

Best Quotes from this Book: Here are power quotes to get you fired up.

• “Everything in life worth achieving requires practice. In fact, life itself is nothing more than one long practice session, an endless effort of refining our motions.”
• “When we practice anything properly, the fact that we are engaging in a difficult learning process not only disappears, but more importantly it dissolves into a period of inner calming that gives us a rest from the tension and anxiety that our “get it done yesterday” world pushes on us every day of our lives”
• “Most of the anxiety we experience in life comes from the feeling that there is a point of perfection in everything that we involve ourselves with. Whatever or wherever that perfection is, we are not.”
• “As we attempt to understand ourselves and our struggles with life’s endeavors, we may find peace in the observation of a flower. As yourself: at what point in a flower’s life, from seed to full bloom, has it reached perfection?… It’s how you look at it”
• “Wisdom is not a by-product of age. Teach and learn from all those around you”

Why You Should Buy this Book: Being aware of yourself comes first, and if you realized you are in your sport for egotistical reasons, like you may feel loss if you don’t compete, or things like you don’t exactly love your sport but you are really great at it, yet not feeling exactly at ease with what’s going on with yourself and people around you, you should read this book to bring yourself to a more balanced state of mind.

I love reading ebooks, but audiobooks are perfect when I do my daily long distance running and gym work. I have a monthly subscription to Audible and I really enjoy it.

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