Mind Gym : An Athlete's Guide to Inner Excellence

I can agree and understand some of the other reviews stating it “jumps around from story to story,” and how they say it lacks more “practical application,” etc. But the stories are what makes this book relatable as well as engaging to read. This book gives you the tools to practically apply, and just he says in the book, it’s all up to YOU. This book does give you the tools to create your own “Mind Gym.” Everyone learns differently and maybe some people prefer a step by step boom this is how you create your “Mind Gym,” and boom this will happen...But this book is fantastic. It causes you to REFLECT and the stories remind us that not much does separate us from the greats. It reminds us that mental toughness is everything. It reminds us how much we can accomplish if we win on the battlefield of our minds. If we plan, if we visualize, if we want something bad enough, if we work hard enough. If I had this book in high school, my passion for soccer would not have been so influenced by my awful coach. I would have had the tools to conquer my mind rather than constantly seek after his approval which resulted in a complex for the sport that killed my passion. This book is powerful. Life changing for me. We all know that “if you believe you can achieve” and it’s simple to hear or say, but this book is not that simple of a statement. It’s deeper, it’s uplifting, and gives you the tools to implement for yourself. I don’t understand some of the other reviews stating there’s not enough practical application because I think everything in this book, when applied, will change your life. I recommend this book especially for younger athletes. I will recommend this book to everyone all for the simple fact that I wish I had this book when I was making college decisions, and when it mattered most. I am so thankful even now, to have found it. I love this book. I’ve played sports my entire life and I’m ready to get that competitive passion for sports back. This book will contribute to that.

I wish that I had come across this this book when I was 10. Boy it would have been the biggest difference in my life as I struggled so much mentally when playing baseball. The author makes an outstanding presentation of all the challenges an athlete faces when performing in and outside of the playing area. I bought this book after a friend of mine let me read his back in 2007. It was certainly a game changer as I was playing college baseball in the USA. My favorite topics are The Fire Inside, Between the Ears, and Fear Lives in the Future. Why? Very simple: you need to pay attention to that inside of you that calls you to do great things. Next, everything is dealt on your mind, between your ears, master that and you'll do great things. Third, if you are in the present moment, you'll have no fear and you'll enjoy life much better. Parents, read this carefully. If your child is involved in sports, this is the most important book you'll ever come across. Take it as the bible of performance because it focuses on the person's mind. Buy this book and try to go over it on a daily basis with your kid so he can develop a strong mindset, which will carry not only in sports but in life in general. I wish I had this book at 10 not at 22! I battled so many things because I didn't have the right knowledge to handle them. If you are an athlete or a parent of an athlete, get this book and you'll never regret it. If you were to ask me, hey should I give my son 5,000 dollars or this book. I'll say if you can do both, great, but if I were to choose, I'll pick the book. It has too much value that carries over a lifetime.

My twins private trainer wanted this for one of them who keeps getting in her head while tumbling and then gets upset when she can't land some new skills.. disrupts the process. She said its a great book so far and Ibhave seen a difference on her thought process!

Back on March 12, 2010 I read the book Mind Gym by Gary Mack. I failed to realize that I actually wrote up a review on the book then until just today when I finished reading the book for the second time and went searching for my notes. Reading my review from back then I realized that the book gave me the same type of feeling and thoughts. Being in a new place in my life this goes to show the power of this book. It was written in 2002 and many things have changed since then, but one thing that remains the same is the power of a positive growth mindset. Gary Mack shows through example after example the power of how he has helped athletes overcome various issues. Actually, he shows how athletes have helped themselves overcome various issues. The book is all sports based, but I cannot help but emphasize that these ideas work for everyone and should be taught not only in sports, but schools as well. When I finished reading this book I had 67 highlighted passages. Reading my review this was the first Kindle purchase for myself and obviously did not see the benefit of highlighting back then. I would have loved to seen what I highlighted four years ago. I would like to share a few that I really enjoyed. Stan Musial said, “When a pitcher’s throwing a spitball, don’t worry. Don’t complain. Just hit the dry side, like I do.” I love this quote. I was just talking with my wife how easy it is to form bonds over negativity. Anyone can complain and whine about things in life. It takes leadership and a growth mindset to separate yourself from this talk and move towards seeing how we can help make things better. That is the challenge. Arthur Ashe said, “You are never really playing an opponent. You are playing yourself.” Once again this applies to life in general. So often we focus on external causes and things we cannot control. If we develop a mindset to work through ourselves and finding solutions in this manner we will be better off. “The paradox is that sometimes you have to get worse before you get better.” The harsh reality none of us want to admit and therefore the reason many of us stay in our comfort zone and don’t work for change. It is just too hard! This is a must read book! I recommend for anyone. The only issue I have is that some of the people he profiles are not longer considered amazing based on things that have come out recently. Bruce Jenner, Mark McGwire, Lance Armstrong, Tiger Woods are a few that don’t hold the same prestige as they did a decade ago. But don’t let that get in the way of the tip and techniques he shares to empower your mind.

Really put things in the perspective highly recommend this book for any athlete or any person who wants overachieve!! Will read again and again

I bought this to read at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments after someone recommended it to me. I found it helpful to not only manage sports anxiety but put myself in the right headspace to win. It references stories from various sports such as baseball and golf and famous male athletes I don't know so it can be a bit of a snoozefest at times if you're not into any of that. I think it'd be more interesting to women if women athletes were mentioned more (at all?) in this book but I digress. Still a helpful read in theory. Just prepare for lots of anecdotal stories to support the main concepts you're trying to channel.

I love this book! I'm not a reader. I wish I was, but i have a hard time getting into reading. However, I purchased this book from a recommendation from an professional athlete. I wanted to learn more about how to mentally help my son with the sports he plays and to help eliminate his negative self-talk. I found this book to be an easy and quick read. Again, remember I don't like to read and I actually enjoyed reading this. I even went thru and made notes, underlined important sayings, quotes, and pieces of advice that are not only good for my son, but are also good for me to remember too. There is sooo much good information summed up in this book that I will keep it as a reference to come back to in the future. I highly recommend it!

This a well written, concise look into a gammut of psychological skills related to sport performance. It is also a series of short stories from the author's career as a professional sport psychologist. It is an easy read and well done. What it is NOT is an introduction to sport psychology or a book that can help someone learn sport psychology unless they are already familiar with the topic. Good book, I liked it very much; but not a book from which one can learn sport psychology. It is a collection of stories and within each story there is a skill to be learned.