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Contents

Cover

Praise for Training Camp

Title Page

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1: Kickoff

Chapter 2: Ankle Sprain

Chapter 3: Press Conference

Chapter 4: Pain

Chapter 5: The Phone Call

Chapter 6: Treatment

Chapter 7: Questions

Chapter 8: On the Sideline

Chapter 9: The Playbook

Chapter 10: The Telescope

1. The Best know what they truly want.

2. The Best want it more.

3. The Best are always striving to get better.

Chapter 11: Continuous Improvement

Chapter 12: The Benefits of a Coach

Chapter 13: The Myth

Chapter 14: The Game-Day Principle

Chapter 15: Ten Percent Better

4. The Best do ordinary things better than everyone else.

Chapter 16: The Microscope

5. The Best zoom-focus.

Chapter 17: Mental Zoom-Focus

Chapter 18: Patience

Chapter 19: Mental Toughness

6. The Best are mentally stronger.

Chapter 20: Twenty Ways to Get Mentally Tough

Chapter 21: A Bad Day

Chapter 22: Heal Strong

Chapter 23: Feeling Better

Chapter 24: Preparation

Chapter 25: The Cut

Chapter 26: Faith

Chapter 27: The Fishing Trip

7. The Best overcome their fear.

Chapter 28: Story and Belief

Chapter 29: Tests

Chapter 30: Pressure

Chapter 31: Seize the Moment

8. The Best seize the moment.

Chapter 32: The Breaking Point

9. The Best tap into a power greater than themselves.

Chapter 33: The Spotlight

Chapter 34: Celebration

Chapter 35: Final Cuts

Chapter 36: Leave a Legacy

10. The Best leave a legacy.

Chapter 37: The Day

Chapter 38: The Coin

Chapter 39: The Final Lesson

11. The Best make everyone around them better.

Chapter 40: A New Beginning

Appendixes

The Energy Bus Training Program

Other Books by Jon Gordon

End User License Agreement

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the web at www.copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Gordon, Jon, 1971—
Training camp : what the best do better than everyone else / by Jon Gordon.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-470-46208-9 (cloth : acid-free paper)
1. Success. 2. Struggle. I. Title.
BJ1611.2.G67 2009
650.1–dc22
2009007452

Acknowledgments

I am thankful for all the people who have encouraged, empowered, and coached me through the training camp of life. Without them this book would not have been written.

Thank you to my wife Kathryn for bringing out the best in me. I’m thrilled that the lessons in this book have dramatically improved your performance on the tennis court. Wimbledon, here we come!

Thank you to my agent Daniel Decker, who has provided invaluable support over the years.

Thank you to Matt Holt, Shannon Vargo, and the amazing team at John Wiley & Sons for your skill, talent, hard work, and support. You are the best publishing team on the planet.

Thank you to the special coaches and teachers throughout my life—2014;Ivan Goldfarb, Tony Ciozza, Ed Ehmann, and Richie Moran.

Thank you to Coach Mike Smith, Tony Boselli, Pete Carroll, Jeff Gordon, Danny Gans, Alvin Pearman, Tom McManus, and many others for sharing your ideas and thoughts with me.

Thank you to Kathryn Gordon, Daniel Decker, Jennifer Malhotra, Christina Kisley, Jason Pogue, Mike Norris, and Ben Newman for reviewing the manuscript and helping me make it the best it could be.

Thank you to Erwin McManus, Rob Bell, and Ken Blanchard for guiding me on my faith journey. Your life example and your teachings have changed my life.

Most of all I’d like to thank the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. You are the power behind my words, the creative genius behind this book, and the love that flows through me. You are the ultimate coach and trainer who has and continues to train me, mold me, and develop me to be my best and to bring out the best in others.

Introduction

Before the 2008 NFL season, Mike Smith, the Jacksonville Jaguars’ defensive coordinator, was hired to be the head coach of the Atlanta Falcons. They had won only four games the previous year and Coach Smith was charged with improving the culture and turning the team around. As summer approached, Coach Smith called me and told me that he was having all the coaches and players read my book The Energy Bus: 10 Rules to Fuel your Life, Work, and Team with Positive Energy and invited me to speak to the team during training camp. I had met Coach Smith the year before while speaking to the Jacksonville Jaguars during their 2007 training camp.

The same week that I was to speak to the Atlanta Falcons I was also scheduled to speak to a financial services company that was regarded by many as having the best sales team in the financial industry. As I prepared for these talks I thought a lot about what I should say that would benefit them. After all, I would be talking to people who had reached the pinnacle of their industry. On one hand you had the best football players in the world. On the other hand you had the best salespeople in the world.

As part of my preparation I interviewed the top sales-people from the financial services company and while I was expecting to hear some new sales techniques that I hadn’t heard before, I discovered there wasn’t any secret formula to their success. They told me they simply worked hard, focused on the fundamentals, stayed positive, and had a great desire to succeed and make an impact. These were the same things I had heard from the best professional athletes I knew and from all the people I had interviewed over the years that were considered the best in their field.

This inspired a series of thoughts about what makes someone great in their field of work. I discovered that the best of the best, whether they’re salespeople, athletes, teachers, nurses, entrepreneurs, musicians, and so on, share a number of similar characteristics. There is a formula for success. There are things that the best do that others don’t and things that they do better than everyone else. There is a way that the best of the best approach their life and work and craft that differentiates them from others. This formula is predictable, repeatable, and simple to understand, but it’s a process and it requires initiative, dedication, focus, and loads of positive energy.

As I left the Falcons’ training camp after my talk and headed to the airport, the idea for this book popped into my head. I heard the words Training Camp loud and clear, from God’s mouth to my ears. I knew I was supposed to share the principles and lessons in this book, not with just athletes but with anyone in any field who strived to be their best. While this story takes place in a sports setting, I hope you realize it’s a life story that applies to you, your team, your co-workers, your family and kids.

I have even shared the lessons from this book with my daughter, Jade, and son, Cole. My hope is that when they are in high school and college this book will serve as a playbook for their lives and inspire them to strive for excellence in whatever career path they choose.

In this spirit, as you go through the training camp of your life, I hope that wherever you are on your journey, that this book will also inspire you to strive to be your best and bring out the best in your team—2014;your work team, your sports team, your family team, your church team, and your school team. After all, life is a team sport.

Leave a Legacy

Jon

Chapter 1

Kickoff

imgs Martin Jones stood at the five-yard line waiting for the kickoff. He could feel the electricity in the air. The stadium was packed with 60,000 people—all screaming wildly—but Martin didn't hear a thing. His eyes were focused on the flight of the ball. His ears were filled with the sounds of his own breath and the perpetual thumping of his racing heart. The smell of fresh-cut grass reminded him of the hundreds of games, practices, and kickoffs that brought him to this very moment. He had played thousands of hours of football throughout his life, and yet he had never experienced a moment quite like this. It was the moment of all moments. It was his first pre-season game and as an undrafted rookie trying to make it in the NFL, this was his one shot to get noticed.

Veterans didn't have to get noticed. First-round draft picks with big signing bonuses didn't have to stand out. But undrafted nobodies had to do something special during the pre-season to catch the eye of the coaches, scouts, and key decision makers who would decide their fate. Every play, every moment, every movement mattered. This was his one shot to do something special, to make the statement that he had what it took to compete with the best football players in the world. A great play meant he would be on the team for at least another week. A mistake would surely mean the end of his dream. An average play … well, that wasn't an option for Martin. Playing it safe was never his style, and he wasn't about to start now. He was going to go for broke or fail trying. He owed it to his high school and college coaches. He owed it to his family. He owed it to himself.

And as Martin caught the kickoff, he made the most of his opportunity. He ran slowly to the left looking for an opening as 11 opposing tacklers raced toward him. When his blockers met the defense with fierce collisions, he cut to the right and saw the opening he was waiting for. It wasn't a big opening, but it was big enough for him to sprint through it into the open field. A player dove at his feet, but Martin was one step ahead. One person to beat and he was in the clear. The kicker, the last line of defense, ran straight toward him, but Martin made such a quick fake that the kicker fell to the ground and Martin ran past him.

All that could get between him and the end zone were two players chasing him. One dove and just missed his leg while the other closed in on him. Martin pumped his arms and legs as fast as he could and ran toward the end zone like a man shot from a cannon. Seconds later he was celebrating a touchdown with his teammates in the end zone. He not only caught the eye of his coaches and thousands of fans, but he also electrified the crowd with his speed and athletic ability. Everyone but Martin was stunned.

Chapter 2

Ankle Sprain

imgs When a player catches a coach's eye, the coach tends to give him more opportunities to show his stuff. This leads to success if the player is the “real deal,” or failure if the player is a “one play” wonder. Coaches know that any player can look like a superstar on any given play, but the “real deals” have a knack for making great plays often. So it was no surprise that the coaches put Martin in at running back and called for him to get the ball on a screen pass. Expecting Martin to get crushed by the opposing tacklers, they were pleasantly surprised when he made a one-handed catch, broke two tackles, and outran the final defender into the end zone for another touchdown. Now everyone noticed Martin Jones.

But what no one noticed was that Martin turned and sprained his ankle while eluding the tacklers. The injury didn't stop him from scoring a touchdown—thanks to the adrenaline pumping through his body—but while he was standing on the sidelines after the play, his ankle quickly began to swell up and Martin knew he would have to let the trainer know the unfortunate news. He was done for the night. As Martin sat on the sidelines, shaking his head, the ankle got bigger and the pain grew worse. Martin only hoped it wasn't a serious injury. He knew all too well that it was very unlikely for an undrafted rookie to make the team, and the probability of an injured undrafted rookie making the team was zero.

When the game was over, Martin hopped on one leg to the training room to receive treatment for his ankle.

Chapter 3

Press Conference

imgs After the game, the head coach surveyed the room. Yes, the season was here. Another year of football, and this meant another year of stupid questions from reporters. While he wanted to tackle every single one of them, he had learned to play their game in a more civilized but skillful way. They would ask questions that would hopefully prompt the coach to make a statement or share a quote that would give them a headline or something negative to write about. The reporters feasted on controversy and negativity, and they loved when he and the team gave them plenty of it. The coach, however, had discovered the art of starving reporters. His answers were short, always positive, and focused on the future, not the past. He gave them enough info so that they could do their jobs but decided it was best for him and his team to do their talking on the football field, not in the media.

The media on this night, however, didn't want to talk about anything negative. They were far more interested in the positive performance of Martin Jones.

“Where did he come from?” they asked.

“A small Division 1 program,” coach answered.

“How come no one ever heard of him?”

“Because he wasn't drafted. Every year there are guys who get invitations to training camp who aren't drafted. I used to coach with Martin's college coach and heard good things about him, so we decided to give him a shot.”

“So he's a diamond in the rough?” one of the reporters asked.

“That remains to be seen,” coach answered. “He made some great plays, but it was just one game. There's a lot of training camp left.”

“How come he didn't play anymore after his second touchdown?” another reporter asked.

“I am told by the training staff that he sprained his ankle while running for his second touchdown.”

“Is it serious?”

“We don't know yet.”

“Will he make the team?”

“The jury is still out on that. A lot of guys have talent in this league, but you have to be able to withstand the wear and tear on your body that this game demands. Getting hurt during training camp is honestly not a good sign. It's a rough game and a long season. So we'll see. I have to run, guys. Thanks so much,” coach said as he walked briskly out the media room door, thankful the media wanted to talk about Martin Jones and not the team's poor defensive performance.