Paddy Upton is not just a sports coach. He is also a researcher and professor. Instead of anecdotes and personal coaching style tips, he brings-in a comprehensive thesis on achieving excellence based on latest research findings in this great book. He provides a lot of insights for individuals as well as leaders. For a cricket crazy nation, this book is bound to resonate very well and I hope many reads it. I am not that much into Cricket(or any other sports for that matter), but I found the lessons interesting are equally applicable to any pursuit.
Core part of the story is about what did Paddy, as mental conditioning coach for Indian cricket team in the ICC 2011 world cup campaign, try and how it helped in India winning the cup. Key takeaways in my opinion are
- Identify your values(if have not done already) and take it seriously
- Focus more on ones strengths rather than weakness
- Focus on the process rather than the outcomes
- Empower the individuals or if you are that individual be empowered
- Use your intuition appropriately
- Practice to be in the moment and operate in the 'zone'. Consciously avoid distractions
- While the advice is not to focus on the outcome, don't use that as an excuse. Be 200% committed to the outcome.
- Review and learn from failures and then move on
These points would sound obvious and boring, that is why I urge everyone to read this book and put the insights you learn into practice. Become your best self.
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