“To me, the essence of life and leadership is change and growth. It is about pushing yourself to improve every day in whatever you do. I truly believe in the maxim that if you are not getting better, then you are getting worse. Do you know how many people wake up in the morning and say, ‘Today, I am committed to being mediocre?’ I don’t. I believe most people want to give the best they have but don’t have the necessary tools and mindset to get there. That’s where leadership comes in. I go back to the way companies like Apple and Nike operate, and their willingness to continually push the envelope. It’s exactly what we want our players at Ohio State to do. We push our players every day. We train, coach, and perform at the highest possible level. And that level is not for everyone. I often refer to our players as elite warriors, not because they are going to war and certainly not because what we are doing is anything remotely as serious as war, but because they are trained in an incredibly rigorous way and are constantly engaged in physical, mental, and spiritual combat.
Many of our players and coaches have experienced profound changes in their lives, on and off the field, by embracing the ideas you are about to read. I would encourage you to see whether these ideas can have the same result for you.
If you are responsible for leading people, your challenge is to bring them along with you, help them live and work and play with passion and achieve things they never thought possible. In the pages that follow I lay out the leadership template that made the journey of our 2014 championship season so rewarding. I hope you find it helpful.”
~ Urban Meyer from Above the Line
Urban Meyer is one of the most successful NCAA football coaches in history. He’s one of only two coaches to win a National Championship with two different teams: the University of Florida and Ohio State University.
I got this book after Brian Cain referenced it multiple times in his great little fable, The 10 Pillars of Mental Performance Mastery.
It’s kind of like a mash-up of elite football coach Pete Carroll’s Win Forever and elite CrossFit coach Ben Bergeron’s Chasing Excellence in that, like Bergeron, he shares his leadership lessons in the context of a single season but only, like, Carroll, he does it on the football field.
btw: Amazon tells me people who bought this book ALSO bought Legacy and Atomic Habits. Check out those Notes as well.
It’s a FANTASTIC, hard-hitting book packed with wisdom and Big Ideas. If you’re into sports, leadership, and/or mental toughness books (or all three of those!), I think you’ll love it. Check out each of those categories, btw, for some of my favorite Notes. And, get a copy of the book here.
For now, we’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s jump straight in!
NOTE: After reading the book and creating this Note, I learned that Coach Meyer has gone through some personal challenges in which he failed to practice his philosophy of living Above the Line. To which I say: PERFECT. There are no perfect humans. You and I and Coach Meyer won’t be the first to fall short of our standards. Hope you enjoy the great wisdom here as we all humbly yet Heroically strive to do our best and learn from our inevitable shortcomings!
Unlock this PhilosophersNote
Create your account to get more wisdom in less time. Personal development made simple so you can flourish in energy, work, and love. Today.
