"If the game of life were to end tonight, would you be a winner?"
So begins the prologue of The Winners Manual: For the Game of Life, which hits the bookstores tomorrow.
I had no more than posted my "Expectations" piece last night when I had a chance to read Chapter One of Coach Tressel's new book. (I would claim connections, but truth is I found it on the publishers website just like you could have.) In Chapter One, "The Journey of Success", Coach writes it much better than I did:
"A win or a loss does not make you or me a better or worse human being. This is
where, in our society, we've so easily lost perspective on the truth about who we are. We have to separate who we are from what we do...
...It's hard in today's society to keep success in its proper perspective and not base our sense of self-worth on what we do. But if you can get there, it's such a comfort. If we lose a game, we're not losers--that's not who we are. And by the same token, if we win a game, that doesn't make us wonderful people...
...Success is an everyday proposition. It isn't defined by a championship game or the day you get your diploma, get drafted by an NFL team, make the big sale, land the account of a lifetime, or get your law degree. Don't get me wrong, those are great days, and we should celebrate those accomplishments. But the key to a successful life is in the journey and the process. It's that emphasis on the journey to success that we work on each day, step by step...."
It didn't take me long to become engrossed in and devour Chapter One. Its clear. The Winners Manual is a winner. Don't expect X's and O's; rather this is a chance to learn about life from one who has mastered it. A rare opportunity, it as close as you will ever come to getting inside the head of a very public man and very private person.
I will be heading to the bookstore tomorrow to pick one up. Will you? The proceeds go to the William Oxley Thompson Library Renovation Fund. Would you expect anything less from a man who is a winner in the game of life?