ABOVE THE SHOULDERS

Success in sports, business and other aspects of life depends on your mental outlook and habits of thought, according to this muscular self-help book.

Arguing that “life is 90% above the shoulders”—that is, determined by what’s in your head, not your body or external circumstances—Nacey, a sports marketing executive, contends that it’s mainly our own lassitude, fear, lack of focus, and self-defeating thoughts that prevent us from achieving our dreams. He draws on the insights of Olympic athletes and from his own experiences in Ironman Triathlons and other competitions to construct a Mental Mastery Pyramid of techniques to enable readers to power through obstacles and pain when their instincts are begging them to stop. The author recommends breaking down seemingly insurmountable problems into small, manageable chunks as a way of getting over the hump of inertia (he found that setting a goal of simply putting on his running shoes in the pre-dawn darkness generated enough momentum to carry him into hitting the road). Nacey suggests undertaking measured doses of discomfort—like a cold shower in the morning—to accustom the mind to doing hard things, and to rewire the brain and improve its plasticity by embracing new cognitive challenges. (He notes that the fiendishly difficult navigational training given to London taxi drivers causes their brain’s memory centers in the hippocampus to grow.) The author urges readers to replace anxieties about failure and inadequacy with positive narratives and to visualize success in vivid, concrete scenarios. (“I visualized the gold around my neck every night until my brain couldn’t imagine any other outcome,” recalls skier Alex Ferreira.) Nacey also enjoins his audience to cultivate a sense of gratitude for opportunities and a sense of obligation to give back to others.

Nacey grounds his ideas in an erudite but lucid mix of neurobiology, performance science, and cognitive behavioral therapy, applying them to a range of problems from athletic training to meeting workplace deadlines to overcoming stage fright in public speaking. The author distills his advice into snappy aphorisms—“Life Rewards Action, Not Overthinking”—and provides readers with practical regimens for calming anxieties, exiting ruts, or switching from downbeat ruminations to optimistic hopes. Nacey writes with nuance and insight about the ordinary but powerful psychological barriers that paralyze resolve: “The snooze button sits there, smug, whispering, Come on. Just five more minutes,” he writes of the universal struggle to get up in the morning. “Your mind joins the mutiny: No one will know. It’s too early. Too cold. Too much.” When he recounts his tougher ordeals, his writing takes on an epic, visceral intensity: “My legs felt like concrete pillars, each step a negotiation between a body desperate to stop and a mind that refused to listen,” he writes of an Ironman contest. “Each breath burned. Salt crystals formed white patterns on my skin. My heartbeat pounded in my ears like a tribal drum, drowning out everything but a single thought: One more step. Just one more step.” The result is a captivating homage to true grit and the drive to overcome one’s own limitations.

A stirring success guide that combines practical wisdom with colorful and rousing prose.