Greatness

by David Lamar Cook

Genres: Nonfiction

113 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2021

About the author

David Cook is one of the country's top Peak Performance coaches and seminar leaders. He served as "Mental Training Coach" for the San Antonio Spurs from 1996–2004 that included two World Championships. David received his undergraduate degree from Baylor University in 1980. He completed his Ph.D. in Applied Sport and Performance Psychology from the University of Virginia in 1984. He is married to Karen and has two daughters. They live in Fredericksburg, Texas.

Reviews

[Dennis Stephan · Rating 1 out of 5]

Please don't spend $100 on this book.

[Steve Sokol · Rating 5 out of 5]

My main complaint about business/self improvement books: They usually have a brilliant idea, but then have to bulk the thing up to 400 pages to make it seem like good purchase value. I admire this author for his concise value-packed 100 page (half whitespace) book of brilliance. Especially impressive are the real-life examples, which are portrayed in very fundamental form. This is no novel, but an extremely to-the-point book of universal principles organized extremely well. I went through it quickly but plan to re-address it and incorporate many ideas into my work and life.

[Anthony Cappoferri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredibly memorable and moving accounts of personal experience, greatness by David C. Cook is a true masterclass on sports psychology, which translates directly into every area of life, for the world we create is created from our world within.

I really loved this book and appreciated how truly concise and pure it was. The simplicity of the content can very easily be deceiving as oversimplified, but it is anything but. I read it very slowly, recognizing that these were the words of one of the greatest practitioners of sports psychology of all time. And while I was originally very unsure of whether or not the book justified the incredibly steep $100 price tag, upon finishing the book today, I can safely say that it did for me for sure.

I definitely recommend this brief, but highly valuable work as a “crown jewel” for your sports psychology and human performance bookshelf, but not necessarily as one of the first couple of books on it. This is because it seems to me that I would have gleaned far less from this book before reading hundreds of others like it in the field. I might be wrong, but I almost feel that an appreciation through exposure of the depth and breadth of the science, studies, and data of this genre might be needed to fully appreciate the simplicity and brevity of this work. I may be wrong.

If you think you’d benefit from one of the greatest minds in sports psychology, I say take the risk and get the book. If I’m not mistaken, there is a money back policy as well. But as for me, I am truly, truly grateful for the author, his life’s work, his humility and proficiency in the field, and of course for this little work, intentionally written in all lower case letters: greatness.

I am so glad I took the risk and got the book. If you consider the conditions I shared above and feel like you should take a chance on it, I think you will be glad too.

[Heather · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let start at the beginning.....

I have never heard of Dr. Cook before but my husbands work was reading through this book as a team. I saw it and was intrigued by the simplistic cover and the fact that Dr. Cook was going share the hidden principals of greatness. After reading it, I have to say that the information contained within, was not worth the books hefty price tag of $100. I think the information could have been condensed to a very informative blog post. While this was a short read, I do not think it is worth your time to pick up. The ideas were not something that were new or revolutionary to me. The best chapter was the last chapter, the sealed one, which I think should have been the first chapter. Pillars are not any good without a good foundation. I think Dr. Cook should have given his readers the foundation in which they should build the pillars of greatness. I feel like by withholding God until the end of the book, shows that he didn't want people who are unbelievers to be dissuaded from picking up his book.

The personal stories he told bored me to tears and I ended up skimming through most of them because I just didn't care. He presented a pillar, than shared a story how the person used his methods to over come an obstacle.

I do not recommend this book but that final "sealed" chapter did bump my rating up to 2 stars.

[Iconic Greatness · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is greatness?
That is the ultimate question David Cook answers, and answer he did.

David did such an amazing job of making the concepts so simple that it makes you question if the book is really worth $100. But remember what Steve Jobs said, Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.

The secret has eliminated all doubt in my mind as an average Joe if I can achieve greatness or not. There's no question if, now it's when.

Some people achieve success but never reach the level of greatness because they don't know what it takes to get there.

Decades ago, people thought the final frontier was space. Now In modern times, the final frontier is the mind. David reveals to us the true final frontier that will transform your life into one that is worth living.

It's a miracle that this book showed up in my life, because I too asked the question, what does it take to become truly great?

The $100 price tag made me hesitate for a second but then I asked myself if today were the last day of my life, would I want to know what it takes to become great? And the answer is yes. And I'm glad I paid the price.

[Kim Peffley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I was so incredibly motivated and moved. It will be in my regular rotation. I have already made changes in my goals and behaviors. I read it on a flight and will read it again and again.

[Tracy · Rating 2 out of 5]

A self help book about achieving greatness. This book is about 100 pages long and is replete with sports comparison. I'm leery about some of the stories about athletes. I'm sure the author has had enormous success with some of this that he has used in sports psychology but he never talks of his own failures. The tenets of greatness, to save everyone some time are:

being passionate about your goal
being consistent about working towards a goal
persevering towards a goal

Then at the end he says that it really takes a noble heart and give wholeheartedly. One example is a pole vaulter who is competing--his poles are compromised and he has to ask his friend/opponent to use one of his poles when they are number one and two. His friend agrees, knowing that if he doesn't loan the pole he will certainly win and loaning the pole means he may not. I do agree with this to some degree.

Separately, this book costs ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS. AT that price, I need to downgrade to one star. I was lucky(?) enough to borrow it.

[Algirdas Purkenas · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this book has very mediocre content, the fact that you commit a Benjamin Franklin to get it somehow sparks significant cognitive process, as you want to get the most out of it.

Ideas and content are in the 2-3 star range.

However, it manages to deliver something few other books can. Feeling. Emotion.

It's a great gesture to gift this book to someone and see it standing on their desk.

it's a commitment to never stopping improvement and pursuit of greatness. Not just for yourself, but for the betterment of those around you.

Don't buy it. Just be great and make other's around you great. However, if you do buy it, you will benefit from it as I did. A conundrum. Hence the feelings. Hence 4 stars.

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick, motivating read my mom sent me. Just what I needed over the past month...how do moms always know best?? Dr. Cook is a leading sports and performance psychologist (and Baylor alum!). The practical lessons he shared apply to both athletic and professional endeavors. I appreciated how he condensed these universal principles (that we need to be reminded of every so often!) into a short format compared to other self-improvement books, which tend to drag on unnecessarily.

[Jeff · Rating 1 out of 5]

Don't spend your money on this book. A sore disappointment; would return it if I could. With due respect to Dr. Cook's notable accomplishments, this book is a far cry from greatness. The salient points could be condensed into a blog post, and even that wouldn't do the topic of leadership, coaching, management, or mindset justice.

[Mia Washington · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a good book with applicable steps to achieve your goals. I also found the examples profound. But I don’t think this book is worth $100. Maybe I set my expectations too high… but a lot of what I was reading didn’t feel like mind blowing knowledge. And maybe I have to wait till I try what Dr. Cook recommends but for now I’m rating this 3 stars.

[R. Hollyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing!!

[Ruben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Motivational. Great, short read.

[Saundra Burgett · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book for inspiration and sharing. Having my teen athlete read to open her mind up about what passion and choice is about.

[Kristin Hayes · Rating 3 out of 5]

a good book but definitely not worth 100 dollars.

[Debbie Kuby · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book imparted a lot of greatness in a reasonable number of pages, which is one sign of a great writer. I will retain this as a resource as both a coach and a writer!