Gray Man: An Average Man's Journey To Personal Greatness

by Brett Sobieraski

What does it take to achieve personal greatness?
For Brett Sobieraski, a self-proclaimed average man, it takes sacrifice and mental toughness. Growing up and into adulthood, Sobieraski described himself as a gray man - someone who moves around the periphery without being noticed and standing out at nothing. Despite lacking natural physical athleticism, it wasn’t until he began extreme events of endurance like running 100 mile Ultra Marathons, swimming across Lake Ontario and more, that he felt an internal shift from average to something greater.
Gray Man is the story of one man’s journey to personal greatness that provides a glimpse into what is possible when you set the conditions, put in the time, and believe that you can train yourself to achieve anything.

179 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 6, 2022

Reviews

[Ellen Brenner · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn’t sure what to expect at first. I typically don’t read non fiction style books. It’s interesting when you know of the author, you’ve cheered them on, you know the name, you know other people in the book either because you worked with them, were interviewed by them, cheered them. In addition I’m used to being able to escape in a book and build my judgements about a character. In this one, I knew of so many people noted on the book and because they were real people I didn’t want to judge. I found it impressive how Brett was able to dig so deep internally to succeed, yet found it fascinating how angry he’d become with himself at his lowest of lows trying to achieve that success. It was as though that anger and rage was another mechanism to get to the other side. Brett is incredibly lucky to have such a close knit support group to assist and help through all his endeavors, whether work, sport or family. His “stick too it ness” for all he wanted to accomplish was so commendable. I liked how he would work to be as good as he could be in all facets at life whether he had the skill set or not. And if the skill set didn’t exist he’d find a way to create the skill set. This book gave me great pause and was thought provoking.

[Krista Englert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Straight and to the point on how a man overcomes adversity - some real and relatable, some perhaps “self inflicted” as we often are our own worst critics. Pushing through pain discomfort and adversity isn’t a new concept. Yet Brett’s approach is that he simply cuts through the bulls*** and gets to the point. The point - everyone has demons to overcome, and everyone just makes their own blueprint to do that. Brett takes ownership and isn’t shy about his struggles and disappointments. But he makes zero excuses and learns from the lessons.

One doesn’t have to be an athlete to put these lessons to use. I’ve probably applied more of it raising my kids than for my own self development:

-surround yourself with a solid tribe. They’ll get you through anything.
-don’t let the practicality get in the way of a good goal (or even insane ones).
-being kind to others, and helping others, will fill your cup more than anything self serving.

[Brianne Lawton-O'Brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a truly inspiring read. It was wonderful to read about Brett's journey and hear about not only when things went great but also when things went sideways. Additionally, to read about all the hard work and effort that went into each of his adventures. I highly recommend this book.