Unlocked: Embrace Your Greatness, Find the Flow, Discover Success – The Mindfulness Expert Behind Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant

by George Mumford

A world-renowned psychologist and mindfulness performance expert who has helped superstars such as Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant transform their careers, offers proven strategies for unleashing our innate strengths, avoiding burnout, and discovering enduring success.





We all strive to find flow, when our skills, expertise, and mindset are aligned and we can perform, unimpeded, at the highest level. George Mumford calls this being “unlocked”—a state anyone can achieve at any time. A psychologist trained in the field of mindfulness and personal development expert, Mumford has decades of experience helping a wide range of individuals—from CEOs and NBA superstars to the chronically underrepresented, those experiencing homeless and fighting addiction—contend with the challenges and opportunities inherent in life. Now, in this life-changing guide, he shares his wisdom with all of us, no matter our background or socioeconomic status, brilliantly guiding us on a path to discovering and harnessing our own individual potential.

“People have called me the ‘performance whisperer,’” Mumford writes. “I coax and tease. I ‘whisper’ to the stubborn, oppositional part of us that resists growth, that refuses to break old habits. To unlock the greatness within, we have to crack that shell to access what’s underneath. It can be a difficult, painful process, much the way performance-training stretches our body and the limits of our endurance. The mental training, I do with athletes, prisoners, teachers, college administrators, businesspeople and others has a similar aspect. It shakes us out of the familiar and puts us in touch with deeper aspects of ourselves.”

Chock full of tangible insights, unexpected ancient wisdom, and inspiring stories from his clients and his own life—from his darkest moments of addiction and inner turmoil to training some of the best athletes in the world—Unlocked is the culmination of Mumford’s life’s work; it helps us discover our gifts. To sustain success no matter the game or the stakes. To step into the power within us and embrace the freedom of being unlocked.

Genres: Audiobook, Psychology, Self Help, Nonfiction, Personal Development

236 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 2, 2023

Reviews

[ElmerFudd28 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book offered some wisdom and insights on how to go with the flow of life and become unlocked. However, much of it was his journey with MJ and Kobe and didn’t quite hit the mark for me. I suppose I was hoping for more of a step by step on how we can unlock our inner force (energy). Not necessarily his stories about being in AA and various jobs he’s held over the years. Even though the author means well and I’m sure I missed some of the points my expectations were different from the reality of the book. And perhaps that’s a lesson in and of itself; learn to deal with the cards you’re dealt and be grateful along the way!

[Ami Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I could learn from George every day and never tire of it. I heard him mention that he struggled to record it, that he was uncomfortable. I could hear that struggle, which made it a little odd as an audiobook, and yet I love hearing someone's story directly from them. This is more of an autobiography, with gems placed throughout. Will probably pick up the hard copy one day and reread.

[Christian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got a few valuable lessons and reminders but I found myself skimming the back half. There isn’t much organization or flow (ironically) to the book itself. It seemed to start as a book that intended to teach lessons through anecdotes but shifted to more of a memoir that happened to have a few lessons.

[Shawn Burke · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Unlocked” is a worthy and surprising successor to George Mumford’s “The Mindful Athlete.” It’s a very personal and introspective book that sets his struggles with addiction and growing up Black in Boston as prelude to the person who emerged from recovery, deeply changed and committed to personal growth and service. There is little about this book that is prescriptive; nothing even close to “Do these three things and you and your life will be awesome.” Instead growth is posed in terms of our ability to connect with authenticity through continuous effort, looking within rather than without to reveal our true natures. The book is peppered with snippets about his work with Coach Phil Jackson and superstar athletes like Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant. These highlight how we can connect with pure performance – excellence for its own sake – through consistent effort and the joy of investigation. Through George’s exposition and encouragement we see the possibility of letting go of obstacles we cling to that prevent us from being more spontaneous, and more free. I’m already looking forward to reading “Unlocked” several more times and reflecting on the nuggets of truth there.

[Mark Manderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyed the read.

Top takeaways

HAVING BEGINNERS MINE, WHICH MEANS YOU ARE ALWAYS OPEN AND TEACHABLE

DO EACH ACTION WITH CONSCIOUS EFFORT.

THERE IS NO PEAK. DO WHAT YOU DO FOR NO PARTICULAR REASON OTHER THAN DOE THE LIVE.

[David Rees · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked up "Unlocked" because I was on vacation, needed a book, and it was the only one that stood out to me in the hotel's library. However, I was pleasantly surprised by it.

"Unlocked" focuses on meditation, mindfulness, and uncovering the depths of who you are and who you are called to be.

Pros: Helpful meditation practices and some inspiring quotes on how to build a better life.

Cons: Mostly geared toward athletes and drug/alcohol abusers. Too many personal stories from the author's past that I felt had no deep connection to the overall theme of the book. Many of the chapter's lessons seemed vague and superfluous.

Overall thoughts: "Unlocked" was a somewhat enjoyable read, but I feel like I am not the right audience for this type of book.

[Alexandra Weiner · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book after hearing Mumford speak at CIMC. My main takeaway from the book is that greatness comes from aligning with one's inner self by being in the present moment while maintaining goals and intentions. "Being unlock is not about doing but about being. Doing comes out of being. If you want an excellent life, you have to be excellent. The idea is not to go to heave; it's to grow to heaven. If you want to love you have to be love. When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change." This book was timely for me because I was searching for something that discussed more about mindfulness in action + goal setting in a mindful manner AND did so in an easily digestible way (this was an easy read for the holiday break!).

Some of the references to famous figures felt a bit unnecessary. Perhaps they would have built credibility with some audiences.

I appreciated how the author takes teachings from a variety of religions including Christianity and Buddhism. There are a lot of great quotes from different figures that are helping guide my next set of readings. Other bits that resonated with me:

- It's okay to model yourself after those you admire, but you also need to find your gift to the world
- Affirmative awareness is acknowledging and growing from our mistakes
+ Winners have achieved ultimate authenticity. They do not dedicate their lives to imagining what they should be, but are themselves and do not use their energy putting on a performance
+ Mental training: We need to move toward our goal 100% of the time and to do that we need to truly let go of our mistakes
- Hiding out is when we distance ourselves from who we are
+ - When we express the truth of who we are, we become a force for good
- When things feel uneasy we begin to look for outs instead of truly sitting with the discomfort and seeking to understand why we have this discomfort and observing our mental patterns that are causing this
- the only way to keep what you have it to share it
- to know and not do is to, in fact, not know
- Gratitude to unlock greatness within - Plato
- Serenity prayer
- Authentic Selfhood - Parker Palmer
- Michelangelo did not create statues, he released them. We can do the same for our authentic selves
- Awfulizing is the tendency to see things through fear and doom - Joan
- Wayne Dyer: if you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change (reminds me of Octavia Butler)
- and many more (see your notes in Kindle)
- it was interesting how he took his experience living with Julius as a sort of practice when I took it that they were just roommates. It made me think about how I might understand more of how experiences that I label mundane are not actually that.

[Yolanda Ngarambe · Rating 4 out of 5]

My coach recommended this book, so I found it on eBay for $7 haha. It was a slow burn, which is why it took me a while to finish BUT the last maybe 30% really spoke to me and gave it a 4 star rating.

Part of me feels like this book could have been shorter but then again maybe the whole point of it wouldn’t have hit me if I didn’t have some time to digest it…Not sure if a book like this can have a spoiler but I added a warning incase haha but I love the idea of pure performance and that you have to be authentic and truly yourself to get there. Not sure if he ever said that in the book but that’s what I got from it haha and it actually helped me shift my mindset going into a competition which was big !

[JWeiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiring

This memoir is a transformative exploration of personal growth and resilience. The author's compelling narrative provides profound insights into living with purpose and compassion. By emphasizing the critical distinction between responding and reacting, the book offers a powerful framework for emotional intelligence and mindful living. Its message of self-improvement and community contribution resonates deeply, inspiring readers to approach life's challenges with grace and intentionality.

[Amy Palmer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an amazing book - full of insight from George’s own struggles to heal and grow. Pulling from his own life story and work coaching others all over the world, George shares how to find, trust and hone our own greatness and in doing so best share our gifts with the world and truly live. I am so grateful to George for writing this book.

[Helen · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author gives many examples from his own life as well as known athletes
There are some great ideas from the book, one being:
When we feel the greatness within, we feel loved.
This book is written by someone who experienced many challenges but was able to overcome them who is able to give hope and strategies for all regardless whether we are star athletes or just ordinary people.

[Mischa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe I just did not understand this book properly, but I felt like it actually gave you nothing - nothing to understand what author actually means for people to do to get "unlocked", plus some of the examples were slightly weird (like not bad, maybe just not something i'd have used as a good example for being unlocked circumstances-wise) and hardly any was useful for every day person.

[ekaterina · Rating 3 out of 5]

Would be interested in comparing it his other book, The Mindful Athlete, but this book is definitely for those who want tools and lessons from a mental performance consultant without so much “sport talk”. Maybe if you’re interested in a memoir about George Mumford too, because this seems to mostly be about his story.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Items of Note:
* You are a masterpiece. You are not a masterpiece in the making; you are a masterpiece in the finding.
* We don't get blocked by what is happening; we get blocked by our relationship to what is happening.
* Success is not a destination; it is a way of traveling. It is about how you show up in this moment, right now.

[Laura Conway · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great content here. There are a lot of concepts to chew on here and life philosophy. George delivers with his sincerity, simplicity and authentic life lessons.

[Michael Seiler · Rating 4 out of 5]

George Mumford writes in an accessible way to speaks from his own experience of overcoming addiction to unlock his true calling.

[Kristy Ricard · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was more about the author's life story, and less about becoming unlocked in my opinion. I read half of the book and was not able to finish it.

[Mats Visser · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tot halverwege geluisterd

[Tim Fanning · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must read for all coaches and players of any sport!

[Rob Jacobs · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anyone interested in finding their pure performance should read this.

[Uncle Drewskii · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Right on Mr. Mumford.

Being a former athlete and a high performing individual, this book gives countless insight on how to be unlocked and perform to the best of your ability.

This is Mr. Mumford’s 2nd book and although I would say you don’t need to read the 1st on in order to read this, it would give you better direction and what he discusses while also arming you with resources to begin.

Mr. Mumford is one of a kind and this book goes a level deeper when speaking about his life, work with athletes & executives, and his overall purpose in living day to day.

By unlocking ourselves, we are able to perform at even greater heights while taking away the pressure and worry of exactly how to do that. The more in-tuned we our to ourselves and the task at hand, the better we may do.

I will make this a yearly habit of reading this book in order to continue to extract all the knowledge from it as well as digging deeper into my mindfulness practice that will allow me to up my performance game in many aspects.

I also had the pleasure of seeing him speak in person as well. He flowed through his materials but was engaging by being himself and talking about what he is most comfortable with. The subject of mindfulness and performance.

[Daniel Roskamp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book about the hidden potential we all have inside of us and how to unlock it