This book came highly recommended to me, and now I am highly recommending this book to you.
CONFESSION: This is the first book I have read entirely since probably middle school. In my opinion, this book has the power to change your life, or at least put a lot of stuff into perspective, especially if you are what the author defines as a “CLEANER”.
The author of Relentless, Tim Grover, describes the world in three separate categories:
1. Cooler
2. Closer
3. Cleaner
The categories are best described here during an interview with Grover (https://www.amidoctors.com/interview-tim-grover/). “The Closer is great and performs if there are no barriers or significant stops for a reward. The Cooler does what he is told to do and no more. The Cleaner gets the top end result over and over because he is in competition with himself and always expects more of himself than anyone else; to be better this time than last time.” Finally! Something that helped explain why I am the way I am. I definitely fall into the Cleaner category.
Grover says on page five, “Everything in this book is about raising your standard of excellence, going above what you already know and think, beyond what anyone has tried to teach you. Kobe says he wants six rings? I want him to have seven.” This particular sentence captured my interest because Grover emphasizes you must go beyond what you already know. That is a powerful statement and is really what I believe separates the goods from the greats. There is no room for complacency in work, or life, in general. Athletes dream of getting just one championship ring. Kobe is here with six and Grover wants him to keep pushing for more and more. There is never enough. To relate this to a work setting, you can go to work every day, get your daily tasks completed, clock out and go home. This would be an example of a good employee. Alternatively you could come to work every day, get your daily tasks completed, start working on new tasks, plan your following day, and clock out one hour late. This would be an example of a great employee. Regardless of the profession; Good is not enough. Even Great is not enough. In order to reach the top, you must be Unstoppable!
I remember after reading the first 10 pages, I texted a good friend and said “Just read the preface of the book Relentless. And my life is already changed because of it.” That stayed true throughout the entire book. It’s a dramatic statement and feeling, but the book is just THAT good!
According to Grover, the relentless drive is something that we are born with- it’s the “instinctive drive to do whatever it takes – anything – to get to the top of where you want to be, and to stay there (page10)”- Don’t make the mistake of thinking that it’s easy for a Cleaner to achieve the impossible. It’s just a different mindset that allows Cleaners to push through the challenges or “get in the zone” when necessary. It’s still hard work once in the zone, but it’s not talent or wealth or brains that get people there. It’s the drive and competitive nature of the Cleaner. Tasks get done, tactfully and quickly. There is no doubt about that. Emotion is left out completely or used minimally. For example, when my daughter (she’s two-years-old) had a Febrile seizure (if you’re a new mom or expecting and don’t know what that is, LOOK IT UP) in my arms at 7:24am on a Sunday morning while we were getting ready for the day, I instinctually handed her off to my husband, called 911, and patiently explained the situation to dispatch while I waited on the front porch for EMS to show up. They arrived in 12 minutes. I JUMPED into action without letting emotions take control. My husband was in tears holding her because our daughter was unresponsive, BUT I knew there was a task at hand that was greater- getting my daughter medical attention, immediately! I was so calm and “in the zone,” I almost forget to get in the ambulance with them to go to the hospital. This situation happened before I started reading the book and I remember thinking; Why did I not cry? Why did I not hold her? Why was I not more panicked?. I understand more clearly now. I needed to make sure she was safe and emotions weren’t going to make that happen.
On page 56, Grover says, “If you’re in the military and you see your commander backing up or if you’re in an office and you see the boss becoming unhinged, what does that say to everyone else? Cleaners show emotion if it’s the only way to get everyone where they need to be. But never because the Cleaner has lost control of his feelings.”
In a business sense, people say I’m “black and white” or am a downright cold person, meaning I am not emotional about anything. Grover emphasizes that Cleaners get “in the zone” and nothing else matters except for the task they are focused on. I am just mostly in the zone. People also consistently tell me how competitive I am. Cleaners don’t see things as “hard,” but just a challenge they MUST overcome.
This book has been eye opening for me. Before reading this book, I completely considered being a “black and white” person or unemotional as a personal downfall and something that has held me back in life. Now I know it’s not what has held me back at all, it’s definitely what keeps me going and constantly pushing for more. After reading this book, I am more comfortable with myself and how I make decisions and present myself.
Grover says, near the end of the book, “You can’t claim you ran a marathon if you started at the seventeenth mile.” The paragraph around that is describing someone who started at the top vs. someone who started at the bottom. The guy who will have “value and impact” is the guy who knows what it takes to get to the top- the one that started at the bottom. That resonated with me. A NEW POST is coming soon about my life story and where I came from. Starting at the bottom doesn’t mean your destiny is to stay at the bottom. If you possess the right mindset- that of a cleaner, you can be unstoppable!
So, where do you currently fall on this spectrum? Do you aspire to be in a different category and if so, what mindset changes can be implemented to get there? This book can help you determine all those things!
Now that I have a better understanding of how my mind is wired, this year I am just getting started and I don’t intend to be stopped.
Pick up a copy of this book below and join me in raising our standards of excellence!
