The Winners Manual

This past weekend I read a book I’ve been meaning to read for quite a while. For my birthday, my dad gave me The Winners Manual by Jim Tressel. I’m glad to say that I finally took the chance to read it. Tressel is the head football coach at Ohio State University, and each year he gives his players essentially this manual. Its purpose is to build character, humility, gratitude, purpose, and to motivate his players during and after their careers at Ohio State. I expected to read the book and find ways to become a better coach—how to motivate, inspire, plan a practice, etc. In reality, I found a manual to help me realize my purpose, set goals, and become a better person. One of the biggest things I related to was how Coach Tressel described the difference in your purpose and your goals. He states that our society tries to define us by measuring achievement. But, in actually achievement has nothing to do with what type of person we are. Instead, we measure our success by the fulfillment of our purpose. He argues that our goals, while essential to set and write down, serve as tools or vehicles to achieve purpose. This makes so much sense but it was the first time I’ve actually thought of it so simply. Tressel breaks down his components into the “Block O of Life”. The purpose section is constant—personal/family, spiritual/moral, and caring/giving. While Tressel feels the purpose section of the Block O will stay the same, the three goals in this book—football/family, strength/fitness, and academics/career—serve as examples of what his team does. In other words, your purpose is constant but it is up to each individual to set their own goals for achieving purpose. Throughout this book there are inspirational stories and quotes, as well as a plan for short term and long term fulfillment. This book obviously doesn’t posses the excitement and suspense of a nonfiction thriller, I would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for an inspirational success story and how to improve their own circumstance.