Ryan DeJonghe - The Avid Reader

Okay, I’ll admit it: this book’s title is what lured me in: what the best do better than everyone else. But something went wrong when I tried ordering all of Jon Gordon’s books from my library system—they didn’t have them all. I think I’ve figured out why. Gordon’s book are not only allegorical, but they are faith-based. While helpful, that is still a one-two punch in the world of business books. Gordon is dealing with a niche market here.

Let me back up, and start with this: Gordon’s best book is ENERGY ADDICT 101. In that book, Gordon cuts through all the allegory and presents you with lots of helpful advice and tips, along with many outside resources to use.

As for TRAINING CAMP, it should not be overlooked. There’s a bit of good advice in here, but not everyone will enjoy the delivery method. As mentioned before, you’ll have to move through an allegorical fable about a boy trying to make the football time, while he mother is dying of cancer. The coach gives the boy a playbook of helpful life advice and also encourages the boy to seek a higher power. The playbook is really the walk-away content of the entire book you are reading; 11 helpful steps to apply to your everyday life are what you’ll get.

Of the helpful advice, a good deal of it is faith-based. While my guess would be this is written in a Christian perspective, nothing really comes out and states that. Research has proven the benefits of mediation and religion, so the advice is not lost. One would do well do heed what is written here.

Overall, the book is nice and warm and fuzzy, but there’s not a lot of meat. I prefer more quotes, more works cited, more footnotes, just something to give weight to the whole thing. Gordon does this more in ENERGY ADDICT 101, but a really good example would be Tom Rath’s book EAT MOVE SLEEP, which has over 200 works cited, including a website to navigate those other works.