Tuesday, January 13, 2009

No Limits The Will To Succeed by Michael Phelps with Alan Abrahamson

No Limits the Will To Succeed by Michael Phelps with Alan Abrahamson



Michael Phelps is the epitome of his philosophy of W.I.N., What's important Now? He is the olympian with the most gold medals ever. In the 2008 olympics in Beijing he won eight gold medals in swimming. He set out to beat Mark Spitz's record and succeeded.



He tells you that this takes absolutely dedication and goal setting. He has a goal sheet which he shares with his coach and writes on every day. He practices for four hours every single day. His practice includes swimming, weightlifting, and dry calisthenics. He even trained at altitude to improve his endurance.



He also eats 8,000-10,000 calories a day because he trains so much. It is rather incredible. He does say, he includes fruits and vegetables in addition to everything else. Still it is kind of stunning.



This book is about sports and dedication to sports. He tells you his goal is not just to win at swimming, but to promote the sport for young people as well. He set up a foundation to help young people learn to swim. Michael Phelps wants swimming to be as important as basketball and baseball in the United States.



If you want to learn about building will power and overcoming obstacles this book is inspiring. When he was young, he was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder and took Ritalin until he was thirteen. At that point he stopped determined not to need it again.



Every bit of his attitude seems to be focused on getting better at what he does. He gave up other sports like baseball and football to focus on swimming when he was a teenager because tht was where his mother thought he would succeed.


Swimming is a sport where you have to constantly beat yourself: improve your time. He claims that he does not criticize other people, he only focuses on doing better and constantly breaking new records. He wants other swimmers to raise the bar for him.



I like that he is not quite perfect. He was given a ticket for drunk driving. He also listens to the rapper Lil' Wayne and has a dog. He credits a lot of his success to his mother.



This book is about winning and going beyond all normal limits. Training, setting goals, eating, winning in a big way. Even though he comes across as low key, the results are all larger than life. He even has a street named after him, Michael Phelps Way.



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