Inner Excellence by Jim Murphy

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The Best Possible Life by Jim Murphy

Categories	Psychology & Counseling
Author	Jim Murphy
Publisher	Academy of Excellence – New York – Rome – Tokyo (May 1, 2020)
Language	English
Paperback	360 pages
Item Weight	1.07 pounds
Dimensions	6 x 0.82 x 9 inches

I. Book introduction

The #1 New York Times bestseller. 200,000+ copies sold in three weeks.

Discover the life guide that has developed world champions, empowered athletes to become world #1, and most importantly, transformed their hearts and minds. This step-by-step training manual from one of the world’s top mental skills coaches will teach you how to train your mind like the very best.

My #1 tip for success: Read Inner Excellence by Jim Murphy. – Stewart Cink, British Open Champion, 8-time PGA Tour Winner

Whether you’re an athlete or entrepreneur, single mother or father of five, you’ll find exercises, techniques and tools in this book that will improve every area of your life. Your life will take on new meaning as you move beyond the pursuit of happiness to a life of purpose and fulfillment.

Jim Murphy’s complete program of proven mental techniques is based on the powerful principles of love, wisdom, and courage, that came from over six years of full-time research and writing (after his masters degree in Coaching Science).

“I read the first version of Inner Excellence six times. I recommend all my clients read it.” – Matt Killen, PGA Tour coach to Justin Thomas, Tiger Woods and many others

INNER EXCELLENCE WILL SHOW YOU HOW TO:

• DEVELOP SELF-MASTERY—and let go of what you can’t control
• OVERCOME ANXIETY—and build powerful mental habits
• REMOVE MENTAL BLOCKS—and get out of your own way
• TRAIN YOUR SUBCONSCIOUS MIND—and release limiting beliefs

As a professional baseball player in the Chicago Cubs organization, Jim’s sense of worth and identity revolved around his performance. He was obsessed with fame but also afraid of failure, and that fear made him struggle under the pressure to perform.

When he started coaching professional and Olympic athletes, he saw the same pattern over and over again: athletes had lost their joy and passion for life as the fear of failure engulfed their lives. This book will share with you how some of the best athletes in the world transformed their careers through Inner Excellence.

You’ll learn how Inner Excellence propelled them to extraordinary performance even when they were filled with doubt and uncertainty, and how you can excel in the same way in your life.

“Inner Excellence changed how I see the world, how I think, and how I play golf.” – Vaughn Taylor, three-time PGA Tour winner

Jim Murphy is a Performance Coach (mental skills) to some of the best athletes and leaders in the world. The majority of his clients achieve the best year of their career their first year working with Jim (or their best year in the previous five years).

About the Author (Jim Murphy)

Jim Murphy is a Performance Coach (mental skills) to the best professional athletes and leaders in the world.

Jim Murphy played professional baseball in the Chicago Cubs organization, coached with the Texas Rangers as well as in the Olympic Games. For his Masters Degree in Coaching Science, he interviewed 39 MLB GM’s, field managers and coaches on how to build a championship team.

Jim Murphy has coached some of the world’s best golfers including world champions, FedEx Cup champions and world #1’s. The majority of Jim’s clients in every sport, individuals or team, have the best year of their careers in their first year working with Jim (or best in the previous five years).

In addition to coaching professional athletes and executives, Jim leads Inner Excellence offsite retreats at beautiful locations around the world. Jim is the president of the Inner Excellence Freedom Project whose mission is to build communities to alleviate spiritual and physical poverty around the world.

Jim’s latest book Inner Excellence: Train Your Mind for Extraordinary Performance and the Best Possible Life (Revised Edition) was released May 1, 2020.

II. Reviewer: Inner Excellence by Jim Murphy

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1. MIKE SMALTINI reviews Inner Excellence

My head is full and I love it so much

What a ride this book took me on. Wondering how this successful athlete achieved so much but later learned what really mattered. The crowd inside not the crowd we all play to…

Packed with science and real life scenarios this book keeps you wondering what’s next.

I am an excellence junkie and knowing that I’m on the right path but making myself excellent by helping others is my life and I needed to know my journey is worthy

2. TIMOTHY P. TIGHE reviews Inner Excellence

An excellent book to help you realize how to hopefully find your true path to a fulfilled life.

I have had many successes in life but I am still struggling to figure out what can lead me to a really full or fulfilled life. I feel this book has the potential to do that with the numerous tools the author has given here. Obviously this is not an easy task.

3. JENNIFER reviews Inner Excellence

Thanks to A.J. Brown for reading this book on the sidelines during a playoff game. That vital moment brought attention to this book, which is how I became aware of it.

This is a terrific book. It’s not just for athletes. It’s for us regular people too. I was able to get the audiobook from the library and I kept pausing it to take notes. I will get the book because I have too many post-it notes to keep track of.

James Palmer posted on X the page that A.J. Brown was reading. One excerpt that was highlighted and underlined said, “In the pursuit of extraordinary performance, it’s easy to succumb to anxiety and pressure, because so much is out of your control. When you learn to live a life that is fully engaged, however, then you can perform your best and love the challenge. Every performance, presentation, or problem you face is an opportunity to learn and grow and vividly experience each moment.”

This book has many life changing tips. Worthy read!

4. D. TESZLER reviews Inner Excellence

Great Coach Resource – Help Athletes have Extraordinary Experiences

“The chance to engage in an extraordinary experience”. This frames the Why of Coaching for me. Regardless of the sport, the opportunity to experience great moments of presence and performance are there. The book is espouses a a philosophy while providing many concrete practices to help athletes be present and frame performance outside of outcomes. I hope that adopting practices from the book will increase the moments of presence where they can have extraordinary experiences.

5. TURNER F. KINCAID reviews Inner Excellence

A great staple for coaches looking to help young athletes

The tools in Inner Excellence have helped me turn the culture of my basketball team around in today’s social media age and the pressures that come with it. Our young athletes struggle with social anxiety and performance pressure. High school athletics are supposed to be about community, personal growth, and fun. However, the need for clicks, offers, and status has made those principals afterthoughts. Using the tools from this book, you can successfully combat these social ills and bring fun and fullness back into athletics. It is incredible seeing our players before tip-off saying to their brothers in competition, “Let’s have a great game; let’s give each other our best.” For young athletes to be verbal about being in the moment and playing with love and respect for the game is a freeing experience. A must-read for coaches!

6. JACK reviews Inner Excellence

A true inspiration!

At 71 I discovered this book. Throughout my life I struggled with never being good enough during my upbringing and a 40 year marriage. I saw the glass half full as I tried being who I am inside all this time. This book has been an inspiration to me even at this age. The concepts that are catalogued and presented are actually in line with the way I always felt but was considered “weak”, that I “settled for less” according to what others in my life believed in. I do not hate my Ex, I’m glad I finally broke the cycle and only wish she could embrace the concept of this book.

It’s the journey, not the win. Being humble, not seeking entitlement or condescending feelings towards others because I was better than them was never my forte. The book served as part of my healing process and realizing that I truly like the person I am and the long road traveled was worth it.

Only wish this book would be included in school curriculums to enlighten the young to be wary of the affluenza virus that has infected the Western Civilization.

7. NATHAN reviews Inner Excellence

Quality and price

Seriously I am amazed. I am pretty desperate to realine with my inner self. I have been dealing with suffering my entire life, I come from a broken family at the age of 3 my father left.

I started reading and immediately started feeling peace. I know you probably don’t understand me and you don’t need to I am just speaking from my experience. I have bought a few other books and seen several people. I am not saying that it is a cure all,but maybe you need to be ready to give in and allow yourself to be OK. I am thankful that I got the book that is allowing me to get piece 🙏

8. ALINA RICH reviews Inner Excellence

A must for all ages!

Amazing!!! Great job giving examples on how to implement simple strategies into your life to be able to gain inner excellence. I’m a middle school teacher and I believe this book is a must for everyone to read including kids. It’s so easy for them to focus on grades as the outcome for success instead of seeing them as the by product of pursuing excellence. This is just one thing I plan to share from this book with them. Looking forward to reading it again!

9. MATTHEW reviews Inner Excellence

This is not your traditional “self-help” book. I admittedly was hesitant to read at first, but thoroughly enjoyed it and gained a lot out of it. I believe everybody should read this, not just athletes, CEO’s, etc. There are tons of things you can take from this book and practice it in your daily life. I’ve already started to and it’s helped tremendously.

10. JAMES HALL reviews Inner Excellence

Jim Murphy’s Inner Excellence is a transformative book that has profoundly shifted my perspective, leaving an indelible mark on how I view success, leadership, and relationships. As someone who has always prioritized achievements and measurable successes, I initially approached this book expecting yet another guide to high performance. Instead, what I found was a powerful invitation to let go of the fixation on outcomes and embrace a deeper, more meaningful focus: people and the process.

Murphy’s central argument is both simple and profound: true excellence comes not from controlling outcomes but from mastering our inner world and fully engaging with the present. He challenges the cultural obsession with “winning” and instead emphasizes the importance of focusing on what we can control—our thoughts, actions, and the relationships we cultivate. By shifting the focus from outcomes to people and process, Murphy reminds us that success is fleeting, but the impact we have on those around us and the joy we derive from the journey are what truly endure.

One of the most impactful ideas in the book is Murphy’s concept of “purpose-driven leadership.” He emphasizes that our purpose should be rooted in serving others and building strong, connected teams. Reading this made me realize how often I have been guilty of prioritizing end results—project completions, metrics, accolades—over the relationships and dynamics that actually make those achievements possible. Murphy reframes leadership as an act of service, grounded in empathy and trust, and this resonated deeply with me. It reminded me that my greatest successes have always come from working with and empowering others, not from chasing a result.

Another key takeaway is Murphy’s discussion of the “Three Levels of Excellence.” He explains that true mastery involves aligning the head (focus), the heart (connection), and the will (courage). This holistic approach challenges the traditional emphasis on skill and strategy alone, encouraging us to also cultivate compassion and emotional intelligence. For someone like me who has often viewed work and life through a lens of logic and outcomes, this framework was a revelation. It has inspired me to reframe how I approach my goals—not as isolated endpoints but as opportunities to deepen my connections with others and grow as a person.

Murphy also critiques our tendency to tie our self-worth to external success, describing it as a “performance trap” that leaves us perpetually dissatisfied. His advice to detach from the uncontrollable variables of outcomes was both liberating and humbling for me. I realized how much mental and emotional energy I’ve wasted worrying about things outside my control, and how much more I could contribute to my teams and relationships if I focused instead on being present, intentional, and authentic.

What sets Inner Excellence apart from other self-improvement books is Murphy’s emphasis on courage and vulnerability. He doesn’t promise quick fixes or guaranteed victories; instead, he asks us to face our fears, embrace uncertainty, and commit to the hard, often uncomfortable work of personal growth. This resonates particularly with his advice to let go of ego and perfectionism in favour of being open, honest, and fully engaged in the process. It’s a perspective that has already begun to reshape not only how I work but also how I live.

Reading Inner Excellence has challenged me to rethink my priorities and realign my values. It’s a reminder that outcomes will come and go, but the relationships we nurture and the way we engage with life’s process will define our legacy. This book is a must-read for anyone—whether a leader, team member, or individual—who wants to lead a life of meaning, purpose, and true excellence. It’s not just a guide to performance; it’s a guide to life.

III. Inner Excellence Quotes by Jim Murphy

The best book quotes from Inner Excellence by Jim Murphy

“I’ve learned that what we really want, beyond our tangible goals and pursuits, is to feel totally alive. We crave great experiences and meaningful relationships and we long to reach our full potential. We want to be challenged and creative. We want to grow. We want freedom to live with passion and pursue our dreams regardless of what people think, how much money we make, or what level of status we acquire. Ultimately, we want the best possible life—absolute fullness of life.”

“I compete to raise the level of excellence in my life, to learn and grow, in order to raise it in others.”

“expect nothing… I can handle anything.”

“Every circumstance and every person you encounter is here to teach you and help you—it’s all working for your good.”

“Most of us have had it backwards, trying to be successful in order to be happy. If we focus on improving our inner world, however, we’ll achieve far more. We can have joy and peace, purpose and power—which will maximize our performance as well. But we need to get the order right if we want extraordinary performance over the long term—and an amazing life: heart first, performance second. Inner world first, outer world follows. Besides, an extraordinary outer world is worthless without a meaningful inner one, is it not?”

“The purpose of your life should always be what’s guiding your life—in every single moment—not letting the ego push purpose aside for some temporary circumstance or event. If you want to live an extraordinary life, you cannot let other people’s words or actions take you out of your rhythm or flow.”

“You can’t get caught up in the negativity and irritations of little lollipop lives if you want to live the best possible one for you.”

“(you don’t have to like someone to love them).”

“The greatest freedom you have is where to place your thoughts.”

“The true worth of a man is measured by the objects he pursues. —Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor, 161-180 AD To chisel away what’s not you is difficult. It is easy to get sidetracked, seduced by the facade of what looks like your true dream. Western culture exposes us daily to the “affluenza” virus (the most dangerous type of virus—one that can steal your soul). This virus idolizes five things: Possessions Achievements Looks (physical appearance) Money Status”

“God, grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, And Wisdom to know the difference.”

“The score is for the fans—we play for the love of the game.”

“The soul is that aspect of your whole being that correlates, integrates and enlivens anything going on in the various dimensions of the self.”

Excerpted from Inner Excellence by Jim Murphy

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