TOUCHDOWN! by KEVIN ELKO (a J!-ENT Book Review)

June 14, 2009 by Dennis Amith 

“An inspirational and motivational book by Dr. Kevin Elko.  Using his experience with working with collegiate and professional sports teams, Elko uses examples from sports, business and his personal life to inspire readers positively.  This may not be for the readers who want something that is deep or looking for a workbook type of motivational book but for those who are sports fans and are not into something sophisticated or so business-driven in terms of examples, can definitely find this book enjoyable, easy to ready and insightful.”

(c) Images courtesy of Pearson Education, Inc.

TITLE: TOUCHDOWN!

AUTHOR: Kevin Elko

PUBLISHER: Pearson Education, Inc./FT Press

PAGE COUNT: 150

Released on August 2009

ACHIEVE THE BREAKTHROUGH SUCCESS YOU’VE ALWAYS DREAMED OF!

STEP-BY-STEP HELP FROM THE NATION’S #1 BUSINESS PERFORMANCE CONSULTANT

Breakthrough success happens first in your mind, and then in the world.  In this book, Dr. Kevin Elko shows how to build your success one brick at a time…so when it happens, it happens huge.

As America’s #1 performance consultant, Elko knows more about preparing for success than anyone.  In this book, he shares everything he’s learned working with legendary athletes such as Emmit Smith, championship coaches like Nick Saban, and thousands of the world’s top business people.

If you’re good, he’ll make you great.  If you’re great, he’ll make you the best, it’s your turn.  Learn what it takes.  Do what it takes.  Get this book, and make it happen.

When it comes to motivational books, there are those who enjoy directions of how to get from point A to point B.  There are some who like to learn from the experiences of successful individuals and there are some who prefer books with a workbook type of learning.

There have been a few people in sports who are known for their positive attitude, those who have learned from the best motivational speakers and have themselves become professional motivational speakers and released their own books.

“TOUCHDOWN!” is a book by Dr. Kevin Elko, a nationally renowned performance consultant and motivational speaker.  The difference between Dr. Elko and many others who have written books is that he has consulted for professional and collegiate athletic teams, not just athletic individuals.

From LSU, Miami and Nebraska to the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys, Dr. Elko has been there to inspire the players.  But his work has also transcended into the business world for Traveler’s Insurance, SmithKline Beecham, Prudential Securities and Tyson Foods.

He has also written successful books “Nerves of Steel” and “Winning the NFL Way” and now Dr. Elko has a new book coming out in August 2009 that is inspiring and showcases how his motivational speaking has helped others.

Because I am reviewing an advanced reader’s copy, I am unable to quote any passages from the book, but as a person who does review and read many motivational/self-help books, what I did enjoy about Dr. Elko’s “TOUCHDOWN!” is that it was the first book that I have read that thoroughly uses sports as a way of communicating success.  But also personal experiences in his real life and business life as well, to have examples that are diverse and informative.

Elko uses a lot of his athletic sports experience as examples such as when the Washington Redskins hurt Dallas Cowboys Defensive End and punt returner, Deion Sanders and gave him a concussion.  Before his injury and prior to the game, a Washington Redskin player made comments that Sanders was an old man and washed up and should stop playing.   Despite his injury, Deion who was in deep pain went against the doctors and ran into the field, took his backup punt returner’s helmet and told him to go off the field and during the punt return, Sanders caught the punt and ran for a touchdown.  And then after making a comment back to the Washington Redskins, went back to the locker room right after.

Where most self-help books would talk about a struggling business and how one overcame a problem, it was interesting to read Elko’s sports examples and in this case, when your down and beaten and think you can’t go any further, you persist and can make things happen even during your darkest times.

For the most part, a lot of what Dr. Elko has to write in “TOUCHDOWN!” is common sense.  Using “The Immaculate Reception” when the 1972 Pittsburgh Steelers had one last play to win the Super Bowl against the Oakland Raiders and how a ball bounced on a player’s head and landed in wide receiver’s Franco Harris’s hands who ran for a touchdown and eventually winning the Super Bowl for the Steelers.  But was the goal for the ball to hit someone in the head and run for a touchdown.  Of course not.  It was to run as hard as you can and hope to catch the ball and make the touchdown.

In this case, you need to take action in your life.  You know your goal, if you want to achieve success, you will need to be active not passive.

In a non-sports example, Elko talks about how one day, someone who parked next to him, had their car rip out the side mirror of his car.  So, upset and feeling the day was awful, he comes home to find his son knocked out and unconscious.  His son was able to be revived but it taught him that there are far more things in life that can be worse in life.  Something may seem big and can ruin your day but things could have been worse.

Granted, this example again is common sense but as we know in life and we read it on the newspaper or see it on television, there are far many people who get upset at the smallest things and end up hurting or even killing someone.

Overall, “TOUCHDOWN!” was an enjoyable book for the reason that I enjoy sports and I enjoyed Elko sharing stories of his experience for many sports teams and situations in his personal life and even some non-sports topics as well.  In a way, this book makes things comprehensive for a demographic who could care less of reading motivational books on corporations but can easily read something that their passionate about such as sports, how Elko helped these individuals or learned from their mistakes and how it can be used in one’s personal or business life.

In a way, I believe “TOUCHDOWN!” is good in communicating to readers through the use of sports experiences to learn positive messages in life.  Stories that are inspiring.  But like some people who can’t read motivational books for business-minded individuals, this book is common sense and those individuals who are use to reading those other books may not get anything new from this book and may not be their cup of tea because it uses a lot of examples from athletic sports.

But with that being said, “TOUCHDOWN!” is unique that it uses those sports experiences as a way to communicating individuals some important lessons that can benefit them.  And I do feel that may a person be an athlete or seeking inspiration right now and enjoys sports, they can definitely find this book quite positive and inspirational.