This morning, I had the good fortune to interview Jim Murphy, the author of INNER EXCELLENCE: Train Your Mind for Extraordinary Performance and the Best Possible Life (Grand Central Publishing, April 29, 2025). Jim is a performance coach to some of the best athletes and leaders in the world.

Jim was on The Today Show on NBC last week for a quick segment, but at the Brian D. O’Leary Show, we go deeper than Al Roker and company. For instance, many may be aware that A. J. Brown of the Philadelphia Eagles was famously “caught” reading Murphy’s book on the sidelines during last year’s playoffs and Super Bowl. You can get that story from the Today segment.

With me, Murphy goes more in-depth and tells us about the path that one copy of Inner Excellence took to get into Brown’s hands in the first place and why the superstar wide receiver and Super Bowl champion reads passages from it between drives … on the NFL sidelines!

The interview will be released later this week. Stay tuned to these emails for more, but I want to get you prepped for what you will hear.

In the book, Murphy talks about training the mind to break free from the invisible shackles of limiting beliefs. You can probably hear the chorus of critics—and you may even be one of them—humming their same tired tune, “It’s just motivational hype. You can’t reprogram your subconscious. Life is too complex.”

But what if it’s not “motivational hype?”

What if the real controversy isn’t in Murphy’s claim, but in our own stubborn refusal to believe that we are capable of more? Much more.

Murphy is no stranger to professional athletics. He played five years of minor league baseball, coached baseball in the Olympics, and has been a coach to champions of all stripes. He has spent decades studying what separates extraordinary performance from mediocrity.

The answer?

The mind is not a fixed entity. It acts more like a muscle, but most of us just let it atrophy, all the while complaining about our own limitations.

I might as well address the aforementioned critics head-on. Their argument: “You can’t just think your way out of fear, trauma, or self-doubt. Life ain’t a TED talk, pal.”

True. But Murphy offers no shortcuts. In fact, his approach is the opposite of easy.

Inner Excellence, the name of Murphy’s own system as well as the title of his newly published book, is built upon centuries of knowledge and practice. The principles of love, wisdom, and courage are at the forefront. His system also demands real work: facing fears, embracing discomfort, and training your own subconscious with the same discipline and will of an Olympian.

What critics usually miss is that the science of neuroplasticity—the brain’s ability to “rewire” itself—is well-established. We’ve talked about it in these emails and podcasts over the last few years.

Beliefs can be changed. Habits can be broken. Yet, this can only happen with intention, repetition, and a willingness to confront what Murphy calls the Critic, the Monkey Mind, and the Trickster functions in our brains—those that sabotage us from within.

Murphy does not talk about wishful thinking. His method uses practical exercises, daily reflection, and the relentless pursuit of presence and self-mastery.

The real controversy? It’s the myth—perhaps the most dangerous myth in Western culture—that says we are stuck with the minds we have. This myth tells us that our patterns, anxieties, and emotional baggage are permanent.

What does this myth do? It perpetrates our thoughts and behaviors that keep us passive, cynical, and small.

Inner Excellence is controversial only insofar as it threatens the status quo. Murphy’s system asks you to be responsible for your internal world, something that is terrifying for anyone who has spent their life blaming circumstances or genetics for their lot in life.

Murphy’s research draws from dozens of interviews with top sports psychologists, coaches, managers, and players over twenty-plus years and boils down to the radical idea: The heart is the key to peak performance and “the best possible life.”

Not only is training the heart and the mind possible, but it is also essential. Murphy’s book offers you the tools to identify mental blocks, reframe negative self-talk, and build habits that foster resilience, joy, and confidence.

If you still think this stuff is a product of some artificial hype machine, understand that Inner Excellence hasn’t climbed the bestseller lists on the back of empty promises.

World-class athletes have adopted Murphy’s approach. So have executives and Super Bowl champions who are all looking for that edge in the moments filled with “pressure.”

The principles are effective. But the approach is not magic. However, they are transformative … if you’re willing to do the work.

Murphy doesn’t guarantee “wins” every time you step on the field or into the boardroom, but in our conversation, we talked about what success really means versus what the so-called trappings of success look like to most people. He offers a way to detach your self-worth from external outcomes, to live with intention, and to find meaning in the process, not in results.

In a world obsessed with quick fixes and surface-level success, that’s about as controversial as it gets.

If you’re still rolling your eyes—first, I’m glad you made it this far—ask: Is the real hype in believing that change is impossible?

Maybe the real risk is not in trying and failing, but in never trying at all.

If you’re willing to challenge your assumptions, Inner Excellence is a call to arms. The only thing more controversial than believing you can change is refusing to try.

Still uncomfortable? Good. Get comfortable while being uncomfortable. That’s where all real growth starts.

Stay tuned for the podcast later this week.

As always,
Brian