Book review: ‘Creating Amazement’ is a long motivational talk

O'Meara prefers road miles.

David O’Meara doesn’t merely walk the walk, he runs the run. The mile run. Again and again. Of course, he rarely competes on the track (Boston nationals being an exception, where he was a DNF), but his string of sub-5 miles in his mid-40s is an amazing feat. During his mile circuits of 2008 and 2009, he kept a steady patter of promotion going via his Web site and blog. And now he boils down those entries into a book. The purpose? To inspire people, aggregate his blog — and keep himself in the public eye. Like all good motivational speakers, he has a hook. (I won’t call it a gimmick, since it’s kind of poetic.) He advocates “amazement,” and attributes a quality of mind or heart to each sub-5 mile he ran in 2008, including “humility, dedication, kindness, strength, drive, gratitude, enjoyment, honesty, peace and patience.” (This is a partial list.) Boy Scouts of America should sue for copyright infringement.

The nitty gritty:

“Creating Amazement: The O’Meara Process at Work,” self-published in 2009; 148 pages, softcover; no cover price listed; 15×22.8 cm (6×9 inches)

Organization:

10 chapters (Step One: Discover Aspirations, Step Two: Observe, etc.), 20 races, 20 attributes (Race 1: Faith, Race 2: Courage, etc.)

Who this book is for: Potential clients of David O’Meara, and anyone curious about his road mile achievements. He also makes lots of references to the corporate world. Guess CEOs pay better than masters athletes.

What I liked:

David is clever and creative. With a little suspension of disbelief, you get drawn into his shiny world of infinite possibility. If it weren’t for naps (my favorite hobby), I’d be as good a runner as David!

What I didn’t like:

David throws everything at the wall in hopes something will stick. Not very scientific. In fact, science has nothing to do with his “process.” It’s all unsupported assertion, like: “I have heard people say they lost their confidence, and that’s why they couldn’t achieve something. But confidence is not something you lose.” Right.

Sample: From “Race 2: Courage, Austin, Texas”

Fear is something that can make you very strong. Focus and drive starts when you face fear and say, “I am going to overcome you.” We started with faith, the belief in something we can’t prove, even though we might not be able to say exactly why we believe in it. Courage is what you need to back up that faith — the courage to put yourself on the line. Sometimes having courage means being willing to be the fall guy if things don’t work out. What’s wrong with that? It’s exciting to risk being the scapegoat by standing up for what you think is right. It’s a privilege to put your beliefs and faith and courage out there on the line.

Bottom line:

Read his blog to get the same flavor as the book. If you’re a corporate exec, don’t assume that David’s incredible gifts as a miler — and the lessons he draws from these races — translate to success in business.