Jim Murphy’s Inner Excellence: Train Your Mind for Extraordinary Performance and the Best Possible Life isn’t your typical self-improvement book. It blends mindset training, emotional awareness, and spiritual discipline into a practical guide for performing—and living—with purpose. Whether you’re an athlete, a leader, or simply someone striving to grow, Murphy’s lessons on focus, courage, and letting go of control offer plenty to reflect on. To spark meaningful discussion, here are 15 thought-provoking book club questions (plus some exercises at the end) to help you dig deeper into the book’s key themes.
15 Book Club Questions
- Early in the book, Murphy argues that the path to extraordinary performance and the path to a best-possible life are one and the same. What does that mean to you? Does the idea resonate with or challenge you?
- The author talks about training both mind and heart—not just cognitive strategies, but deeper emotional/spiritual work. How did this distinction come through for you in the book?
- “Let go of what you can’t control” is a recurring theme in the book. Which parts of your life does this apply to most strongly? Did any exercise or suggestion in the book help you with that?
- Murphy emphasizes the importance of routine, discipline, and subconscious training rather than relying purely on willpower or motivation. What routines or mental habits did you find compelling from the book?
- Fear, anxiety, and self-judgment are presented as key barriers to inner excellence. Did the book help you identify any of your own “blocks”? What strategies does Murphy suggest, and how might you apply them?
- The book uses many examples from high-performance sport and elite athletes. Did you find the athletic metaphor helpful, even though you may not be an athlete? Why or why not?
- Murphy writes about the heart’s role (love, courage, wisdom) in performance and life. Which of those virtues stood out most to you? How might you cultivate that virtue in your everyday context?
- The concept of selfless-actualization or performing for something beyond oneself, is mentioned. How do you interpret this? Can you think of a time when you shifted from “what I get” to “what I give” and how that changed your experience?
- One chapter talks about living in the moment (mind, heart, body) and being “unattached” to results. What does being “unattached to results” mean in your work or personal life? Does it feel freeing or difficult (or both)?
- The book asserts that training your mind is not just for elite athletes or executives—it’s for everyone. Did that message come through? How do you relate to this if your job, life, or stage isn’t about “peak performance” in a conventional sense?
- Reflect on a chapter (or passage) that most challenged you. What about it made you uncomfortable? What might the discomfort be telling you about your growth edge?
- If you were to apply one major tool or practice from the book over the next 30 days, what would it be? How will you measure or notice its effect?
- Murphy ties meaning and purpose into the practice of excellence: not just “how do I win?” but “how do I live fulsomely?” How has your definition of “excellence” changed (or stayed the same) as a result of this book?
- The book ends with the idea that excellence is an ongoing journey, not a final destination. With that in mind, how might your next steps look post-book club? What habits or mindset shifts will you carry forward?
- Finally, if you were recommending this book to a friend, what preview would you give them? What key insight would you share? What question would you ask them after they read it?
Exercise: Overcome Self-Focus With Love, Wisdom, and Courage
Murphy argues that excessive self-focus—worrying about how we look, what others think, and whether we’re succeeding—creates fear and limits our performance. His three values of love, wisdom, and courage offer a way to shift from self-focus to personal growth. In this exercise, think of a time you were caught up in self-focused thoughts and explore how these values could have changed your experience.
- Describe a recent time you were overly focused on yourself. What were you afraid would happen? What did you want others to think about you?
- Now, consider how love—wanting the best for others without expecting anything in return—could have shifted your mindset in that moment. How might your thoughts and actions have changed? What could you have given or contributed?
- Next, think about wisdom—seeing beyond your own perspective and recognizing how you’re connected to something larger than yourself. If you’d viewed that situation as an opportunity to learn or contribute to a bigger purpose, how would that have changed how you felt? What might you have been grateful for in that moment?
- Finally, reflect on courage—facing difficulty head-on while staying present. If you could revisit that moment, what would it look like to accept the discomfort and focus only on what you could control (your effort, attitude, and presence) rather than worrying about outcomes? How might this shift help you the next time you face a similar situation?
Inner Excellence Book Club Questions & Exercises (Jim Murphy)
