Winning in the Middle of the Pack

Realizing True Success in Business and in Life

Non-Fiction - Self Help
292 Pages
Reviewed on 06/27/2014
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    Book Review

Reviewed by Cheryl E. Rodriguez for Readers' Favorite

With “Do the right thing” as his barometer and motto in life, David Richman found himself trapped by self-developed handicaps and prescriptions written by others for his life. With his life spiraling downward, he does something completely drastic and life altering. David Richman plunges into the lifestyle of an endurance athlete to stand on his own “private podium” in Winning in the Middle of the Pack. Held within the chapters are self-discovered truths and maxims on breaking free from the bondage of bad habits and crippling mind sets. All of us have questioned why life is so hard. Mr. Richman enlightens us to the notion that life is supposed to be hard, that most things worth having aren’t going to come easily. The overall truth revealed is “The middle-of-the-packer has only himself to overcome.” By imparting hope to take one more step, Winning in the Middle of the Pack: Realizing True Success in Business and in Life challenges you to discover your true level of resiliency.

In his acknowledgment, David Richman states his desire to find his buried golden stories. Writing an enticing introduction, Mr. Richman draws the reader into his life story immediately. He narrates the story with honesty and courage. The inclusion of his personal life stories gives depth and merit to the theme of the book. Simple yet profound and powerful anecdotes mixed with influential analogies encourage the reader to continue turning the pages. The text of the book was formatted for an uncomplicated read. Therefore, the words of inspiration flow with ease from chapter to chapter. David Richman challenges the reader by ending each chapter with thought provoking questions and action steps. After reading Winning in the Middle of the Pack, I am motivated to keep moving forward in my race in life. The author’s dream to become a writer was achieved. David Richman, yours is a golden story; well done.

Kathryn Bennett

Winning in the Middle of the Pack: Realizing True Success in Business and Life by David Richman is a self help book that addresses some lifelong issues. Issues that start with parents and follow us through life as everyone reminds us that we need to accomplish things in order to achieve success. As a result of this, we live most of our lives trying to prove things to everyone else and we forget to prove things to ourselves. For 37 years, David Richman toed the line and did what was expected of him, and the results weren't pretty. He ended up overweight, a smoker who didn’t do much, and in a marriage that was unhappy and doing a job that he hated. Until the day he decided to take charge of his own life.

This book is equal parts memoir and self help book. David Richman helps the reader by sharing his life, his mistakes, what he did wrong and, in the end, what he did to fix it. He shares how he stopped trying to fix a bad relationship, quit smoking, and started biking, running and competing in endurance events. As a reader I took a lot away from this book, not the least of which is that since we only have one life we need to make the best of it. Success does not have to be measured by what other people think it should be; success should be what you make of it. You should strive to be the best version of you that you can be, no matter what that is. I know this book made me sit back and take stock of some of the things I am doing in my life and how I can change to make myself a happier person. If you need a little help on how to get out of a rut in your life or want to read a well written inspirational book, this would be a good read for you.

Danita Dyess

Winning in the Middle of the Pack by David Richman is an apt title that reflects this entrepreneur, former Wall Street manager and avid marathon runner's philosophy about life. The average person has been inculcated with the message that success is defined by being #1 in all endeavors all of the time. But Richman debunks this myth by proving that not only is it impossible, it is unnecessary. Happiness can be achieved with a balanced approach that is based on an honest assessment of your individual needs. He advises you to embrace pain and avoid "limiters" (smoking, drinking, fear of failure and procrastination). Readers will learn why failure is not an option and how they can push past barriers and achieve unlimited success.

The cover portraying a race perfectly depicts his message. David Richman uses sports analogies to emphasize life's lessons -- dealing with the reality that anything worth pursuing will be hard and you will want to give up. But you must not quit. The fact that he is not a psychiatrist or psychologist but a man who has overcome his formidable struggles with his marriage and his wife's issues of alcoholism made his journey real and relatable. In a total of 292 pages, each chapter is succinct and goal oriented. Chapters also include anecdotal stories about Richman's life with practical, thought-provoking questions and action steps. He is a first-time author who writes with wisdom in a conversational tone that resonates with readers. Winning in the Middle of the Pack is highly recommended.

Jack Magnus

Winning in the Middle of the Pack: Realizing True Success in Business and in Life is a self-help nonfiction book written by David Richman. Richman is an endurance sports enthusiast. He started out as an overweight smoker and somehow has managed to get through and enjoy some very tough challenges. Richman is not at the top of his class and doesn't expect to be. He's quite comfortable being in the middle. No one watches you there, he explains, so it's easy to stop being self-conscious or feeling inadequate. Being in the middle means you perform for yourself. Richman shares his professional and occupational experiences, and shows how the principles and concepts that make endurance sports work for him are closely linked to his performance as a businessman.

David Richman's inspirational self-help book, Winning in the Middle of the Pack: Realizing True Success in Business and in Life, is one of those books you'll want to read again and again. Richman is frank and open with his audience, and his candor makes the seemingly impossible become achievable. He shares the pain, pitfalls and triumphs of his Ironman and other endurance events, and it all becomes quite real. I still have a very vivid image of those Ironman athletes doing the Ironman Shuffle, a combination of zombie-like jogging and walking as they stagger towards the finish line. I came upon this book feeling a bit depressed over being temporarily sidelined by a knee injury, and Richman has me brainstorming on how to work around that injury and keep going forward in my training. Readers may also appreciate the thoughtful exercises at the end of each chapter that are designed to help them hone in on their own strategies for winning. I enjoyed, and feel inspired by, Winning in the Middle of the Pack: Realizing True Success in Business and in Life, and highly recommend it.

Faridah Nassozi

Winning in the Middle of the Pack: Realizing True Success in Business and in Life by David Richman is a self-help book aimed at helping people attain an all-round fulfilled life. This comes through readers recognising their self worth, recognising their own needs and goals, recognising their capabilities and taking action geared towards realisation of both their business and personal targets. The book highlights the common problem facing many people in their journey to success as being the desire to fulfil everyone's needs and in the process ignoring their own needs. David Richman shows you how to achieve the kind of success that leads to a fulfilled life by ensuring that your own needs are not ignored. The book shows you how to embark on the road to success and prepares you for the challenges that you will meet along the way.

Winning in the Middle of the Pack: Realizing True Success in Business and in Life by David Richman is full of very informative, practical and easily relatable advice on how to achieve all-round success. David Richman draws on his personal experience and the lessons he has learnt from both his personal and professional life, making his advice easily applicable to real-life circumstances. He does not claim to be an expert on life, nor does he downplay the challenges one is bound to meet on the journey to success. However, he gives advice on how one can prepare for these challenges and achieve success without missing life's great experiences, big or small.