Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance

‘Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance,’ by Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker, is light reading with deep meaning. It is written in a style that is simple and uncomplicated. The book has thirty chapters written in into seven parts. Part I: Develop Your Core, is just that, the core of the book, along with Part VII. If pressed for time, after Part I and VII are read, the reader could easily skip to any of the remaining five parts without becoming confused.

Dungy, with the aid of writer, Whitaker, addresses the question: What does it take to live a life of significance? This question is not so much answered, as the reader is directed to primary and some secondary sources, from which answers could be gotten. ‘Uncommon’ interweaves principles of integrity and the personal experiences of Dungy foremost as a devout Christian. Dungy also draws from the life and stories of men who modeled integrity, including his father. The foundation of the message is rooted in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. The inspiration for the title, however, comes from a quote by Coach Cal Stoll: “Success is uncommon, therefore not to be enjoyed by the common man. I’m looking for uncommon people.” Dungy looks directly into the eyes of the reader, particularly men, and tells the truth he knows.

The subtitle of this book could easily have been ‘Reclaiming the Significance of Manhood: A Christian perspective on manhood with practical tried-and-true illustrations and examples.’ Dungy’s reliance on sports, and particularly football anecdotes, does not limit the scope of the message. Football is only one tool used to illustrate some of the principles presented. The reader that could benefit from the challenge to live in an extraordinary manner, or knows someone that could, must read this book.

Sadly though, the significance of ‘Uncommon: Finding Your Path to Significance,’ could be missed because of the uncomplicated style in which it is written. The reader must, therefore, guard against unreflective reading, or mindlessly gathering of quotes and aphorisms. That said, my favorite quote from this book is, “Start now. Be uncommon.”

Ps. This is not a self-help book. The principle espoused between the covers of the book may require external forces, greater than the self, to put them into practice.

Uncommon: Finding Your Own Path to Significance (ISBN: 1414326815 / 1-4143-2681-5)
Dungy, Tony;Whitaker, Nathan

ISBN 10: 1414326815
ISBN 13: 9781414326818