An Incredible Story of God's Timing
Last summer, I heard a story that had a huge impact on me, and if you're feeling like things aren't going your way, it might have one on you.
Jim Murphy is a performance coach to elite athletes and the author of Inner Excellence. He wrote his book in 2009 to help athletes find peace of mind amid their most pressure-filled moments.
While he had some success, in January 2025, he was facing challenges in his business. For the first time in years, he couldn't pay off his credit cards, and his mortgage payment bounced. He wasn't worried. He had just finished his second book, The Best Possible Life, a project he was proud to give his all to.
On a Sunday in January, he found himself in Dallas looking up at one of its skyscrapers when a thought arose:
“Would I rather own that building and the hundreds of millions of dollars it’s worth, or have put my heart into the book I just wrote?”
It was an easy answer—he would have taken the book.
That afternoon, something miraculous happened that would change his life forever.
While he was sitting in his hotel room, his phone blew up with texts.
"Are you watching the Eagles game!?"
Jim turned on the TV to see that AJ Brown, a star NFL receiver, was sitting on the sidelines reading Inner Excellence. The image went viral. People were stunned to see a player reading on the sidelines of a playoff game. But mostly, they were asking, "What is this book?"
In the week that followed, Inner Excellence sold 100,000 copies. It's safe to say Jim no longer had issues paying off his mortgage.
When I first heard this story, I got chills. What are the chances an NFL player would be reading his book on the sidelines for the entire world to see? And how did it come at the exact moment when Jim needed it?
Joseph Campbell said, "When you follow your bliss, doors will open where you didn't know they were going to be, and that wouldn't have opened for anyone else."
Jim followed his bliss in writing, and when the timing was right, doors opened for him in unbelievable ways.
The Power of Belief
Jim's story gets better. When he wrote his book in 2009, he dreamed of becoming a New York Times bestselling author. He repeated the affirmation, "I am a New York Times Bestselling Author," daily for years.
In the month following the Eagles game, the book sold 400,000 copies, and Jim Murphy became a New York Times bestselling author—15 years after his book was published!
How often do we want our dreams to come true in an instant?
We quit our jobs in March and expect to be on Oprah in June.
Little do we know, life has its own timing. It may take two years, five, or in Jim's case, fifteen. The problem is that so many give up too soon.
It helps to remember that following our dreams is not about the achievement.
The Reason for Timing
Jim explained that if he had gotten this fame any sooner, it would have gone to his head, and he was sure he'd be worse off for it.
His breakout success came after he became the person who could hold it without losing himself. And it came in a moment of humility, while continuing to put energy toward what matters.
God will not call you on the journey and then leave you stranded.
What if things are not working out for you because life is asking you to grow?
The moments you find yourself stuck are teaching you something. Maybe it's humility, maybe it's surrender, maybe it's that you need to get some help and stop trying to do it all alone.
This Is Your Training is one of my favorite mantras. It's a reminder that the hardest moments are the ones that shape us into who we need to become. They are preparing us in ways we cannot understand.
Keep putting your energy toward what matters to you, and as always, stay in the game.
I am rooting for you.