Jim Murphy’s week was no different than the week before. Except for the 100,000 book sales and interviews every half hour.
The author of "Inner Excellence: Train Your Mind for Extraordinary Performance and the Best Possible Life," was actually in a hotel room last Sunday, catching up on the weekend’s football games, but doing so in chronological order.
So, by the time the Eagles and Packers were playing at 4:30 p.m. ET, he was still watching the Penn State-Notre Dame contest from two days prior. Until suddenly his phone started blowing up with messages.
Why?
Following a disappointing offensive series against the Packers, Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown was seen on the sidelines reading Murphy's book during the FOX broadcast.
“My teammates call it ‘the recipe,’” the wideout told reporters after Philadelphia’s 22-10 victory. “It’s got a lot of points in there. It’s a lot of mental game, a lot of mental parts about it, and you know for me this game is mental.”
Before Sunday's game, the book was No. 552,709 on Amazon's best sellers list, according to public data.
By Monday morning, it was No. 1. This Sunday, ahead of Philadelphia’s divisional-round matchup against the Rams, it remains in the top three.
Reviews from Eagles fans litter the book's Amazon page:
_"A.J. Brown recommended this book, so I'm looking forward to reading this. Fly Eagles Fly."
"Grabbing this book. I will read it on the flight to the Super Bowl, possibly while at the Super Bowl."
"Excellent reading for when you're feeling frustrated on the sideline when you know your potential for a game changing performance. Highly recommend."_
Murphy hopes all the new attention helps spread the message of the book.
“Everyone asked me about the book sales and everything, and that's amazing,” Murphy said. “But the main thing is the message of the book ... how to live a fully engaged life and a wholehearted life. You know that that's the message. It's not about Jim Murphy or anything else.”
AJ Brown met with Jim Murphy, the author of the book Inner Excellence today at the Eagles Novacare Complex for an interview with ESPN’s Sal Paolantonio.
— John Clark (@JClarkNBCS) January 17, 2025
???? Sal Pal pic.twitter.com/nkbx72zSM0
Murphy began his work as an author and a performance coach following his own athletic career. A former college baseball and football player, Murphy reached the minor leagues in the Cubs organization, but never was promoted to the majors, and when his baseball dreams ended, it felt like his life did.
“It was devastating,” Murphy said. “My identity went with it.”
In turn, Murphy moved to the desert, got rid of more than half of his possessions and planned to live a life of solitude until he could discover his next purpose.
That purpose came in the form of performance coaching. Murphy began working with a couple baseball players to help them perform better under pressure, and saw immediate success.
So, he decided to put together a manual on performing under pressure by maintaining confidence and inner peace.
“How can an Olympic athlete train for four years for an event that may last less than 60 seconds?” Murphy said. “And likewise, how can a pro baseball player in the World Series, Game 7, bottom of ninth, two out, full count, bases loaded down by one, how can that guy have peace of confidence in that situation with so much out of his control?”
He spoke to sports psychologists around the country, asking these very questions, and when it brought more questions than answers, he widened his search, and began writing his research.
For 60-70 hours per week for five years, Murphy devoted his life to this quest, which he published in 2009 as “Inner Excellence.”
Getting the book published though, put Murphy in steep debt. He spent his life savings and was $90,000 in debt, and truth be told, he didn’t know if anyone besides his mom would ever read it.
“I had a lot of fear. There's kind of a combination of perfectionism and fear when you're writing a book, Murphy said. “It's kind of cool full-time. ‘Oh you're a full-time writer now that's pretty cool.’ But when the book comes out, then you know the question switches. ‘Oh, how's it doing.’”
But a big message of the book can be channeled back to a conversation Murphy had with a former baseball teammate during a bus ride.
“I would rather give everything we have to pursue the life we dream of and fail than never to pursue it,” Murphy said. “And that was my dream.”
Eventually people did read it. From athletes to CEOs, a small pocket of highly influential figures began studying Murphy’s work.
Former world No. 5 golfer Stewart Cink says reading “Inner Excellence” is his No. 1 tip for success.
The book wound up in the sights of A.J. Brown through his teammate Moro Ojomo, who discovered the book while playing at the University of Texas.
"This game is 90% mental and 10% physical for me," Brown wrote on X last Sunday. "I bring it to every game, and I read it between each drive. I use it to refocus and lock in despite what may transpire in the game good or bad.
Murphy’s findings and lessons don’t change from athlete to athlete or sport to sport, he said, because “it’s really not about sports.”
“It's about developing yourself as a person, learning how to live a fully engaged life, a wholehearted life,” Murphy said. And if you develop yourself as a person, and when I say that, I mean training your heart, then everything else will be added to you.”
The same applies to his latest book, “The Best Possible Life: How to Live with Deep Contentment, Joy, and Confidence -- No Matter What.”
“What's important to me is making a difference in the lives of others.”
Eagles fans are certainly hoping he can make a difference Sunday.
Murphy, also an Eagles fan, has since met with Brown and will be attending the divisional-round matchup against the Rams.
“I'm just going to bring some good vibes to the Birds,” Murphy said.
Matt Liberman is a reporter and video producer for cllct.