Monday morning motivation: Smith’s new book stresses starting the week with powerful thinking

For Ben Smith, a great deal of success in sports and life boils down to mental discipline. 

And for his players and students as much as himself, the key to getting the most out of each day is maintaining a mindset that’s healthy, focused and positive. 

Oftentimes, a week of school, practice or work can go only as well as its first day, which is why establishing the right outlook from the start is imperative to maximizing its potential. 

He writes as much in his new book, which contends that the power to make the day one that lifts your spirits, rather than dragging them down, rests entirely in the mind. 

“I know how Mondays can be for people,” Smith said. “I’m a big believer in perspective.” 

The Dublin native and area basketball coach – entering his third season at Baldwin High School – made his authorial debut this offseason with “Monday Morning Mindset,” which was released on his birthday, Sept. 12.

The book, just 106 pages in length, offers readers a sort of weekly pep talk over 52 “chapters” that impart a different piece of wisdom for every Monday of the year. 

It is available via Amazon.

In his words, “Monday morning mindset is the shift in perspective that transitions you from dreading Monday mornings to feeling empowered at the start of the week and thriving throughout the week.” 

Similar to the counsel a trusted teacher, coach or mentor might offer to those in his or her charge in the short, teachable moments of everyday life, the brief nuggets intend to provide “reassurance, redirection and inspiration” as well as a source of “powerful thinking, positive perspectives and real-world solutions” for any reader. 

Each draw in some way from personal experiences in his career as an athlete and coach, both of which got their start at Dublin High School. 

Smith led the Irish to the 2006 state basketball championship before becoming a Jacksonville University Hall-of-Famer in four record-breaking college seasons and playing professionally overseas for the better part of a decade. He’d return to serve as Dublin’s head coach for four seasons beginning in 2019, before transitioning to Baldwin in 2023. 

He passes along insight from different stops on that journey, both recent and from years back, to point readers to “real-life examples where they can have a great mindset.” 

There’s something for everyone, but Smith’s target audience is youth, namely the high schoolers he gets to teach the same lessons one-on-one. 

“My biggest inspiration was players and students, interacting with them every day and understanding we all need guidance, reassurance and motivation at times,” he said. “I wanted to write something for them that they can have through their life to turn to.” 

And his unique position makes those opportunities kind of countless. 

“I don’t even know if I could put a number on it,” Smith said. “Every day, I’m going to have at least some kid who’s having a bad day, one who’s going to talk to me about how they’re struggling at school, or something going on at home, or something in their relationship life, they’re not sure of themselves or trying to get a job, they’re talking to me about being able to balance school and go to work.” 

His observations and takeaways from many of those conversations are, indirectly, a basis for much of the book’s content. 

Most was written spontaneously, or as an extension of things Smith jots down regularly in his spare time, often in thoughts that make their way into his regular social media musings covering every subject imaginable, from humorous encounters in the hallways to motivational messages out of games and practices. 

“It was nothing that was pre-thought about,” he said. “I would talk to people and it would organically hit me, days and weeks ahead, and that’s how I came up with the topics.” 

This actually wasn’t the book he originally set out to write some years ago when he first decided to put a little of his personal story on paper. 

A whole different project was in the works, and had kind of reached an impasse when he decided to go in a separate direction this past Summer. And Smith would crank out Monday Morning Mindset in just 34 days. 

The book, structurally, is broken down into weekly chapters, one for each of the 52 in the year, and none longer than about a page and a half. It can be consumed bit-by-bit over an extended period, or continuously, all at once. 

“When I wrote it, I had my students in mind,” Smith said. “Even though this book is great for adults as well, and there’s been a lot of positive feedback, reading is not a big thing for a lot of the kids I’m around. I didn’t want to make it an everyday (thing). Any kid from 12 can be like I can read one page a week and it not feel like a daunting task.” 

“If I was to read it, I think it’s best to read it all the way through, then come back each week,” he added. 

Though the book is not a memoir or autobiography, it does touch on valuable lessons and experiences he’s gathered through the years. 

He highlights a number of high-profile sports figures, as well as some friends and former teammates like Dublin City Councilman Chris Smith and the late Jaroy Stuckey, as case studies. 

Smith also opens up about many of the more trying moments in his journey, like adjusting to cultural differences in places he played professionally overseas, handling the torturous losses that cut short many of his teams’ memorable seasons and playoff runs in recent years. 

Other topics include relationships, accountability and the art of building a brand. 

Each snapshot ties back to the importance of powerful thinking.  

“A lot of times, just our mind is holding us back,” Smith said.

At first, he was unsure what type of early success the book would have. But interest, with sales pushing into the 280s this past week, has been far greater than anticipated. 

“I’ve been blessed,” Smith said. “God has made me extremely successful in the sports avenue. This book, it’s been more gratifying, because I didn’t know what to expect. If I had sold 50 copies, I would’ve been like, that’s dope.” 

Those who’ve read it have shared good things. And in the end, it’s the satisfaction of having left a reader with a beneficial thought, or several, that’s made the project meaningful. 

“I just love the feedback more than anything,” he said. 

Smith’s seventh season as a head coach, unofficially, began with a scrimmage Friday night. But Baldwin opens its regular campaign at Warner Robins on Nov. 20, and will make its region 4-AAA debut Dec. 2 here in town, at West Laurens. 

The Braves (23-8 and 13-3 in league play last year) come in as defending region champs, and Smith feels they have what it takes to finish the season back in contention to repeat, and be “one of those teams you take seriously.” 

“I think we’re going to be really good,” Smith said. 

But the loss of two key starters in guard Deven Nelson and forward Amos Bouie Tumer, who both transferred out to Atlanta’s Columbia High School, has the experts sleeping on them a bit. 

Top scorer Karez Demory, set to sign with Southern, returns along with a core of seasoned players like Bryan Goddard, Jaylen “Boom” King, Zion Grant and Jared Mundie that will be out to prove the projections wrong. 

“It’s a good, young group,” Smith said. “I think we’re going to be right in the midst of things at the end. We’re severely underrated, but I kind of get it, when you lose two guys of that magnitude. Not being preseason top 10, we’ve got a chip on our shoulder.”