“This book is a transmission,” the author declares, not a memoir, though his life serves as the “evidence and the vehicle” for that transmission. Drawing on experiences spanning military service, practicing tax law, and impressive strength training, he urges readers to choose “the harder right over the easier option.” As a teenager, Timothy emigrated with his large family from Nova Scotia to Florida, where he drifted through high school, graduating near the bottom of his class. His trajectory changed when family friend and math teacher Doug Traxler tutored him, patiently teaching him “how to learn.” The author eventually earned a psychology degree, enlisted in the Army as a private, and underwent Ranger training before becoming an officer responsible for a special weapons custodial team. After leaving active duty, he applied his military discipline to a seven-year educational push, eventually earning several degrees and building a successful legal practice. With each success, Timothy continued to see himself as a soldier beneath the suit. Retirement allowed him to embrace the adventure and physical challenges he sees as his true calling—riding motorcycles internationally, learning to fly, and bench-pressing 315 pounds on his 70th birthday. The author’s direct prose is clean, effective, and well suited to his subject. “This book will not comfort you,” he warns, and his conception of self-improvement—involving military rigor, physical prowess, relentless discipline, and mission-oriented purpose—will resonate most strongly with a very specific audience. Timothy can occasionally come across as boastful and aggressive, but he’s never arrogant; his convictions are rooted in his genuine accomplishments. The author’s unusually varied life gives his advice some real texture, while his affection for his wife, Barbara, and gratitude for the teacher who changed his views on education provide some real warmth. Readers seeking his particular brand of masculine, no-excuses inspiration will find him to be a persuasive, experienced guide.
