Want a NOOK? Explore Now
Ever wonder what it would take to turn all of your dreams into reality? In The Life You Imagine, All-Star New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter shows how you can use the same game plan that helped an eight-year-old boy who fantasized about playing baseball for the Bronx Bombers grow up and become MVP of the 2000 World Series. With the help and support of both of his parents, Derek developed a practical program that would assist him in achieving all of his personal and professional aspirations-and now he shares his secrets to success so that you can get closer to living your dream, too.
In this inspiring, information-packed book, Derek provides you with the ten lessons that have guided him throughout his life on and off the field, from his dream of being a gifted, hardworking athlete to his goal of becoming an active community leader. Using personal stories from his own life as a student athlete in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and as a Yankee team player, Derek writes about the simple steps that put him on course for success, including:
* Setting your goals high and finding the right role models
* Being serious but still having fun
* Challenging yourself daily and not being afraid to fail
* Surrounding yourself with a strong supporting cast
Filled with rare family photos and pictures of Derek playing for the Yankees, The Life You Imagine is an intimate look into the life of a superstar athlete — including the remarkable relationship he has with his family, what it's like to play with the Yankees, and how he's used his baseball celebrity to found the Turn 2 Foundation, a drug and alcohol prevention program for kids.
I was about eight years old as I walked along our thick carpet, past the pictures of my grandparents on the hallway walls and into my parents' bedroom. I announced that I was going to play for the Yankees. They were already in their pajamas, but they patiently listened to what their skinny son with the wavy brown hair and green eyes had said, and then told me the type of thing I was aching to hear. They told me that I could do anything I wanted in life if I worked hard enough and stayed dedicated to it, which was like offering me season tickets. Forget about lounging in the box seats, because, in my mind, I was heading straight for the dugout. Before I was nine years old.
My parents could have gently put me off and told me to go to sleep that night, but instead were receptive to my dream and talked about what it would take to achieve such a difficult goal. They sat me on the edge of the bed and told me that if I was serious about being a professional baseball player, I had to realize I wouldn't just be competing against players from Kalamazoo or from Michigan, but against players from all over the world. Everyone in the Westwood Little League where I played wanted to be a major leaguer, my mother and father emphasized. The competition to be good enough to make it to the majors will be ferocious, they told me. But I didn't blink. I didn't focus on that right away. I had a dream and I was ecstatic, because they didn't say it couldn't be done — just that it would be tough to accomplish this goal.
I used to imitate announcers doing play-by-play, with me as the star, of course. "Deep to left," I'd bellow, "and that ball is gone! Jeter has done itagain!" I probably weighed 70 pounds with two rolls of quarters in my pockets when I was eight, so the idea of me hitting a ball 420 feet someday was just a dream. When all of my questions about being a Yankee were exhausted that night, my parents told me it was time to go to sleep. I went to bed, clinging to the blanket and to my dream. My dream remained with me, from the time I was eight until the time I was 18, and it stays with me now. It never left. It got stronger. It kept pushing me to get exactly where I am today.
I think we should all set goals in life and set them high. I did that, and my parents encouraged me to do it, which is one of the main reasons I am where I am today. I had a vision about playing baseball, and my parents used that positive vision to establish guidelines that would enable me to grow as a person while I pursued my dream. From setting high goals to dealing with growing pains, to surrounding myself with trustworthy friends, to understanding that the world can be an unfair place, to obeying and loving my parents, to thinking before I acted, I was learning about life while I was yearning to be a Yankee.
But it all starts with setting goals — we all need them. Whether your goal is to play for the Yankees or to win the pie-eating contest at summer camp, goals are what motivate us to do better. My ultimate dream was to play major-league baseball, but I had smaller goals along the way. No matter how elated I was on that night in my parents' bedroom, I wasn't going to be a major leaguer at the age of nine. I chased my dream through smaller goals. Making the Little League All-Star Team, starting on the high school varsity as a freshman, making all-district, making all-state, and so on, until I eventually wound up at shortstop for the Yankees. But, believe me, there were dozens, even hundreds, of small goals that led me to the point where I finally became a Yankee.
We all have to start somewhere. Think about it. What do you love to do? What are you good at? What is something you would like to do for the rest of your life? These are important and serious questions, questions that you might not feel like answering before you graduate from high school. Some people even get to college, or after, and still can't answer them. But you really should think about them as soon as possible, because when you find that interest, that goal that excites you like nothing else, you'll want to open your bedroom window and yell it to anyone with ears: Guess what I'm going to do with my life!
A feeling will envelop you and you'll treat that goal like it is the most important thing in the world, acting the same passionate way I used to act about baseball. No matter who asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I told them I was going to play baseball and I was going to play for the Yankees. I was so confident in my abilities and so consumed with my dream that I wanted to shout out my intentions.
If you don't set goals, you're not going to have dreams, either. The goals are the achievements along the way to get you to your dreams. Dreams don't just happen, and you're not going to make your pursuit easier by being lazy about it. The longer you wait to decide what you want to do, the more time you're wasting. It's up to you to want to do something so badly that your passion shows in your actions. Your actions, not your words, will do the shouting for you. People will see how devoted and prepared you are as the captain of the debate team, and they might say, "One day, that kid is going to be a great lawyer."
Once you've set goals and pondered what kind of dream you want those goals to lead to, it's extremely helpful to have someone who can support you. It might be your parents, a sibling, a teacher, or a friend, but we all need somebody who is going to be there to prop us up when things aren't going well and to keep us levelheaded when things are going very well. My parents provided this for me.
Kshaffer520
Posted Sun Mar 17 00:00:00 EDT 2013
The Life You Imagine by Derek Jeter is a very inspirational book about achieving your goals. The all-star Yankee shortstop explains to you about how he made his dreams come true and how you too, can make your life everything you ever imagined. He tells how his parents were the reason he is where he is today and how encouraging words can change someone’s life. Sarcasm and hazing affected him, but he concurred them and became stronger. He is the founder of the Turn 2 foundation which helps prevent children and teens from drug use. Derek isn't only a major-leaguer; he is an inspiration to athletes and children everywhere
2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Sun Oct 12 00:00:00 EDT 2014
Happy retirement! I am hoping to see you soon! Please read this Derek. Its your cousin.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Sun Sep 28 00:00:00 EDT 2014
I think that he is a great player!! Even though my family and I are Boston Red Sox fans, I do admire how humble he is! I have not read this book so I rated it 5 stars even though I did not read it!
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Wed May 21 00:00:00 EDT 2014
In the book The Life You Imagine:Life Lessons For Achieving Your Dreams baseball future-hall-of-famer Derek Jeter gives good advice for achieving your dreams. A couple things that I like is the fact that Derek Jeter is very optimistic about everything when he was little and had a very nice personality towards other people. I would recommend The Life You Imagine:Life Lessons For Achieving Your Dreams for people who need help achieving their dreams, and I give it 4 stars because the book gave me a lot of life lessons about school and in life in general.
Anonymous
Posted Thu Apr 03 00:00:00 EDT 2014
2-8 loose 2-3 loose 2-3 DEREK JETER yey win
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Tue Nov 12 00:00:00 EST 2013
I never read this book but i love Dereck Jeter as a player.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Sat Aug 03 00:00:00 EDT 2013
I have informed the publisher of this book tha is co-title is incorrect, for they published it with the inside cover saying the book is a biography. Though they have not contacted me, I am sure they will take care of the problem and will talk to Derek Jeter.
- Adrianna Lawson, School Newspaper writer and Editor.
Anonymous
Posted Tue May 28 00:00:00 EDT 2013
You don’t need to be a New York Yankee fan to enjoy this book. Any baseball fan would be kept guessing. The Life You Imagine is
about Derek Jeter who has been a baseball fan since any close family member could remember. He is biracial since his mom is white,
and his dad is black. Derek gives advice based on the advice that he was given by close family and friends. He has a list of ten main
helpful tips that he explains in depth to help the reader comprehend what he is explaining. These tips contain a large amount of past
experiences. Derek explains the beneficial advice he was given by caring people who wanted to help him in his dream of becoming a
New York Yankee. I enjoyed this book because I learned new ways to help achieve my goals. I recommend this book for teenage boys
because that is the audience that the author was aiming for. Adults have most of their life usually planned already. Many teenagers do
not know what they’re going to do with their life yet, and getting advice from an athlete that they idolize can do nothing but help their
chances of being successful. The Life You Imagine is enjoyable and helpful.
Anonymous
Posted Mon Nov 05 00:00:00 EST 2012
YANKEES ARE THE BEST!!!!!!!! Im There #1 FAN
IF U DONT WANT ALEX RODRIGUEZ TO GO TO THE MIAMI MARLINS PUSH NOOOOOOO BELOW
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Sun Jul 15 00:00:00 EDT 2012
I found this book to be very insiprational and insightful on the like of Yankees short stop Derek Jeter. Not a yankees fan but i have respect for Derek Jeter after reading this.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Sun Jun 17 00:00:00 EDT 2012
Notice how i capitolized boss.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Sun Jun 17 00:00:00 EDT 2012
The red sux... oops i mean sox are not nearly as good.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Thu Jun 14 00:00:00 EDT 2012
THE YANKS ARE CHEATERS FOR EVER SO IF YOU LIKE THEM STOP
0 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Sun Apr 15 00:00:00 EDT 2012
This is the best story to be ever told. Derek jeter tell his sucsess at the plate and on the feild it takes hard work and detumanation.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Sun Apr 15 00:00:00 EDT 2012
As long as i can remember ive wanted to marry Derek!!! He is by far the best baseball player EVER
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Sun Dec 25 00:00:00 EST 2011
This book is a great historic book that tells about jeter and how he got to were he is now i think this is worth 5 stars
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.derek02
Posted Wed Nov 02 00:00:00 EDT 2011
This book illuminates the life of a young Derek Jeter and the struggles and obstacles he had to overcome to get to where he is today. From the age of eight years old Derek Jeter has wanted to become a baseball superstar. The book illustrates a young Derek walking in to his parent's bedroom and announcing that he would be playing for the Yankees one day. Once I began reading this book, I realized how great of a man Derek Jeter truly is. To start off being raised in a poor neighborhood and working his way to the top, you begin to respect him in a whole new light, not just for his athletic ability. Jeter goes into detail about what it was like growing up in an interracial family and the book demonstrates how his parents "gave him the best of both worlds." We also get stories from Derek's student-athlete days in Kalamazoo. Jeter and Curry, the co-authors of the book, did an exceptional job illustrating the life that Jeter lived, with his use of old memories, and heart -felt reflections the reader connects with Jeter in a whole new way. Jack Curry one of the authors of this book is a columnist for the Yankees. So with him and Jeter himself covering the life of a Yankees player isn't good enough for you I don't know what is. If you didn't already understand that I like this book, you should know that I do and I recommend to basically anyone who likes a story of hard work, dedication and love not only for the game of baseball, but the game of life.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.7670489
Posted Sat Mar 26 00:00:00 EDT 2011
listen to his advice its good advice go yankees
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.blm51389
Posted Fri Nov 26 00:00:00 EST 2010
Truly inspiring!
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted Thu Jun 10 00:00:00 EDT 2010
Have you ever thought Derek Jeter had a perfect life all of the time? Well, think again. Derek Jeter's dream in life is to make it up to the Yankees and play short stop.
He grew up in Massachusetts, and always worked hard in everything he did. Everything went down hill when he joined baseball. He put so much importance on baseball that he started getting detentions, getting into fights and his grades started slipping. His mom and dad especially, got firm, and slammed their foot down to immediately stop this. They promised him if he kept this behavior up, he want play baseball ever again. One month later Derek Jeter got straight A's and stuck with baseball.
Derek has made huge accomplishments in life as far as baseball, school, and even contests he has entered. Later in his life he joined the Yankees as a stared rookie shortstop. That year they won the World Series. That's what he has always dreamed of.
I can relate because I have had rough times before too. I also play shortstop in baseball.
I recommended this book because it really shows how even famous people make mistakes. It also shows good life lessons that you have been through, or are going to go through.
0 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.
Overview
Ever wonder what it would take to turn all of your dreams into reality? In The Life You Imagine, All-Star New York Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter shows how you can use the same game plan that helped an eight-year-old boy who fantasized about playing baseball for the Bronx Bombers grow up and become MVP of the 2000 World Series. With the help and support of both of his parents, Derek developed a practical program that would assist him in achieving all of his personal and professional aspirations-and now he shares ...