The One Year Uncommon Life Daily Challenge is a 365 day devotional from Tony Dungy and Nathan Whitaker, published by Tyndale. Whitaker has co written most of Dungy’s books, including Quiet Strength, and an earlier version of this review left his name off.
The structure is the best thing about it
Seven themes rotate on a weekly cycle: Core, Family, Friends, Potential, Mission, Influence, and Faith. Every seven days you hit each one once.
That sounds like a small design decision and it is not. Most daily devotionals wander, and after two months you could not say what the book has been about. This one guarantees that in any given week you have thought about your marriage and kids, your friendships, your work, and your walk with God. Nothing gets quietly dropped because you were not in the mood for it.
Each entry gives you Scripture, a reflection, and an Uncommon Key, which is a specific action rather than a feeling. That last part is what separates it from devotionals that leave you inspired and unchanged.
Dungy’s credibility
He won a Super Bowl with the Colts and was the first Black head coach to do it. But the reason his writing carries is not the trophy. It is that his public conduct through a long career, including the death of his son, has been consistent with what he writes. Men are cynical about this genre for good reason, and Dungy is one of the few voices in it who has been watched closely for decades and held up.
The tone is calm and unemphatic. He does not shout. If you want a book that yells at you to be a warrior, this is not it, and that is a point in its favor.
Where it is limited
The entries are short, around five minutes. Depth is not on offer. This is a supplement to reading Scripture, not a substitute, and Dungy would say so himself.
The framing is heavily sports and heavily oriented toward a married man with children. If neither describes you, a fair number of illustrations will slide past.
Worth your time?
Yes. For a man who wants to start a daily habit and keep it for an actual year, this is one of the better options available, mostly because the seven theme rotation does the thinking for you.
An earlier version of this review reported small group conversations from a review team about what uncommon means. That did not happen and has been removed.
The One Year Uncommon Life Daily Challenge on Amazon