The Chicago Bears have had a lot of legendary players come through the franchise, leaving their mark on the organization as well as the game of football itself.

One of those players is none other than Hall of Famer Mike Singletary, who was not only a part of arguably the greatest defense in NFL history, the ’85 Bears, but also someone who has had success as a head coach and an author, as his strive for greatness didn’t stop with his playing days on the gridiron.

Singletary recently spoke with Essentially Sports about his new book, “Visualize Your Greatness: The Playbook for the Seven Cs of Success.” The Bears legend also chimed in on the team’s current situation, featuring a rising star at quarterback in Caleb Williams and a first-year head coach and offensive genius, Ben Johnson.

Q: You’ve accomplished so much as a player, a coach, and a leader. What made you want to sit down and write, visualize your greatness now? And how does that reflect where you are in life today?

A: Well, in all honesty, I really didn’t want to write a book now. I had written three other books, and I thought, you know what, I really don’t want to write another book. But I felt something in my spirit when I look around our country, and I thought, there are so many people talking and podcast shows and social media, and it’s kind of like off the charts.

And I think there are a lot of people who are trying to paralyze. Paralysis by analysis. And we’re getting all these habits, and we’re just taking off from one thing to the other. And I just think that having a blueprint, this is actually the first book that I really took the time to actually write.

The other books I had, ghostwriters sit down and ask me questions and things like that, and kind of formulate the book. But this one was really the first one that I really sat down and, from day to day, just really took my time and thought, OK, what do I remember from how I got started? How it started with envisioning being able to visualize my greatness? And so ever since my mom was telling me the greatness within me, I started on a journey to try and find it. And so I just began to think about all the people today, particularly young people, who are trying to find a way. This is a seven-step process that can help you get from point A to point B.

Q: The book lays out those seven steps, right? You call them the seven C’s of success. For those who haven’t read it, can you give a quick rundown or tell us how these principles showed up during your Hall of Fame career?

A: Well, when I was 12 years old, my dad left my mom and the family, and my brother Grady was killed in an automobile accident about six months after my dad left. So, those two things really rocked my world. And I was about to give up.

I didn’t know which way to go and what I really believed in after looking at that. And my mom came in about a couple of weeks after my brother’s funeral and said, ‘Son, I know you’re all frustrated and confused about life, but greatness is in you. And I want you to understand that.

‘Don’t give up. I need you. And she asked me if I could be the man of the house.’

So, at 12 years old, I’m thinking, ‘Man, I’m the last of 10 kids; I’m still sucking my thumb, trying to figure out what day it is.’ And when she asked me that, I thought something came up in me. And I had been looking at some normal listening people, listening to some of those cassette tapes about how to close your eyes and envision the things that you wanted to do in life.

And I had big dreams that I wanted to accomplish. And when my mom asked me to become the man of the house, it was the first time that I really, really thought, you know what, this is the time, this is that time. And I walked into my room, and I got out a sheet of paper, and I began to write out my vision statement.

And it sounded like this: find a way to get a scholarship to go to college. Get my degree, in which I’d be the first in my family to do so. Become an All-American, get drafted to the NFL, and be able to build my mom a house and take care of her for the rest of her life. Become an All-Pro, go to the Super Bowl, and own my own business.

Those are the things that I wrote out on a sheet of paper and put on the wall. And I began looking at that before I went to bed, and looking at it when I got out of bed in the morning. But that became my guiding light and my focus.

And when I wrote that out, I wasn’t even playing football yet. We were Pentecostal, and we didn’t do sports. And I had to beg my mom to let me play.

And a couple of weeks later, she finally let me play, and I went out for the team.

Q: If you go back and talk to a rookie, Mike Singletary, walking into Halas Hall for the first time, which “C” would you tell that young man to focus on above all else?

A: I would say commitment. That’s the last commitment is having the ability to say, come hell or high water, I don’t know what’s going to happen.

And I don’t know how it will happen. I could get hurt. I could get cut.

I could get whatever it is. But whatever happens, I will not give up. I will not quit.

I will figure out a way to get out of that bed and come back tomorrow somehow, some way. But I’m not going to quit. And so, commitment would have been the most important for me.

And when I went, if I had gone to Halas Hall, the first one is having the courage to walk in those doors. But I had already done that. So, the most important thing was that I got through the door.

That’s commitment.

Q: From your vantage point as a former linebacker and leader, what do you see as the greatest challenge for a young quarterback like Caleb Williams transitioning into the NFL, especially in a city like Chicago, which is like no other?

A: It’s really, really understanding your role as a quarterback.

And the way the game has changed, the NFL has made the quarterback the focal point. And so the quarterback is, it’s all or none.

It’s all on you. And so if I’m that guy, it is I’ve got to sit down, day in and day out, and make sure that I really, really understand exactly what my job is. I am the best that I can possibly be.

At my job, I am going to get the most out of what it is that my God-given talent has to offer each and every day. I’m going to be the first in the building. Then I’m going to be first in the process. I’ll be the last one to leave.

I’m going to be the guy who sees someone who’s having a hard day. I’m going to be the one to go to that person and say, ‘Hey, what’s going on? What can I do for you? How can I help you? Everything that I want in a teammate, I’m going to be it. I’m going to model it just like a parent for their own kids.’

To me, that’s what a leader really is all about. It’s not about the raw raw. It’s not about what I say.

It’s not about it, it’s about my actions and my actions. So we’ll bring a team around me and have them understand that I got their backs. I’m going to do everything I can to make us the best team that we can possibly be.

Q: Caleb Williams has spoken openly about building a bond with Ben Johnson, right? Like going to lunch together and all the things that they’ve done. How important is that personal relationship to on-field success between a quarterback and a head coach?

A: It’s very important. I mean, it’s really important.

And I think there is a balance. I remember talking to Buddy Ryan one time about telling him I really wanted to have a relationship with Buddy Ryan. And I had made up my mind.

I’m going to spend all the time that I have spending with Buddy. And I remember Buddy and I were beginning to have conversations, and what have you, and I was telling him that I wanted to be the best ever. I was telling him that I wanted to be the best on our team.

I wanted to be the best in our division. I wanted to be the best in the NFC. And I wanted to be the best in the NFL.

And I wanted to be the best ever. So in the midst of all of that, Buddy asked me a question. He said.

That’s really good, Mike. He said, ‘Um, how about your teammates? What do they want?’ Hmm. Do you know? But what does [Dan] Hampton want? But what does [Richard] Dent want? But what does Todd Bell want? Leslie Frazier, how about him? What does he want? Have you ever taken the time to take him to lunch or breakfast and ask what’s important to him? And you know, the question really hit me, kind of threw me off.

And I was kind of like. Oh, no, I’ve been really busy trying to watch films and trying to spend time with you, and to do that, I know everything that I need to know. And he said, That’s important.

But he said. Always remember when you’re trying to lead somebody. You can’t lead them anywhere.

Without having an idea of where they’ve been. And then help them get where they want to go. That’s really, really important as a leader, Mike.

So I started taking guys to breakfast, taking lunch and spending time with them. And that wasn’t something that I was very strong at. I would much rather just kind of be by myself most of the time.

But I have to branch out and begin to get to know my teammates so that I can find a way to find out what their hot buttons are, so I can try to help lead them.

Q: If you could give Ben Johnson some advice about handling the rest of the season in Chicago, what would it be?

If I could give any advice at all. It would just be as much as I possibly can. Be so demanding of, first of all, myself, and make sure that all the coaches that are on the staff, they understand what the vision is.

They understand where we’re trying to go. And every conversation you have, every meeting you have, every game that we have, making sure that we are all, we are. Everybody’s coaching different things, but we are one. We are one.

And if the coaching staff can understand that and understand that it starts with me at the top, Ben Johnson, everything trickles from me. Am I the best head coach that I can possibly be? Not the friend of the quarterback, not the friend of the lineman, not the best friend of the owner. No.

Am I the best head coach on that field that day? And have I prepared my guys that day? Nothing else really. And the rest, it’ll fall into place if I’m that guy. Every weekend we got.

Q: If you had a chance to talk to Caleb Williams, what’s one mindset, mindset shift or practice habit you would encourage him to adopt right now, early in his career, to thrive in Chicago’s pressure cooker?

A: I would say, you know, first of all, don’t really look at the pressure, even though it’s always there. But allow it to be a friend. Allow the pressure.

Don’t try to dodge. It’s going to be there. It just is.

But I never have to be concerned about the pressure if I’m prepared. And so it is, making sure that I am fully prepared. To be the best.

Making sure that I’m asking my position coach. Am I doing everything the way you’re asking me to do it? I’m not. I’m talking to the head coach.

Am I doing everything I need to do to be the best I can be for the state? I’m asking my offensive linemen. Do you understand my cadence? Do you understand? I’m asking my receivers. Do you understand what I need when you’re running a route? How you have to help me out and how I have to help you out? We have to work together.

All of those things, all of those little conversations. Pay huge dividends on game day because those are conversations that we have to have. And not just the quarterback.

But make sure that I’m challenging them to ask me questions. Caleb, why on earth are you doing that, man? You put me at risk when you do that. You throw the ball like that. You’re going to get me knocked out. Well, OK, we need to have a conversation about that. And those are the kinds of things that open up conversations, and some feelings may get hurt.

But in the long run, those are going to be conversations that pay huge dividends down the stretch when your teammates really realize, you know what? He thought enough of me and his job and the success of this team to ask me what I thought about this. And when you have that, that goes a long way toward greatness. It goes a long way toward taking the team to the next level, because it’s not about you.

It’s about us.

Q: As somebody who’s helped others visualize greatness, do you see in Williams and Johnson signs of a truly enduring partnership? And what would make you believe this could be a great story in Bears lore?

A: Are you just talking about? This relationship right now?

Q: Basically, is that combination going to work, and is it going to be successful in Chicago? There are many eyes on the Bears right now, wondering whether that combination will work. Ben Johnson’s personality, combined with Caleb Williams’, has shown flashes of greatness but also struggles. It’s just an interesting mix.

A: It’s kind of a different situation than the franchise has been in a very long time. Yes, I would say, and I hope I’m answering your question correctly. I would say not to really look at anything outside.

Oh, themselves, that. You can allow the conversations, the media, the team, the former players or whatever. It does not matter.

The only thing that matters is for Caleb Williams to be true to who he is. Don’t bow down to the pressure of what they’re saying and the expectations or whatever. Hopefully, his expectations are much greater than anybody else’s.

Who doesn’t want to be great? Put it on my back, man. But at the end of the day, make sure that you’re big enough. To handle it.

Make sure that you have an accountability partner, somebody. When all hell’s breaking loose, because it will. When you have a bad day, when you throw the interception, when you’re at, you know what, it’s OK.

It’s not the end of the world. Somehow, some way, I’m going to make it through this. So, you know what? If I’m going to go down, I’m going to go down swinging.

And that goes to Caleb, it goes to Ben, Coach Ben Johnson. It goes for it does not matter about anybody else or anything else. The only thing that matters is. When I go to bed at night, and I look at that mirror. I got to ask myself one question. Did I do the best that I could today?

And not tomorrow, not next week, not yet. Did I do the very best that I could today? And that’s not just Caleb. We are not just Ben Johnson, because it’s not just about them.

Everybody has to ask that question. That’s when greatness begins to come in. That’s when you say, ‘Heck with the expectation.’

We’re going to exceed that. Because of the question that we ask every night, every individual. I’m not at the bar.

I’m not partying. I’m not smoking. Someone shouldn’t be smoking.

I’m not drinking. Someone shouldn’t be drunk. I am doing what I’m supposed to be doing.

But you know what? I’m able to answer that question. And it is yes. Yes, I can do that.

The rest. The rest is a piece of cake.