Open - An Autobiography
by Andre Agassi
Of all the books that I’ve read in the past year (2020 + 2021), Open has resonated with me beyond any other book.
The book follows the struggles of Andre Agassi, one of the best all time tennis players. His journey started young with his father imposing his Tennis dreams and hopes on on Agassi. The book documents the rise, fall, rise, fall and rise again in his Tennis career as well a lot of personal aspects of his mental framework at the time.
Reading it, it felt a bit like my own story. When things come from the wrong reason, we fail to treasure our successes. Success feels empty. Everyone makes it seem like a big deal. In the moment, success feels like a placeholder; something that feels meaningless. As a result, we let them slip away like sand, sure that we can reclaim it when the time comes. However, the way back up is much more trecherous. Successes that were previously easy now seem like mountains and ever so far out of reach.
I feel this way when thinking about my professional career. Perhaps my best work is ahead of me but today, I’m at the bottom of that mountain thinking how I ever climbed as high as I once did.
9/10
Next - Barbarians at the Gate