Author
Andre Agassi
Summary
The life and career of Andre Agassi, former professional tennis player and ATP number one, told from his own perspective.
Takeaways
Andre Agassi played professional tennis from 1986 to 2006 and won eight Grand Slam single championships. He grew up under a dominant farther obsessed with tennis and the success of his children. Andre rose to fame early and struggled for a long time to find out who he was and what he stood for. People took his changing looks, clothes and hair, as a form of self-expression of a rebellious and excentric personality, when it was in fact a form of self-exploration.
Despite being famous, Andre cultivated only a small circle of close friends. The two greatest sources of strength and support were his fitness coach and surrogate father Gil Reyes, and his wife and former world class tennis player Stefanie Graf.
Quotes
“But I don’t feel that Wimbledon has changed me. I feel, in fact, as if I’ve been let in on a dirty little secret: winning changes nothing. Now that I’ve won a slam, I know something that very few people on earth are permitted to know. A win doesn’t feel as good as a loss feels bad, and the good feeling doesn’t last as long as the bad. Not even close."
“My father is what he is, and always will be, and though he can’t help himself, though he can’t tell the difference between loving me and loving tennis, it’s love all the same. Few of us are granted the grace to know ourselves, and until we do, maybe the best we can do is be consistent. My father is nothing if not consistent."
“The essence of good discipline is respect.
Respect for authority and respect for others.
Respect for self and respect for rules.
It is an attitude that begins at home,
Is reinforced at school,
And is applied throughout life."
Author
Joseph Buchdahl
Summary
An analysis of the science, psychology and philosophy of gambling.
Takeaway
Gambling is the speculation on the future that can take on different forms such as casino games, sports betting, and financial investing. Outcomes in these areas are hard to predict and it is even harder to make money from it against benchmarks that encapsulate the collective information of large crowds. Gamblers often underestimate the randomness that determine gambling outcomes and attribute positive outcomes to their own ability to predict the future.
Despite the fact that gambling is only lucrative for a negligible number of skilled gamblers, people continue to gamble. This might be related to the human desire to explain and control outcomes to instill a sense of certainy in an uncertain world.
Quotes
“According to this hypothesis, if reward uncertainty was not a source of motivation most predictive behaviours would extinguish because of the high failure rate. In other words, allowing an animal to persevere in a task is only possible if its behavior is motivated by a lack of predictability rather than the reward itself."
“If the purpose of gambling is to achieve authority over uncertainty, to feel in control of one’s destiny, surely everyone who plays sensibly and reasonably is a winner."
“Where luck is dominant, there is very little connection between the process and the outcome. If all you care about is outcomes, you’re liable to draw erroneous conclusions. On the contrary, don’t study winners to see what caused them; study the process to see whether it consistently led to success."
Author
David Goggins
Summary
The personal story of former Navy SEAL David Goggins who overcame traumatic experiences to become a successful soldier and athlete.
Takeaways
Most people do not know what they are truly capable of and resist challenging themselves physically and mentally to stretch the limits of their potential.
Unlocking this potential requires hard work and dedicated exposure to uncomfortable experiences and pain to “callous” the mind and become mentally strong.
Quotes
“By the time I graduated, I knew that the confidence I’d managed to develop didn’t come from a perfect family or God-given talent. It came from personal accountability which brought me self-respect, and self-respect will always light a way forward."
“A true leader stays exhausted, abhors arrogance, and never looks down on the weakest link. He fights for his men and leads by example."
“Starting at zero is a mindset that says my refrigerator is never full, and it never will be. We can always become stronger and more agile, mentally and physically. We can always become more capable and more reliable. Since that’s the case we should never feel that our work is done. There is always more to do."