By Jonathan Massey-
This week, I’ll begin with an excerpt from one of my favorite books, “The Obstacle is the Way” by Ryan Holiday:
As the Haitian Proverb puts it, behind mountains are more mountains. Elysium is a myth. One does not overcome an obstacle to enter the land of no obstacles.
On the contrary, the more you accomplish, the more things will stand in your way. There are always more obstacles, bigger challenges. You’re always fighting uphill. Get used to it and train accordingly…
Simply flipping the obstacle life throws at you by improving in spite of them… because of them. And therefore, no longer afraid but excited, cheerful, and eagerly anticipating the next round.
When I read this passage, it hit me like a sack of bricks because it almost perfectly describes my playing career. As I would make a break through on something, I would get this sensation of arrival. Like from now on it will be much, much easier. Only to quickly find out that the next challenge would be more difficult than the previous. If you don’t believe me, you can ask your parents who I believe can vouch to this fact.
That’s probably why my favorite line in that passage is, “There are always more obstacles, bigger challenges. You are always fighting uphill. Get used to it and train accordingly.” This quote is painstakingly true and the sooner we accept it, the sooner we can begin to look at challenges not as things that are going to keep us from accomplishing our goals, but as things that are molding us to get us to where we want to be.
– – – – – – – – – – – – – –
At the Texas Baseball Ranch®, our goal is to help every athlete play one level beyond where they otherwise would have had they never met us. We are able to do that by helping each athlete overcome his current constraint(s)/challenge(s) whether that be velocity, command, arm health, mindset, spins, etc through our hyper-personalized approach. We’d love to help you or an athlete you know who truly wants to play at the next level and is willing to do the necessary work.
We have a couple options for you this summer:
Our “Extended Stay Summer Development Program” begins June 3rd. Come train with us for 2-10 weeks. Early Bird rates available through April 30th but space is limited so don’t delay.
Go to http://www.texasbaseballranch.com/events/tbr-summer-program/
Also, our Elite Pitchers Bootcamp dates have been set with a choice of six dates between June and August. Go to https://www.texasbaseballranch.com/events/epbc/
.
