Life
10 Life Lessons To Learn From Andre Agassi’s Book “Open”
As Andre Agassi walks onto the stage, I see a man that looks as though he has fought many battles. His spirit is unwavering. As he begins to talk, he comes across as one of the few sages of sport. He’s learned the lessons of success and failure the hard way.
Andre’s intelligence doesn’t appear to be of an intellectual kind but more of an emotional kind. Having read his book, it’s clear that Andre has had his fair share of adversity. What I loved though was that Andre said, “Adversity builds character.”
This sentence became clear because as Andre spoke, his exceptional character shone through brightly. The scoreboard of Andre’s life seems to have gone in his favor the more he has chosen to live the right way. When he was making poor choices, the scoreboard in tennis went against him.
The deeper the conversation became with Andre on stage, the more apparent it became that he believed that success was about how you went about life. The part of Andre’s interview that most resonated with the audience was when he said that, “we all live different experiences but our lives are the same.”
Andre’s life could easily be perceived as the ultimate experience. As it turns out, he suffered the same challenges as normal people do. In fact, it could be argued that his problems were even worse than the average person’s.
The final mantra that Andre described, which hit me in the face like a cold shower, was that “Instead of surviving, we should learn to thrive.” Why settle for mediocre? Everything we go through in life is our choice, and we can achieve whatever we want as long as we make fabulous choices.
Seeing Andre live seemed like a strange coincidence because I had only just finished reading his book “Open” a few weeks prior. Everything happens for a reason I guess.
Here are the 10 lessons I learned from Andre’s book that will forever change you:
1. You are playing yourself not your opponent
Life is not about winning against other people; it’s about winning against yourself. How do you do that? By trying to be just 1% better than you were the day before. The small steps are where the seemingly big steps of growth come from.
Your mind plays a big part in your life, and it can often be your invisible opponent until you see its importance. Use your minds weaknesses to leverage your strengths.
2. What you feel is not important, it’s what you do
We all feel a vast variety of emotions each day. The people that act on the negative one’s too often become the criminals and the people that can control the negative one’s become the champions like Andre. Feeling and thinking mean nothing.
It’s what you do with your thoughts and feelings that determine your success. The best way to live life at the highest level is to take more action in the direction you want to go. If your dream is to be phenomenal at sport, then take action towards achieving this goal.
While everyone else is out drinking, you need to be working towards your goal. When feelings arise, and they will, use them to your advantage and manipulate them towards your advantage. The worlds counting on you to do something courageous, extraordinary, and brave. That’s how champions like Andre are born.
3. We can learn to love the things we hate
Throughout Andre’s book, he describes many times his hate for the sport of tennis. It’s clear by the end that he is able to deal with his hatred of tennis because he has learned to love it for the meaning it gives him, the income he earns which helps him do more good, and the sport’s ability for him to help others with their own struggles and injustices.
While I don’t think doing something you hate is to be advised, I do see through Andre’s eyes that any struggle can help construct your mindset. Without adversity, you won’t have the building blocks for success. You need a varied experience, with plenty of challenges, to have any chance of achieving the extraordinary.
Sitting at home thinking about what you want to do and talking about it will never make your dream come true. Go out there and pursue it despite what others tell you!
4. Bad feelings last longer than good one’s
In the book, Andre describes what it’s like to win and lose a major tennis game. While I would have thought that winning is something that he would focus on, Andre describes winning as very anti-climatic.
He explains that losing is the hardest part because it lasts ten times longer than the winning feeling. We’ve all experienced this in our lives where we reach a significant milestone and then think to ourselves, “Is this all there is?”
We expect the good feeling of winning and achieving to last a long time, but it never does. This fact always seems to surprise us every time like we didn’t already know it to be true. Remember that everything we do in life is typically to chase some positive feeling.
5. Perfectionism will kill you
One of Andre’s career challenges was that he was trying to hit a winning ball every time. Towards the end of his career, he learned that not winning every ball, and remaining steady and consistent was far more crucial to him winning.
In life, being perfect at everything you do is the same. Rather than win at every task you do, try to remain consistent and concentrate on getting just that little bit better with a solid routine of habits.
“Trying to be perfect is stacking the odds against yourself”
6. Winning is short-term
The odd lesson we get from Andre’s book is just how little becoming number one in the world at something changes your reality. When Andre describes becoming number one, he says that he feels nothing. Even when he wins some important games, he describes the feeling as only lasting a short time.
You can’t rely on winning to be your day-to-day motivation. You have to be able to live a fantastic day every day even if you haven’t won or achieved anything significant. If you become addicted to feeling that winning feeling, then you are certain to fail and fall off a cliff at some point.
“No matter how much you win, if you’re not the last one to win, you’re a loser” – Andre Agassi
7. Fighting our pain and relieving other people’s pain is why we’re here
Andre’s trainer Gil in the book becomes very sick, and he learns a life-changing lesson. The lesson he learns is that fighting our pain and relieving other people’s pain is why we’re here. We’re put on this planet to help people with their struggles rather than just focusing on our own.
When we help people through their struggles, it helps us with our own. Fighting through the pain is the only thing we can do. If we surrender to it, then our progress goes backwards, and we run the risk of terminating our existence.
Once you discover how to end people’s pain you, unlock the infinite wisdom that Andre himself has tapped into. It’s not about you; it’s about others.
8. Fear is your fire
Fear never goes way, and it’s part of our genetic makeup. Without fear, we would lose the fire to succeed at our dream. When we become fearless, we become unmotivated and on the brink of failure. Let fear motivate you rather than stop you from getting where you want to go.
9. We see ourselves in other’s comebacks
There’s nothing interesting about constant success. We all get excited when we see someone struggle and then get to experience their comeback. We’ve all fallen from grace at some stage in our life, and the journey back to the top is where all the growth and positive feelings lie.
We can all identify with struggle and it’s what glues us all together as one. We can all see a part of ourself in Andre’s comeback and struggles.
10. Don’t think, feel
As usual, the book finishes with some wise words from a woman (Andre’s wife, Stefanie). She explains that when we think too much, we block ourselves from achieving our goal. We have to learn to use our intuition and feel our way through challenges.
Over-thinking is the symptom for most of the time’s I’ve failed at something, and I’m sure you can relate. There’s a time for thinking, and there is a time for feeling.
“In the heat of the match of your life, you have to trust your thoughts and feel your way towards the outcome you so badly desire”
What did you take away from Andre’s teachings? Let me know on my website timdenning.net or my Facebook.
Entrepreneurs
The Brutal Truth About Entrepreneurship with ADHD (And Why Most Advice Is Making It Worse)
You’re not lazy. You’re not undisciplined… and you’re definitely not broken.
You’re an entrepreneur with ADHD, and right now you’re probably sitting on 19 unfinished projects, 47 open tabs, and a brain that feels like it’s running on 12 different radio stations at once.
You’ve read the books. You’ve tried the planners, the Pomodoro timers, the accountability groups. You’ve even hired coaches who promised to “fix” your focus. Yet here you are — brilliant ideas, massive potential, and a business that still feels like it’s one step away from collapsing under the weight of your own mind.
Here’s what almost nobody in the entrepreneurial space will admit:
The real struggle isn’t your ADHD. It’s that you’ve been trying to run a neurodivergent brain inside a neurotypical business model — and then beating yourself up when it doesn’t work.
Most advice for entrepreneurs was written by people whose brains work differently. They preach consistency, routines, long-term planning, and steady execution like those things are universal truths. For the ADHD entrepreneur, those “truths” feel like trying to swim upstream in cement. You can force it for a while (and you have), but eventually your brain rebels, the burnout hits, and you’re left feeling like a failure who just needs to “try harder.”
That cycle is quietly destroying more talented founders than cash flow problems or bad hires ever could.
The deeper layer most people never reach is this: your ADHD isn’t a bug in the system. It’s a different operating system entirely. And when you stop trying to install Windows on a Mac and start building everything around macOS, the game changes completely.
The Hidden Addiction That Keeps ADHD Entrepreneurs Stuck
You already know the surface symptoms — time blindness, rejection sensitivity, starting strong and fading fast, shiny object syndrome.
But the real trap is more insidious.
It’s the addiction to chaos and novelty.
Your brain is wired for dopamine. New ideas, big visions, last-minute sprints, high-stakes pressure — these things light you up like nothing else. The boring, repetitive, systems-building work that actually scales a business? It feels like torture.
So unconsciously, you keep your business in a state of controlled chaos. You say yes to too many things. You chase the next exciting opportunity. You avoid building the boring infrastructure because “I work better under pressure anyway.”
And every time the pressure gets too high, you crash, swear you’ll get organized next quarter, and repeat the cycle.
Meanwhile, the neurotypical advice keeps telling you to “just build better habits.” As if your brain is a poorly trained dog that needs more discipline instead of a high-performance race car that needs the right fuel and track.
This isn’t a character flaw. It’s neurology.
And until you stop treating your wiring as something to overcome and start treating it as your greatest strategic advantage, you’ll stay stuck in the same exhausting loop.
The Identity Shift That Changes Everything
The entrepreneurs with ADHD who finally break through don’t “fix” their brains.
They redesign their entire business to work with their brains.
They stop trying to become the consistent, routine-loving founder the gurus talk about. Instead, they become the architect of a system that leverages their natural strengths — hyperfocus, pattern recognition, creative problem-solving, relentless drive under pressure — while outsourcing or automating everything that drains them.
This is the layer most ADHD entrepreneurs never reach because it requires something terrifying: accepting that you are never going to be “normal” at entrepreneurship… and that’s exactly why you can win bigger than most.
Your ability to see connections others miss. Your tolerance for uncertainty. Your capacity to go all-in when something lights you up. These aren’t liabilities. They’re unfair advantages in a world that rewards speed, creativity, and bold moves.
The shift is simple but brutal:
Stop trying to manage your ADHD. Start designing your business around it.
How to Actually Build a Business That Works With Your Brain
- Stop fighting your energy cycles — weaponize them. Most ADHD entrepreneurs try to force 8-hour focused days. That’s insane. Instead, track when your brain actually works best (for many it’s 10pm-2am or random 4-hour hyperfocus bursts). Build your schedule around those windows. Protect them like gold. Do the deep, high-leverage work then. Use the low-energy periods for admin, calls, or recovery.
- Build “chaos containers,” not rigid systems. Traditional project management tools feel like cages. Create loose but effective structures that give your brain freedom. Use tools like Notion with massive flexibility, or body-doubling (working alongside someone virtually), or even hiring a “chaos wrangler” — an assistant who thrives on turning your scattered ideas into executable plans.
- Turn your rejection sensitivity into rocket fuel. That intense fear of letting people down or looking stupid? Channel it into creating ridiculously high standards for your customer experience or product quality. Use it as fuel instead of letting it paralyze you.
- Outsource the parts that make you want to die. The execution, follow-through, and maintenance phases are where most ADHD entrepreneurs lose. Hire or partner with people who love the details. Your job is vision, strategy, and big swings. Let someone else own the spreadsheets.
- Create external pressure on your own terms. Deadlines and public commitments work wonders for the ADHD brain. Use them strategically — announce launches, create beta groups, or work with coaches who understand neurodivergence instead of fighting it.
The entrepreneurs with ADHD who are quietly crushing it right now aren’t the ones who finally became “disciplined.” They’re the ones who stopped apologizing for how their brain works and started building empires that are specifically engineered for it.
They have teams that handle the boring stuff. They have systems that flex with their energy instead of fighting it. They’ve turned their “flaws” into the exact reasons their businesses stand out.
Your ADHD brain is not the enemy. The enemy was trying to play the game by rules that were never designed for you.
The moment you accept that and start designing everything… your calendar, your team, your offers, your processes — around how you actually operate, the struggle doesn’t disappear… but it becomes manageable, even exhilarating.
You were never meant to fit the mold. You were meant to break it and build something better.
The world doesn’t need another cookie-cutter entrepreneur. It needs the chaotic, brilliant, all-in, slightly unhinged visionaries who can only operate at full power when the game is built for them.
That’s you.
Stop trying to fix yourself. Start building the business that was always meant to be run by a mind like yours.
Your next breakthrough isn’t going to come from working harder or being more consistent. It’s going to come from finally giving yourself permission to work differently.
And when you do that? Watch what happens.
The same brain that once felt like a curse becomes the exact reason your business becomes unstoppable.
You’ve got this. Not despite the ADHD. Because of it.
If you want to learn more from me or send me a personal message I’ll respond to you on Instagram at https://instagram.com/iamjoelbrown speak soon!
Health & Fitness
The Health Planning Habits That Support Long-Term Success
Most people think about health planning only when something forces them to.
A medical bill arrives unexpectedly. An insurance issue appears during treatment. A diagnosis changes how future care needs are viewed. Suddenly health planning becomes urgent instead of preventative.
The problem is that long-term health stability is usually shaped by smaller habits built quietly over time, not just by major decisions during emergencies.
That includes physical health habits, of course, but it also includes how people approach insurance coverage, preventative care, financial preparation, and long-term healthcare planning before problems become immediate.
The families who navigate healthcare stress most effectively are often not the ones avoiding every issue entirely. More often, they’re the ones who built systems early enough to make difficult situations feel more manageable later.
Consistency Matters More Than Perfection
A lot of health advice still revolves around extreme change.
Perfect diets. Aggressive routines. Complete lifestyle overhauls.
In reality, most long-term health success comes from consistency people can realistically maintain for years instead of months. Small preventative habits tend to matter more than dramatic short-term efforts that collapse under pressure.
That principle applies financially too.
People often spend more time researching investment strategies than understanding their healthcare coverage or preparing for future medical costs. But healthcare instability can disrupt long-term financial plans surprisingly quickly when households are unprepared for how expensive even routine care can become over time.
The practical side of health planning is becoming harder to separate from overall financial planning now than it used to be.
Preventative Planning Reduces More Stress Than People Realize
One overlooked benefit of health planning is emotional stability.
People who understand their coverage, maintain preventative care routines, and think ahead about healthcare decisions often describe feeling less overwhelmed when unexpected situations happen. The goal is not eliminating uncertainty entirely. That’s unrealistic.
The goal is reducing how chaotic healthcare decisions feel under pressure.
That’s one reason broader conversations tied to healthcare and health insurance have expanded significantly over the last several years. Rising costs, changing coverage structures, and increasing healthcare complexity have made long-term planning more important for average households than many people expected.
Healthcare is no longer something most families can comfortably approach reactively forever.
People Underestimate How Quickly Healthcare Costs Compound
One reason health planning habits matter so much is that healthcare costs rarely arrive in one dramatic moment alone.
More often, they build gradually:
- recurring prescriptions
- specialist visits
- ongoing treatment plans
- insurance deductible increases
- long-term care considerations
- unexpected procedures layered on top of existing expenses
Families often absorb these costs incrementally until they realize how much financial pressure accumulated over time.
That gradual buildup is part of what makes proactive planning valuable. People who think ahead about coverage structures, emergency savings, provider networks, and preventative care tend to adapt more smoothly when healthcare needs eventually increase later in life.
The difficult part is that many households delay these conversations because they feel healthy right now.
Healthcare Decisions Have Become More Complicated
Another challenge is that healthcare systems themselves continue evolving quickly.
Insurance structures change. Telehealth expands. Employer-sponsored benefits shift. Prescription pricing fluctuates. Patients now carry more responsibility for understanding deductibles, provider networks, and out-of-pocket exposure than previous generations often did.
That complexity creates decision fatigue.
Even relatively organized households sometimes feel uncertain about whether they’re making good healthcare choices because the systems themselves are difficult to navigate confidently. A lot of current health insurance trends discussions reflect this larger issue, healthcare planning is becoming less about isolated medical events and more about long-term sustainability across entire households.
People want predictability, but healthcare systems increasingly feel harder to predict.
The Most Effective Health Habits Usually Feel Boring
One thing people rarely admit is that good long-term planning habits are often not particularly exciting.
Scheduling preventative appointments. Reviewing insurance annually. Building emergency savings slowly. Staying physically active consistently. Maintaining realistic routines instead of dramatic cycles of burnout and reset.
None of those habits feel dramatic at the moment.
But over long periods, they create stability that becomes incredibly valuable once life gets complicated. The people who navigate healthcare stress most effectively are often the ones who built ordinary systems early instead of waiting for perfect motivation later.
That applies financially and physically at the same time.
Why Long-Term Success Depends on Adaptability
Health planning is ultimately difficult because people’s lives keep changing.
Careers shift. Families grow. Aging parents require support. Medical needs evolve. Financial priorities change over decades in ways nobody predicts perfectly in advance.
That’s why the strongest long-term health planning habits are usually flexible rather than rigid.
The goal is not building a flawless plan that never changes. It’s creating enough structure, awareness, and preparation that future adjustments become manageable instead of overwhelming.
Most people cannot control every future health outcome. They can, however, build habits that make uncertainty easier to navigate when it eventually arrives.
Life
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