Currently Reading:

The Phenomenon: Pressure, the Yips, and the Pitch that Changed My Life
by Rick Ankiel with Tim Brown
Public Affairs Books
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

Rick Ankiel had the talent to be one of the best pitchers ever. Then, one day, he lost it.

The Phenomenon is the story of how St. Louis Cardinals prodigy Rick Ankiel lost his once-in-a-generation ability to pitch--not due to an injury or a bolt of lightning, but a mysterious anxiety condition widely known as "the Yips." It came without warning, in the middle of a playoff game, with millions of people watching. And it has never gone away.

Yet the true test of Ankiel's character came not on the mound, but in the long days and nights that followed as he searched for a way to get back in the game. For four and a half years, he fought the Yips with every arrow in his quiver: psychotherapy, medication, deep-breathing exercises, self-help books, and eventually, vodka. And then, after reconsidering his whole life at the age of twenty-five, Ankiel made an amazing turnaround: returning to the Major Leagues as a hitter and playing seven successful seasons.

This book is an incredible story about a universal experience--pressure--and what happened when a person on the brink had to make a choice about who he was going to be.

In My TBR Stack:

Jumping Into the Parade: The Leap of Faith that Made My Broken Life Worth Living
by Tim Brown
BenBella Books
Hardcover

From the publisher's website:

On the outside, it looked like Tim Brown was living the ideal life. He had risen from his hardscrabble beginnings in South Florida to a position of status and wealth in the Denver business community. He had married into an extremely prominent and well-recognized family and had built several thriving businesses. But on the inside, it was another story altogether. The ghosts of his past haunted him, relentlessly hounding him about his value as a father, friend, and business leader. His life was deceptive and spinning out of control, and it led to the darkest night of his life.

From that darkness, Tim found the strength to reshape his entire life. His faith gave him the courage to “jump in the parade,” a phrase his father-in-law coined to mean truly living, taking chances and being who you really want to be—not who others expect you to be. With a renewed commitment to discovering, owning, and living his values, Tim began the process of deconstructing and then reconstructing his life.

Jumping in the Parade proves you don’t have to remain a prisoner of your past or a victim of your present. This heartfelt and humbling story shows how anyone can find the strength to jump in the parade and live a life truly worth living if they are willing to take a hard look at living into alignment with their values.