#1439 When Dreams Come True

Today we’re going to wrap up our little tour through the first three books of Darrin Donnelly’s wonderful Sports for the Soul series.

As we’ve discussed, Darrin has a special ability to tell a GREAT, inspiring sports story PACKED with scientifically-grounded, practical wisdom.

It’s a rare and winning combination—which is why I’ll recommend you check out the Notes and books in the series yet again: Think Like a Warrior, Old School Grit, Relentless Optimism, Victory Favors the Fearless, Life to the Fullest, and The Turnaround.

Of course, like any great Hero’s Journey, a great sports fable needs to include a Hero who meets a Guide and has some Buddies who help him achieve the impossible.

I’ll save the spoiler alert for this minor league baseball player who makes it to the Big Leagues and does something incredible.

And…

I WILL tell you that (and I have goosebumps as I type this), when I read this make-believe story about a baseball player doing the impossible, I thought of my dear friend Brandon Guyer.

Brandon played Major League Baseball.

Of course, he was once in the minor leagues going through many of the SAME things the Hero in Darrin’s fable experienced.

One day, after one of his *worst* performances, Brandon’s Triple A manager brought him into his office. He was nervous about what he might be telling him.

To Brandon’s great surprise, he was being called up to the Big Leagues. The VERY next day he was going to play his VERY first game in the SAME stadium he grew up going to as a kid.

IMAGINE THAT for a moment or three.

It’s his first at-bat. He steps up to the plate. And you know what he does?

He hits a home run in front of his friends and family—the first player to ever hit a home run in his first career at-bat in Camden Yards.

IMAGINE THAT for a moment or three.

Actually, watch this video to FEEL the power of that moment. (I’ve watched that at least a dozen times and I’ve gotten tears in my eyes EVERY TIME.)

So…

Our Hero hits a home run in his first at bat. 👏 👏 👏 !!!

Then you know what Brandon does?

He strikes out in the next two at-bats.

Then you know what happens?

He gets sent back to the minor leagues where he goes up and down for YEARS before making it stick in the Big Leagues.

And, you know how he navigated that whole process?

With exactly the ideas that we come back to all day, every day.

Then you know what happened?

He made his dreams come true and did things like catch THIS ball in the playoffs and hit THIS double in Game 7 of the World Series against one of the best closers in baseball—not too long after the announcer gave him the nickname La Piñata because he got hit by more pitches than anyone else in baseball.

btw: Brandon is the guy who inspired me to get my ARETE tattoo. We trade texts with our Oura scores every morning. He’s made me a better human being. Bless you, brother! You’re one of the good guys. 🙏

And, I’m honored that he says THIS about how our Mastery Series/Coach program made *him* a better human being. And, he joined Michael to share his wisdom with our Coaches—check that out here. I’m also honored that he and his wife, Lindsay, are two of our biggest investors in Heroic. (He says THIS about that.)

You can learn more about Brandon here. He’s now the mental toughness coach for the University of Virginia’s baseball team (where he’s a Hall of Famer) and he teaches young athletes how to win on and OFF the field by living with virtue.

He’s the living embodiment of what it means to be Heroic.

Day 1. All in.

LET’S MAKE OUR DREAMS COME TRUE, HERO!!!