Former pro baseball player Adam Morrissey spoke to Mesa Elementary students on Thursday about “living with a champion mindset.”

He encouraged students to believe in themselves, have a good work ethic and persevere.

“Failure is not bad,” he said. “Do you find out what you are truly made of when things are going your way?”

Morrissey played professional baseball 10 years, until a wrist injury forced him to retire. From 1998 to 2008, he played for the Chicago Cubs, Los Angeles Angels, Texas Rangers, Colorado Rockies and Oakland Athletics.

Morrissey signed his first contract at age 15, playing in the Australian Professional League.

Since 2009, Morrissey has been coaching at Strike Zone, a training facility in Farmington with the motto, ”Luck is when preparation meets opportunity.”

He now owns the facility. According to Morrissey, the company focuses on baseball training, but also motivates people of all ages to improve their physical fitness.

He also spoke to students about bad choices he made and encouraged students to stay true to themselves and not succumb to peer pressure.

“When I was being true to myself, I was running at 5 a.m. and working out and playing my best,” Morrissey said. “Do not feel sorry for yourself when life gets tough, because feeling sorry for yourself does not change your situation.”

Morrissey travels to schools to speak to students of all ages. He said it is his way of giving back.

“Sometimes we will go talk at schools, and the kids will write in letters and say this really helped out,” Morrissey told The Journal. “They always remember it, and that is what you hope for – that they will take something from it.”