Me Thinks

You may have heard about the commencement address given by tennis star Roger Federer at Dartmouth.  I read the entire script and I thought it was fantastic! He shared many great points including:

Do you dress like this every day at Dartmouth? The robe is hard to move in.  Keep in mind I've worn shorts almost every day for the last 35 years.

"Effortless" is a myth. I mean it. People would say my play was effortless.  Most of the time, they meant it as a compliment, but it used to frustrate me when they would say, "He barely broke a sweat!" Or "Is he even trying?" The truth is, I had to work very hard to make it look easy. Hopefully, like me, you learned that "effortless" is a myth.

I didn't get where I got on pure talent alone.  I got there by trying to outwork my opponents. I believed in myself, but belief in yourself has to be earned. Yes, talent matters.  I'm not going to stand here and tell you it doesn't. But talent has a broad definition. Most of the time, it's not about having a gift.  It's about having grit. In tennis, a great forehand with sick racquet head speed can be called a talent, but in tennis like in life, discipline is also a talent. And so is patience. Trusting yourself is a talent.  Embracing the process, loving the process, is a talent.  Managing your life, managing yourself, these can be talents too. Some people are born with them. Everybody has to work at them.

When you're playing a point, it is the most important thing in the world.  But when it's behind you, it's behind you. This mindset is really crucial, because it frees you to fully commit to the next point, and the next one after that with intensity, clarity and focus.

The truth is, whatever game you play in life, sometimes you're going to lose.  A point, a match, a season, a job, it's a roller coaster, with many ups and downs. and it's natural, when you're down, to doubt yourself, to feel sorry for yourself. But negative energy is wasted energy. 

You want to become a master at overcoming hard moments.  That to me is the sign of a champion. The best in the world are not the best because they win every point. It's because they know they'll lose again and again, and have learned how to deal with it. You accept it.  Cry it out if you need to then force a smile.  You move on.  Be relentless.  Adapt and grow.  Work harder.  Work smarter.  Remember: work smarter.

When I was just starting out, I knew that tennis could show me the world, but tennis could never be the world.