I love grand slam tennis. In particular I love Wimbledon, the home of tennis. And it feels like the last two yeas we’ve been served up a real treat. Last years final between Roger Federer and Rafa Nadal was arguably the greatest game of tennis ever played. Who would of thought that the very next year would see another final – this time between Roger Federer and Andy Roddick – that would bring us another final of equally epic proportions?
There is something wonderful about watching two people competing against each other when both are reaching the absolute heights of their potential. Each forcing the other to find even more inside themselves through the pressure they are placing on each other. It is absolutely mesmorising to watch.
Now clearly, there is no way that these players would live past twenty two if every single game they played reached these kinds of intensities. At the same time, we all need these kind of pinnacle moments to aim for. Those moments where all our hard work and training and sacrifice come together to thrust us towards heights never before attained.
The challenge is to be ready for our pinnacle moments. In the women’s Wimbledon semi-final Dinara Safina had a pinnacle moment but wasn’t ready for it. It left the current world number one being embarrassed by Venus Williams. Note that this pinnacle moment wasn’t missed because of a lack of talent (at least not primarily or solely); it was lost because she wasn’t mentally ready for it. She allowed the circumstances, environment, and opponent intimidate her and therefore quench her potential.
This is something we all need to remember. We can spend all the time in the world developing our skills and increasing our knowledge, but it is being mentally prepared and mentally strong that will bring us through when the pressure is really on. And mental strength stems from our security in who we are and what we can do. If we fully trust our abilities and don’t allow circumstances to intimidate us, then we will not be moved or find ourselves limited when the pressure is really on.
So the lesson is simply this. Let’s be people who work really, really hard at developing our talents and turning them into true strengths. And as we do that, let’s trust ourselves, trust our talents, and trust that our talents and strengths will be enough to bring us through whatever challenges and obstacles we may face.
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Great post Sam! It’s a reminder we all need. We are all doing our things so someday all the hard work will pay off. But when that day comes, if we are not mentally ready we’ll miss to grab the opportunity, or worse, maybe we will fail to recognize the opportunity. That’s why it’s so important to define what success means to each of us and what needs to happen to get there.
@Etsuko | Glad you enjoyed it! And you’re right you about lack of mental preparation running the risk of us not even seeing the opportunity. Thanks for pointing that out.