How to take a page out of the pros playbook
“If a picture is worth a thousand words, a metaphor is worth a thousand pictures.”
- Daniel H. Pink
There is something about the game, the energy, the competition, that captures my attention. The opportunity to rise to the occasion or retreat to defeat. The calculated movements, the sheer strength and stamina required to make it through, let alone the mental fitness to match.
Whether or not you’re familiar with the details, the players, or the rules and regulations, there is one thing we can all agree on: tennis is the long game. There are no shifts, substitutions, half times or intermissions. Your team sits in a box at a distance while you face an opponent, though your greatest competition is yourself. The stakes get higher and higher the closer and closer you get to achieving your ultimate goal of winning the championship; your physical and mental prowess being challenged every step of the way.
My growing Grand Slam obsession may not come as a surprise, as tennis lends itself to one of the best metaphors for the long game we’re all in: life.
If you’re ready to step up to the baseline and start serving some of your best work yet, keep reading.
Every point counts
The number of points in each tennis match varies, and while the player with the most points doesn’t necessarily win, each serve starts a rally with one intention: to win the point. The players fight for each and every point to win a game, needing multiple games to win a set, with the goal of having the most sets to win the match. When a rally gets particularly long and complicated, the player who is victorious in winning the point makes the traditional power move: the fist pump.
Although they have a long way to go, each point earned brings the player one step closer to winning. As a result, they have to show up and commit to winning each point no matter how difficult it may be. And when the point required exceptional effort, they celebrate.
Regardless of the goal we set out to achieve it requires a series of microsteps, or points earned, along the way. No one goes from zero to success overnight, just like no tennis player wins a match simply by showing up.
Take the step, celebrate the point, and keep going.
Permission granted to adopt the fist pump.
Momentum can shift when you’re focused and committed
In a game of tennis, it’s not over until it’s over.
Players overcome the odds of an outcome continually over the course of a match. Every serve presents the opportunity to re-focus and commit: to remind themselves of why they are there and prepare themselves to commit to winning the point.
Relentless focus and commitment can move mountains.
When we know what we want and we are willing to go through the discomfort, fear, and pain in pursuit of it, anything is possible. Grand Slams included.
When we face a setback, whether at work or on the court, we have the ability to shift momentum back in our favour.
Reconnect to your Why and re-focus on what you want.
Recommit to yourself and your goal.
Revisit your next action: what is the next best (micro) step you can take? What point can you win? Action is required to create or shift momentum.
Coaching isn’t reserved for athletes
Successful people are surrounded by who? Other successful people. Creating a team that supports you in life is critical to helping you rise to higher levels. Including your coach.
And like in tennis, coaching is about more than improving your skills and techniques. Top tennis players including Novak Djokovic and Ons Jabeur are crediting the strength and resilience of their mindset to the level of their game - a result of working with a coach off the court.
The best part is we all have access to this type of coaching and can all benefit from what it has to offer. What would your life look like if you had a mindset coach? Where could you win in your life?
We can all be superstars in any area of our lives and the right coach can help us get there;
a coach can help us to operate at our best in whatever we’re doing.
It’s taking part that counts
“If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same.”
- Rudyard Kipling
The words every player sees as they make their way through the players entrance to centre court at Wimbledon. A firm reminder that we can take with us as we step out into all areas of our lives:
Show up.
Participate, and
Be of service.
Game. Set. Match.
Kirsten Schmidtke is a professional coach, creator, and lover of lake life. She works with leaders, creators, and entrepreneurs to help them up-level their careers, businesses, and lives. Are you ready to explore what’s possible for you? Contact Kirsten to start the conversation!
