Personal Philosophy – is yours helping or hindering you?

Below I write about the importance of having a good “personal philosophy” and how it will determine how successful you are as a tennis player

I do strongly believe, over many years of observing, coaching, playing and watching tennis, that the people that go on to achieve their full potential in tennis, are those with a good “personal philosophy” and attitude towards tennis and life. 

My favourite famous mentor, Jim Rohn, says

“Your personal philosophy is the greatest determining factor in how your life turns out” 

And a quote from my favourite book - Success through a positive mental attitude

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“You become what you think about” – Napoleon Hill

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This quote is also so true:

 "It is our attitude at the beginning of a difficult task which, more than anything else, will affect its successful outcome." —William James

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To achieve your full potential in tennis you need more than just the technical, tactical, mental and physical skills. The“philosophy” or “attitude” you adopt will in fact determine how quickly you can develop and master these skills and whether you can consistently use them during your tennis career. 

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Below is what I have called an “order of thought and action” that will help you reach your full potential as a tennis player and as a person. I think nearly all successful tennis players would have adopted something very similar during their tennis careers:

Step 1: Motivation and passion

This is what gets you started and keeps you going over the long term. You need to be passionate and self-motivated to reach your full potential at whatever endeavour you choose. This is particularly true in tennis because it’s a long journey and a sport with many ups and downs and setbacks. Your motivation or your “why”, for playing elite tennis has to be really strong – this will continue to drive you to push yourself to become better and will keep you going through all the tough times you will face. 

“Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes on focusing on what excites you” – Oprah Winfrey

“Working hard for something you don’t care about is stressful. Working hard at something you love is called passion” – unknown

“Do what you are passionate about and you will never work a day in your life” – unknown

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“Everything starts with motivation” – Anthony Lane

Step 2 – Define your goals

The next step is to really “define your goals”. What is it exactly you want to achieve and by what date? Write them down, place them somewhere you can see them often, imprint them in your mind, be passionate about them and be determined to reach them.

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“All those who have achieved great things have had a great aim, have fixed their gaze on a goal that was high, one which sometimes seemed impossible” - unknown

“By recording your dreams and goals on paper, you set in process the person you most want to be. Put your future in good hands – your own!” – Jim John

Step 2:  Develop your plan 

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Now you know what you are passionate about and you know what you want to achieve, the next step is to have a plan to achieve it.  How are you going to achieve your goals? What is the environment you need to create? What are the hurdles you will have to overcome?

“When you fail to plan, you are planning to fail” – quoted by many great sports coaches

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“Our goals can only be reached by the vehicle of a plan in which we must truly believe and upon we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success” – Pablo Picasso

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“If you don’t have a plan for yourself then you will end up falling into someone else’s plans. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much” – Jim Rohn

Step 3: Execute your plan. 

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Perseverance, persistence, discipline and professionalism – also known as consistent hard work!! These are the qualities you will need on a daily basis to execute your plan and achieve your goals. Anything worth achieving is going to take time, hard work and persistence!

“Perseverance and persistence knows no failure” – Dennis Pagan, legendary coach of the highly successful North Melbourne AFL team through the 1990’s

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“Professionalism in tennis can be defined as attention to detail and leaving nothing to chance” – Anthony Lane, successful Australian ATP tour tennis coach

  
             “Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishments” – Jim Rohn

              “The harder you work and the more professional you are, the luckier you become on the tennis tour. I have seen this occur time and time again. If you have been professional and put the hard yards in, then when opportunity comes, you will be ready to take it” – Brent Larkham, one of Australia’s most successful tennis coaches

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Note: Nick Kyrgios has said on numerous occasions this year that he has "really been working hard, harder than he has ever worked". Opportunity came at Wimbledon this year for him (the draw opened up a bit, the conditions suited him, he had good form coming in). He was ready to seize that opportunity because he had worked hard, was fully committed and was prepared for it!!

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"Opportunity in life comes but quickly passes by the unprepared" - Jim Rohn

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Step 4: Regular assessment of your plan 

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You will need a willingness to continue to learn, develop and change if necessary. Sometimes, you will need to assess where you are at on your path to achieving your goals. Are you on track? Are you learning from your experiences? If not, what major or minor changes do you need to make?  You will need help in this area, you won’t be able to do it all by yourself. This where good coaching and mentoring plays a critical role in your development as a tennis player. If you are going to reach your full potential, you will need to draw on the expertise and experience from those who have been there and done it before.

“Every book you read takes you a step closer to the higher shelf. Want to go higher? Stack some books under your feet! – Jim Rohn

“Your experiences are your best learning tools in tennis. Learn something from each match and each training session and improvement will come rapidly” – Todd Larkham

"Most roads have already been travelled and most mistakes have already been made. If you are willing to listen and learn from those who have travelled the road already, it will make your journey that much easier” – unknown

“It’s ok to repeat the same mistakes a few times, but the quicker you can learn not to repeat them the better you will become” – Brent Larkham

Step 5. Self belief and courage

Courage, self belief, and calculated risk taking (all put together, called courage) is one of my 3 critical qualities of being a great tennis competitor (the other being guts and composure – see my other article on what it takes to be a great competitor in tennis). You will need to become a “calculated risk taker” and believe in yourself, both on and off the court. 

“You will miss 100% of the shots you don’t take” – Wayne Gretzy – all time great Ice Hockey player

“The biggest risk is not taking any risk at all. The only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is the one that requires no risk at all” – Mark Zuckerberg

“Tennis is a game of calculated risk. No risk equals no reward. Back yourself and play positive and aggressive tennis under pressure” – Brent Larkham

Step 6 – Adopting a positive mental attitude and NEVER GIVING UP.

Even at rock bottom, in your darkest hour, you may be way closer than you think to reaching your goals. You might be on the verge of a breakthrough –  you have to hang in there and keep trying!

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“Quitters never win and winners never quit” – quoted by many 

“Every situation in life can be seen as positive or negative. It is your attitude that will determine which way you look at it” – Napoleon Hill

“It doesn’t matter how many times you get knocked down. All that matters is you get up one more time than you were knocked down.” – Roy T Bennett

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Step 7 - Fully commit!

So you have your goals, your motivations, a good attitude, your plan and you are willing to work hard at it. But are you willing to "fully commit" to executing your plan. No excuses, no fear of failure, no half measures! You will need to give it everything you have, to put it all on the line, to go all in - without this, will your really reach your full potential? I have seen many players not reach their full potential not because of their lack of skills but because they cannot overcome their fear of possibly failing even with full commitment. Don't be one of those guys! To become all you can be, you have to give all that you have. 

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"Defeat is not the worst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure." George Edward Woodberry

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"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed." Michael Jordan

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Step 8 – Show respect, appreciation and kindness

Last but not least, it’s so important to be a good person whilst trying to achieve your dreams and goals. You can do this simply by treating others with respect, showing appreciation for those trying to help you achieve your goals, and delivering kindness to others at all times. 

“There are five important things for living a successful and fulfilling life: never stop dreaming, never stop believing, never give up, never stop trying, and never stop learning.” – Roy T Bennett