3 Life Changing Life Lessons from Roger Federer
These life lessons come from Roger Federer’s commencement talk at Dartmouth.
3 life lessons:
#1. Effortlessness is a myth.
“… I had to work very hard to make it look easy … Everybody can play well for two hours …after two hours your discipline starts to fade …I didn’t get where I got on pure talent alone. I got there by trying to outwork my opponents.
…belief in yourself has to be earned. …I beat some of the top players I was playing by aiming right at their strength…. Most of the time it’s not about having a gift it’s about having grit.”
#2. It’s only a point.
“In tennis perfection is impossible. In the 1,526 singles matches I played in my career, I won almost 80% of those matches. …what percentage of points do you think I won in those matches? Only 54%. …even top ranked tennis players win barely half of the points they play.
When you lose every second point on average, you learn not to dwell on every shot… negative energy is wasted energy.
This is to me 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 will lose again and again and have learned how to deal with it.”
#3. Life is bigger than the court.
Tennis could show me the world, but tennis could never be the world. …I realized pretty early that I wanted to serve other people in other countries. Motivated by my South African mother, I started a foundation to empower children through education.
Philanthropy can mean a lot of things. …It can mean starting a nonprofit or donating money, but it can also mean contributing your ideas, your time, your energy to a mission that is larger than yourself.
Watch Roger Federer’s commencement speech at Dartmouth on YouTube.
Which of the above life lessons are most relevant to you right now?
If you shared your life lessons with younger people, what would you say?
Dig deeper: Lessons from a Lifetime in Leadership
while Talent is essential prerequisite, Having Grit is the only way we will use the talent and get to where we want to go.. This is my favorite point. relevant all through our lives. Thanks Dan for condensing the message from a, by now, popular 25 min video
Discipline is the key lesson i would like to share with younger people..
“Desires become deservingness only through consistent, directed, self-motivated, intelligent effort” is the quote I borrow from a spiritual guru to succinctly convey the point.
Thank you for jumping in today, Nagarajan. I was blown away by Federer’s talk. In the talk he said, “Discipline is talent.”
Thanks for sharing the quote that, “desires become deservingness only through consistent, directed, self-motivated, intelligent effort.” That’s a mouth full!
As far as commencement speeches goes, this one ranks up there, along with the one Steve Jobs gave to the Stanford graduating class of 2005. Great words of wisdom to the young adults entering the “real world”!
Absolutely! Cheers
Great post today! Thank you for this. To think that the champion Roger Federer won just 54% of the points is an amazing statistic to reflect on. Winning is making just a few more points than your opponent, just 4% more. Thank you!
Thanks 88. If I hadn’t heard him say it himself, I wouldn’t believe it. Like you, I’m blown away. It takes a lot of losing to become #1. 🙂
Thanks for posting this Dan. Excellent advice. I passed it along to some of the folks I am mentoring.
It’s a pleasure to be useful. And it was a joy to learn from Roger Federer. Be well my friend.
I am a big fan of Roger Federer both on and off the court. He is a true professional in all aspects of the word. He had many nuggets of wisdom in his three points.
When I share my life lessons with younger people, I say:
1. Add value in every situation.
2. Be open and curious.
3. Embrace and practice continuous improvement.
And eat dark chocolate whenever you can.
Love your life lessons, Paul. Anyone who adopts those three principles will go far.
And I’m all for dark chocolate!
This post was perfect timing for me today. I would add one lesson: “Practice trains you to perform, so practice like you play: don’t train yourself to perform at a lesser level.”
This really hits home! Pursuing education, helping others, and chasing big dreams isn’t always easy to balance. That’s why I sometimes pay someone to take my online class. it frees up my schedule to actually do the things that inspire me. It’s awesome to see someone use their platform for good like this. Definitely motivating me to find even more ways to serve while staying on top of my goals.