Hello my friend,
What separates the great from the good performers?
In a study taken at the Florida tennis academy they measured the top five tennis players in the world against the top 25.
What made the key difference to be one of the five very best?
What set those apart that go on to win grand slams or major tournaments to the rest?
Was it the coach?
The nutrition they used?
The average amount of sleep?
The hours they practiced on court?
The age they started playing?
The type of pre-match ritual?
These all had significance and impact.
To be in the best 25 all these had to be on point. (Pun intended)
But the one that was the true separator was not on this list.
What came out at the very top was their mindset.
They thought differently.
The study showed that in the 10-15 seconds between each point they lost they did something most didn’t.
They accepted, they relaxed, and they let go.
Before immediately focusing on the very next point.
They recognised what was gone can’t be changed and was out of their control.
Many other studies have shown performance increases when tension is decreased.
A crucial finding also showed that the very top players tend to embrace the verb of the game.
Play. They remember to play whilst playing.
Each point is a play.
The greats understand they cannot truly play if they are still holding on to a past point.
This goes much for life.
We hold on to the last point.
An error, a misjugement, a fu*k up.
A momentary lapse turns into unnecessary judgement and frustration.
And takes us right out of the present moment.
The very best performers in any field avoid this nearly all of the time.
They accept, they learn and they quickly focus on the next play.
We are going to lose points in life.
In fact we’ll very likely lose more than we’ll win.
But how we respond to them is the critical difference in the quality of our future decisions and of our life.
We cannot change something that has already passed.
Life is about focusing on the very next point in front of us.
Despite what has come before.
That’s all we can ever play.
One point at a time.
Don’t forget to play it.
Things I’m learning
The age of distraction.
A 2018 Pew Research Center report found that 44 percent of teens said they often check their devices for messages or notifications as soon as they wake up, 54 percent said they spend too much time on their mobile phone, and 42 percent feel anxiety when they do not have it.
You don’t need to do anything.
“Here’s a surprising truth it took me ages to grasp: by far the best way to spend more of your life doing meaningful, rewarding and difference-making things is to really feel the deep sense in which you don’t need to do any of that stuff at all.” - Oliver Burkeman
A letter of gratitude.
In 2010, Steve Jobs sent an email to himself and it read:
I grow little of the food I eat, and of the little I do grow.
I did not breed or perfect the seeds.
I do not make any of my own clothing.
I speak a language did not invent or refine
I did not discover the mathematics I use.
I am protected by freedoms and laws I did not conceive of or legislate, and do not enforce or adjudicate.
I am moved by music I did not create myself.
When I needed medical attention, I was helpless to help myself survive.
I did not invent the transistor, the microprocessor, object oriented programming, or most of the technology I work with,
I love and admire my species, living and dead, and am totally dependent on them for my life and well being.
End. - (Apple co-founder Steve Jobs died on October 5, 2011)
Question
Are you waiting to find more meaning in your life or could you give life more meaning?
That’s all for this week.
Thank you as ever for reading!
P.S: I am hosting an event in Madrid on the 16th of July!
The first signature event with Running Minds. I’m really looking forward to this one!
Spaces are very limited so save your spot (now just a handful left!)
Sign up here : A Purpose in Wellbeing- An Evening With Running Minds
With love, Nick x
P.S.S if you want to support my work you can do so for the price of your weekly café americano :)