OK, I’ll come clean and admit over the last two weeks I have been working on a project but also overdosing on U.S. Open Tennis. Last week was really eventful as new players came up on my radar, in addition to the great fete of Dianna Nyad swimming from Cuba to Florida.
As I watched a previously unknown, Victoria Duval, beat an established player; something Dianna Nyad said kept ringing in my head: “No matter how difficult the goal you have set for yourself, your job is to “find a way”. The thing I love about 
tennis, that was mentioned over and over last week, is that you alone have to make it happen. You cannot hide behind another player, cannot depend on a team mate to make the play, or a coach no matter how great the pep talk. There may be millions of supporters but you and you alone have to make it happen. As Rafa Nadal put it: “Motivation is not the problem. The problem is execution.”
On that note tennis becomes a metaphor for life. You have been playing well and then you encounter a situation (another player) that stands in your way. You are now involved in a grudge match where time after time the other player (the situation) has an answer for everything you put forward. The true champions have developed the skill of on the fly analyzing the situation, calming themselves, and then “finding a way” to win first a point and then the game. Serena Williams discovered hers in the Women’s final against a very proficient and determined Victoria Azarenka after sailing through all her earlier matches. For a great while she was flustered, and then she found a way.
Life works that way as well. Suddenly something comes along and like it or not we have to find a way to deal with it time and time again until we finally get it right. This means we have to accept that there will be multiple failures which are never pleasant but that is very much part of the learning process. We have to try something, and if it fails ask ourselves why it failed, over and over until we find a way.
Last night’s men’s final illustrated that point once again. As the momentum shifted back and forth between two titians; Nadal and Djokovic showed us all manner of shots in an attempt to figure out what something would work or give them an
advantage against the other. Both displayed determination along with a willingness to keep trying that we all could learn from and apply in our lives. Every attempt did not work but at some point Nadal found his answer and began to apply it to win the tournament. Pretty much the same could be said for Djokovic, because some of the attempts he made brought him ever so close to figuring out the puzzle of winning against Nadal. It just didn’t work this time.
We all don’t have to become pro tennis players to risk and then analyze our failures. Becoming a champion in life no matter how big or small means you simply have to be willing to keep trying… to Find a way!