3.16 Roger Federer: Bounce Back

“You want to become a master of overcoming hard moments. That is the sign of a champion.” - Roger Federer

How do you respond to bad plays or bad days? Roger Federer is one of the best tennis players of all time. He won 80% of his matches, but lost 46% of his points.  He deals with an undesired result or failure 46% of the time, but he is able to win at such a high level in part because he has mastered his ability to manage the undesired results. One thing we all need to learn how to do is how to use the undesired results or failure as opportunities to practice bouncing back quickly instead of spiraling. In a commencement speech at Dartmouth, Federer said, “You want to become a master of overcoming hard moments. That is the sign of a champion … The best know they will lose again and again and have learned how to deal with it.” He also said, “The truth is, whatever game you play in life, sometimes you’re going to lose. A point, a match, a season, a job.” Learning how to accept and make peace with things like loss, bad calls, mistakes, and bad bounces are a key to becoming great. Too many people let the bad breaks stop them, so being someone who can manage them and bounce back quickly can be the ultimate competitive advantage. My keys to overcoming bad plays and bad days are simple: Show up, do your job, add value. If I can do those three things, and surround myself with people who will lift me, I can bounce back from bad days and stack good ones. Question of the Day: How do you quickly bounce back from mistakes or failure?