6.8 Roland Garros: Be Tenacious

“Victory belongs to the most tenacious.” - Roland Garros

Have you ever played against someone who isn’t as talented as you but doesn’t quit?

Tenacity is your ability to be persistent and hold on firmly to something.

A tenacious person is someone who doesn’t stop. They are like a gnat that won’t leave you alone.

When I was in high school, we would go to my old elementary school basketball court to play pick-up games. There was always this one kid on the court who wasn’t very tall or very good, but he won a lot because he played so hard.

He would never quit.

You could cross him over, take his ball, block his shot, or dunk on him, and he would be right there, ready to go at you or guard you again.

He was tenacious until the game was over, and because of that, people would always pick him to play on their team.

What if you could mix tenacity with talent?

You would have the best version of yourself.

Roland Garros was a pioneering French aviator and World War I fighter pilot, known for flying achievements, including being the first person to fly across the Mediterranean Sea in 1913, and the Stade Roland Garros tennis stadium in Paris and the French Open are named after him.

He once said, “Victory belongs to the most tenacious.”

If you want to win, you have to be tenacious; you have to be willing to hit, get hit, hold on, and keep going longer than the person you are going against, and that in-game tenacity starts in training and practice.

Question of the Day: Who is the most tenacious person you know, what makes them so tenacious, and what is one thing you can take or learn from them?