The Champion Mindset

Roger Federer lost to compatriot Stan Wawrinka in the quarterfinals of this year’s French open. That is not the surprising part because we all know that clay is his least favorite surface but it is the way he looked forward to the future despite the defeat that intrigued me. He said "I'm already thinking what I'm going to do over the next few days, because Wimbledon is going to be a big goal for the season.”

I believe that is the Champion Mindset. Let’s face it all of us will lose or encounter failure but what separates the champions from the rest is the way they ultimately respond to the negative event. If like Federer we keep looking to the future with possibilities, then we can overcome any failure and this is the key to develop the mindset of a champion.

On the topic of mindset it was interesting to read what was written in the Power of Habit(a wonderful book) by Charles Duhigg. He wrote about Bob Bowman who was the coach of Michael Phelps. Bob mentioned that he didn't need to control every aspect of Phelps's life and all he needed to do was to target a few specific habits that had nothing to do with swimming and everything to do with creating the right mindset. 

Bob Bowman designed a series of behaviors that Phelps could use to become calm and focused before every race, to find those tiny advantages that, in a sport where a victory can come in milliseconds, would make all the difference. What we need to learn from this is that it is the mindset that ultimately distinguishes a champion more than the skill-set. 

The sport of tennis is so amazingly competitive that when Pete Sampras retired in 2002 most people thought that his record of 14 Grand Slams would not be broken in his life time. In less than 10 years Federer had managed to achieve that. Federer won his first Grand Slam title in 2003 and since then he has not looked back.

Most people in the recent years have been saying Federer is on the wane. Well even if he is not at his best he always reaches the second week of a championship. He has the record of having reached 36 straight quarterfinals. Sampras even in his prime sometimes has lost in the early round (Nadal has also lost in the early rounds quite a few times) but Federer is a machine and is a hallmark for consistency.

The following are the 5 best attributes that I have identified which describe Federer and ones that I believe can help all of us in our careers.

1. Passion - His love of the sport is amazing. He has achieved it all but still wants to win more. He is already considered the greatest player of all time but he still wants to go further and keep trying. This can be only due to his undying passion for the game and its wonderful history. When he looks back at his career he will surely realize that staying at the top for such a long time is his greatest achievement.                                                                                                                  
2. Self-Drive - He keeps pushing himself to explore new frontiers which others can only dream of. Most people get satisfied after reaching a summit. Having already won 7 titles at Wimbledon he still wants to go further than anyone has gone. He sets his own standards and pays scant attention to the doomsayers who had written his obituary. The key is to set standards for yourself and do what other people say you cannot do.                                                                                                                                  
3. Humility and Grace - Even after his enormous victories he said players cannot be compared across eras even though many experts are now saying he is the best of all time. The key to humility is knowing that there will always be someone else who might very well break the record. What separates Federer from the rest is that he makes his victories look so easy that we might actually think he is gifted and it comes naturally. However behind this exterior is a story of determination, hard work and perseverance which has kept him at the top of the tennis world for well over a decade.                                                                                                                  
4. Self-Discipline - He has not been injured in his entire career. That is almost unheard of in professional tennis. This goes to show his self-discipline in maintaining high levels of fitness throughout his career. Now a lot of people including me have argued that in 2003 when Federer started his success journey his competition was mainly Hewitt and Roddick both of whom were not in his league. I actually think that it is all the more amazing that Federer kept on going despite the competition. He just wanted to do well in spite of his competition. He has also taken care of his body better than anyone else who has played the game. Self-Discipline is the key to Federer's long term consistent success and he is the embodiment of relentless practice. He only concentrated on his core genius which is playing tennis and didn't try to do many things at the same time.                                                                                                         
5. Consistency - This is the true hallmark of Federer and his genius. He had reached 23 consecutive Grand Slam semifinals, 36 straight Grand Slam quarterfinals, and has been injury free due to which he always makes it to the second week of a championship nearly every time. He has been Number One longer than any player in History. This is nothing short of miraculous. I think it is difficult to fathom that he has reached 25 appearances in a Grand Slam final. The consistency that he has demonstrated over the course of a decade is the true hallmark of a genius champion. He is relentless, passionate and does not ever leave the sight of his summit.

I personally hope he continues to play for some more time and provide more joy to the tennis fans worldwide. I don’t think it matters if he wins more Grand Slam titles but what matters more is the example he has set not only for the tennis world but the world at large on what one man can achieve with the mindset of a champion.

The views expressed here are my own and do not represent my organization