As I am writing this, the French Open is in full swing. The one tournament that Roger Federer struggles at. I mean comparatively anyway.
He’s only managed to win one. And he didn’t need to beat Nadal to do it. Nadal has beaten Federer to win Wimbledon. Which in my mind makes Nadal the better head to head player – just.
Nadal succeeds more through determination and hard work applied to a good talent base. The physical toll he exerts on his body is incredible and the damage is evident now – and it will get heaps worse that the initial damage has been done.
Why Federer amazes me is the fact his tennis is effortless – its very rare to see that much talent in one person, and that much talent capitalised on.
He hasn’t exacted the same toll on his body. He wins with grace, skill, power and just well, being better than everyone. The guy never sweats… Its almost effortless when he plays tennis. To me, this effortlessness is what we should all be striving for. Roger has it on the tennis court.
Before the Rise of Federer.
Federer had a far more devious opponent he had to defeat in order to become a great. He had to master himself. If he didn’t then he would have been a ‘never was.’ This was evident in his early days when he struggled with his temper and every set back turned from mole hill into mountain infront of his eyes, despite his talent.
At this stage all of his talent mattered for nought. He was easy to beat.
We know now that The Fed overcame those demons and has gone on to achieve what he has.
Personally I probably empathise more with Roger than Rapha. I have struggled far more with problems between my ears than I ever have learning new skills or doing most things, but I haven’t tried gymnastics either… I am generally pretty determined to succeed at what is important to me but at this stage I still battle with the enemy within more than anything else.
Self mastery is required in all of us to truly reveal all of our talents and the skills we develop. Most things in life are a function of hard work and persistence more than a ‘talent base.’ Most talents are actually highly developed skills – so even talent can be obtained with hard work.
Self mastery is as much about knowing what we are good at as what we are bad at. If we are bad at an essential skill, then we either need to get someone to do it for us or else master the skill. This applies in business as much as it does anywhere in life.
Do yourself a favour. Don’t spend all that hard work developing skills that you can pay for while you let your natural talents go to waste.