it’s definitely not the way he picks his butt that i admire him for. or the fact that he fastidiously lines up his water bottles on the court after each warm up. or that he sweats profusely.

rafael nadal’s character and work ethic is what makes me a huge fan. in most recent interview after winning his first 2019 title in rome, he says

“i don’t care about winning 6-0 or 6-4 over djokovic. the victory is the work i do everyday, more than winning titles.”

“you work mentally when you go to the court everyday and you train. you don’t complain when you play bad, when you have problems, when you have pains. you put on the right attitude, the right face. you are not negative about the issues that cause you to play bad. you go on court everyday with the passion to keep practicing. that’s the mental work. i’ve done that all my career. not being frustrated when things are not going well. not being too negative. that’s why i always have the chance to be back. and now here we are, an important moment, an important title, and now is the moment to keep going.”

even uncle toni, his previous coach is motivated by rafa’s desire to constantly improve.

it’s about doing the daily work, the hard slog, even when you don’t see the immediate results. but with every day, you’re building character, consistency, the right attitude.

that’s been drilled into my mind lately – you can’t control the result or the outcome. but you can control what you do daily. you are responsible for your actions so stick to the process and decide to keep going.

having just got back from a surf today in less than ideal conditions, i can choose to give up, or i can keep going regardless of the wave conditions and practice in the whitewash. and when the conditions are better, i can hopefully see my progress.

thanks rafa for the inspiration yet again. vamos for the french open!!

so, what victory can you have today? what work can you do today?

i think we place far too much emphasis on the outcome of things, rather than the process.

“did he win?”

vs

“he displayed such a good attitude in that game”

a reference to the recent alex vs rafa tennis match, in which there was no doubt alex displayed great character through his losing game to my favourite nadal!

our language reveals what we value.

in the last week of every calendar year, i take time out and set goals for the following year.  i’ve been doing this probably for the last 5+ years and for the first time this year, i noticed that i had more habit goals than achievement goals set for 2018.

i realised it’s better to set a goal wanting to exercise 4x a week rather than lose x kgs.  i don’t have control over how my body loses weight, but i do have control over how disciplined i am in going out and doing exercise.

about the photograph – it’s one of my favourite artists from iceland – olafur arnalds.   he creates great music.  and reminds me of my piano days… where i was forced by my parents to play the piano.

u might ask – “what grade did you get up to?” ?

and i will say – i learnt a lot in the process… appreciating good music, the discipline of showing up and practicing regularly (or fooling my piano teacher into thinking i had practice because i am a good sight reader) and the value of creating atmosphere through music!

as mentioned in one of my earlier posts, i’m part of the podcast fellowship and in the first week, i’ve learnt a valuable lesson – to turn up each day and keep doing the work.

i’m all for setting great amazing goals but there’s also something to be said for setting our sights and concentrating on the process… and then let the results speak for itself!