And Why Perfection Is Unnecessary To Achieve Greatness
It is the last Sunday of September, and with it, we enter the last quarter of the year. What are you looking forward to the most in the next three months?
Ranked World No.1 in Men’s Singles for 310 week, Roger Federer has won 80% of the matches he has played in his illustrious Tennis career.
You’d not be the first person to think that such greatness come from a quest for perfection.
But that’s not what Roger Federer thinks.
Federer at the 2015 Mutua Madrid Open
This is what Federer said in his famous 2024 Dartmouth Commencement Speech.
“In tennis, perfection is impossible… In the 1,526 singles matches I played in my career, I won almost 80% of those matches… Now, I have a question for all of you… what percentage of the POINTS do you think I won in those matches?
Only 54%.
In other words, even top-ranked tennis players win barely more than half of the points they play.
When you lose every second point, on average, you learn not to dwell on every shot.
You teach yourself to think: OK, I double-faulted. It’s only a point.
OK, I came to the net and I got passed again. It’s only a point.
Even a great shot, an overhead backhand smash that ends up on ESPN’s Top Ten Plays: that, too, is just a point.
Here’s why I am telling you this.
When you’re playing a point, it is the most important thing in the world.
But when it’s behind you, it’s behind you… This mindset is really crucial, because it frees you to fully commit to the next point… and the next one after that… with intensity, clarity and focus.
The truth is, whatever game you play in life… sometimes you’re going to lose. A point, a match, a season, a job… it’s a roller coaster, with many ups and downs.”
Federer lost more frequently that you would expect. He lost almost every other point he played.
Natural talent, practice and skill can only take you so far when you lose every other point you play. Yet Federer seems to have mastered the inner game of tennis.
Federer did not stop himself from playing the next point, even if he lost the previous point. He played the point just for what it was. Not too much pressure or history or future attachment to that point. He played the point as a point.
He lost 46% of the points he played, but since he continued playing the points fresh every single time, he is a World Class Player.
This is a lesson I am taking away for myself.
“Take the next step even if that step sets you backwards. Take the step, treat it as the most important thing right now, and fully commit to it. Then let go and move on to the next step.”
What is your takeaway from Federer’s inner game of tennis?
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