What a tennis pro taught me about life

Hey champ,

A few weeks ago, I found myself sitting in a hotel bed, surrounded by beautiful designer dresses, watching The September Issue – a documentary about Vogue, and it’s fearless leader Anna Wintour (y’know, the chick Meryl Streep played in The Devil Wears Prada).

It was all under the guise of research, of course!

See, the next day I was heading to the Australian Open, where I would be speaking on a panel with Australian media maven Ita Buttrose and Belgian tennis pro Kim Clijsters before meeting the aforementioned legend, Anna. A typical Thursday.

I was, quite suitably, terrified.

Turns out my fears were for nothing. Anna told me I was wearing a “great colour”, I sat courtside (OK, a row back, but we can pretend!) with Anna and Nicole Kidman and I got to catch up with some truly amazing women, including Julie Bishop and my all time hero Steph Gilmore.

I also accidentally introduced the wonderful and inimitable Kate Jenkins to my colleague as the “Sex Commissioner” (her correct title is actually  Sex Discrimination Commissioner of the Australian Human Rights Commission … so you know, I was just a tad off the mark there! ?)

But for me, one of the true highlights of the day was meeting tennis pro Kim Clijsters.

We got chatting, and being the cool, calm, collected person you know and love ?, I immediately started grilling her about how she prepares for a game.

I wanted to know SPECIFICALLY how she gets in the zone before a match so that I could steal, ahem, I mean “trial” her techniques in my own competitive events.

See, every professional athlete (and uhhh, a young Zac Efron?) is a pro at getting their head in the game.

But I’ve always been particularly interested in how tennis players get their focused mindset.

In a football or soccer match, you’ve got the coach and your teammates right in there with you, yelling their advice, instructions and support. And you can come off the field and get a reset from your coach when you need it.

But in tennis, once you’re on that court, it’s just you. You’ve gotta know how to get in the zone, and stay there.

No coaches, no support. Just you.

It turns out that Kim and I actually use a lot of the same techniques for getting in the zone.

Breathing, meditation etc – it’s all part of her routine. She also told me that, after struggling to get in the zone for a while, she took the pressure off and reminded herself to just have fun. You know, this was a game she LOVED. Getting back to the fun of it helped reignite her passion and focus for the game.

I loved that.

But mostly, I love the parallels this has for you, and for me.

See, when it comes to your goals (yes, yours!) at the end of the day, the only thing that’s really going to get you to the finish line is your MINDSET.

You can have all the money in the world. You can have the best partner and a million supporters. An incredible coach. All the best tools to help you.

But at the end of the day, it’s just you and your mindset out there, chasing down your goal, where it really counts.

That’s why I created School of Champions.

While SOC will help you build a support team, and create a game plan to follow, what it’s really teaching you is that internal stuff. How to nail your mindset. How to look at challenges in a new way. How to overcome your inner critic, how to deal with your fears and excuses and how to get in the zone and stay there.

Enrolments close this Monday.

So if you’ve been on the fence about joining, now’s the time to jump in.

You can get started here. 

Let me know if you have any questions.

And in the meantime, let me know how YOU get in the zone. Hit me with your techniques in the comments here.

Big love,
Anna and Nicole’s new best friend, Turia x