Driving

Thursday, March 12

There’s a famous story about Andre Agassi hating tennis for most of his career, even though he was one of the top players in the world.

He played out of anger, misery and fear (much of it from how he was developed as a tennis player as a kid). He thought he had to be perfect. And things finally crumbled when he won his first career Grand Slam and still felt miserable.

Eventually, he put tennis into perspective. It no longer needed to fulfill him or define him. As a result his ranking, which had fallen to 141, got all the way up to number 1 in the world and he won more Grand Slams.

The behavior (disciplined practice, training, etc), but what drove him was something healthy. Purpose took the place of fear.

Fear (of failure, of not being good enough, of rejection) is terrible fuel. Can you accomplish things when driven by fear? Of course. But you don’t enjoy the thing you are working so hard for, and eventually it burns out. Fear is not a fuel you can run on long term.

When you are driven by purpose, you still put in the effort and the hours, but something within you shifts. You enjoy the process more. You enjoy the outcomes more. You have endurance.

Be aware of what’s driving you.
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Keep chopping wood. 🪵🪓

-Kevin