01.29.09
Rafael Nadal & Achieving Big Things
Rafael Nadal, #1 ATP, overcame many mistakes over the years...
I love people who work hard to do great things.
I love learning about people who are driven to go beyond ordinary and have a passion to become extraordinary.
What makes some people choose to do more with their lives?
What drives those special few individuals to greatness?
I don’t think there is one simple answer. It’s probably a lot of answers all rolled into one.
I think it starts with a choice. I think people who do extraordinary things in life make the choice to work harder and work smarter. And I think they don’t quit easily. They keep working hard, learning from mistakes, and growing in skill.
So many great athletes, scholars, inventors, politicians, religious leaders….
When I study these people I find they almost always have one thing in common, which is they almost all had difficult childhoods.
Yes, a difficult childhood.
The ability to overcome their difficult childhood seems to have taught them how to become better leaders and achievers.
These people tend to grow up and attempt to do great things. The second aspect these people usually have in common is that they fail… a lot.
Yes, extraordinary people usually had very difficult childhoods and failed many times before they succeeded.
Rafael Nadal, ATP #1, falls and misses the ball...
These people don’t seem to mind trying their hardest and learning from their mistakes.
They don’t see mistakes as bad.
They see mistakes as their teacher. And they see the ability to overcome their mistake as the goal to becoming successful.
That happens in tennis, also.
Great tennis players almost always had coaches and parents who taught them to learn from their mistakes. All tennis players are going to make mistakes, but the great ones learn from them.
Sometimes the people making the mistakes are the ones learning and improving the most. The better a tennis player becomes, the more complicated and intense the mistakes become. Yet, those mistakes start happening against stronger and stronger players during much more difficult situations.
And those players begin to stand stronger in their beliefs about themselves and their abilities.
For those of you striving to achieve great things… thanks.
I appreciate you.
For the person who invented plastic… and coached the winning team in World Cup… and walked on the moon… and won a Grand Slam… and taught math for 20+ years to 12 year old rebels… and discovered electricity… and chose to become a Christian missionary… and so, so many other extraordinary things… thanks.
Don't quit. And do not listen to people who tell you to quit.... Champions did not quit!
For those of you at a crossroad in your life wondering if you want to take the easy way or the extra-ordinary way, I’m cheering for you!
Was your life hard when you were a child? Yes? Good!
You are less lazy than many others.
Do you often fail when trying to be successful? Yes? Good!
You show you are willing to keep trying and to keep learning.
Don’t listen to people who say you can’t be successful at what God is leading you to become. Those people are probably miserable failures who quit and make excuses.
Focus on your prize. Focus on your goal.
Believe in your ability to learn and to grow.
Ok, that’s enough for now… I hope this helped you believe in yourself.
You have a big God.
You can do big things.
Philippians 4:13,
Coach Scott Paschal
ICTA Inc., President
Ultimate Impact Tennis Academy, Owner
International Christian Tennis Association
386 793 0557 ballboy4Jesus@yahoo.com
mary matheson said,
May 21, 2009 at 9:37 am
I always wondered why I was different to other people. Your message has inspired me to try harder. I had some immense failures in my life and for a long time felt defeated.
Lately I feel I am no longer a victim or just a survivor I much more than that and I am going to keep pushing myself to be the best I can be and then see if I can do better than that.
thanks
Mary
Lester Clement said,
May 23, 2009 at 8:55 am
I am really blessed to have been able to come across yor web site. i fellowship at Jesus forever Ministries, Ramattally park, Fyzabad, Trinidad, West Indies. I am a Tennis Player, organiser (Petrotrin inter departmental lawn tennis tournament), Petrotrin is where i work in the HSE department as a Fire Technician. i really love the hear of the work you all are doing and pray to God our father that he will give you all more grace to continue the good work.
Yours in christ,
Lester
len sive said,
June 4, 2009 at 12:47 am
No one learns from success, only failure; and no one grows much from praise, but from self-doubt and the willingness to persevere amidst even the severest adversities. Life is presented as “wholly wonderful” by the media as well as by many (so-called) Christian churches. Evidently they have never read the Bible, which is Adversity writ large. Life IS adversity. God doesn’t promise, and perhaps can not even deliver, Life as Wonderful: rather, God promises that with His aid we can surmount any problem, overcome any difficulty, and deal with any adversity–so long as we are trying to life a life that is Christ-like. And his promise is (eternally) faithful. People who are “blessed” because they have glided through life more or less unscathed are rather to be pitied than praised. For error and sin are the handmaidens of a mature faith, and the building blocks of wisdom. God’s wonderful news is that faith overcomes all things. Indeed, on a cultural level, no first-rate artist, writer, or poet. (Goehe said somewhere that he knew but two weeks of unalloyed happiness in his enire life.) But with God’s grace they turned their chaff of suffering into wheat of wisdom, beauty, and faithfulness–and that has, for them, all the difference.
Ross said,
June 8, 2009 at 9:50 am
Very true. If you look through out the bible God used those who had failed. Moses committed murder yet God chose him to lead his people; King David, described as a man after God’s own heart, yet committed adultery and murder; Joseph, which started out as a spoilt brat who lauded it over his brothers became the second most powerful in all Egypt and saved his family and Egypt from starvation; Paul, responsible for intense persecution of the church, yet God used him to spread the gospel to the gentiles and write down some of the most important doctrine of the New Testament.
Those who fail know that they cannot do it without God. God delights to show mercy. When we fail we need to turn to God first, who forgives and gives us the strength to continue and fight the good fight. God is all sufficient and in him alone can we overcome failure.
Cheers
Ross
T. Suma Latha said,
July 5, 2009 at 3:56 pm
What you said is so simple and true. I had a difficult childhood too and am in the making to serve Lord more effectively. Every time i thought to myself “that’s it! I’m gonna quit!” Jesus lifted me up. I know He loves me so much……but why me? I never knew. All i learnt was “never quit!” Please pray for Nadal..he must be healed from Tendonitis and also about me and my family. God Bless You!
Paul Ko said,
September 10, 2009 at 10:04 am
How can I use Tennis in Taiwan to reach the Tennis players who just play Tennis everyday in our public courts in Taipei. I wanted to get some ideas about how you reach your community through Tennis.