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The Moonshots Podcast goes behind the scenes of the world's greatest superstars, thinkers and entrepreneurs to discover the secrets to their success. We deconstruct their success from mindset to daily habits so that we can apply it to our lives. Join us as we 'learn out loud' from Elon Musk, Brene Brown to emerging talents like David Goggins.
079-moonshots-serena-final
[00:00:00] Hello and welcome to the moonshots podcast. It is another sporty episode. It is a stunning episode, 79. And I'm your cohost Mike passes. And as always, I'm joined by my partner and mr. Mark, Mark. Are you feeling sporty? Ah, good morning, Mike. Yes. I'm feeling very, very sporty in honor of today's, you know, uh, episode.
I've got my strawberries. I've got my cream. It's past noon. So I've got my pimps. When you get into a very specific sports vibe, I dunno where Mike, whether you can tell where I'm going with, this is for those of you who, um, were wondering what on earth Mark is talking about. It was a [00:01:00] certain. Wimbleton uh, always a very English reference from Mark.
So Mark, this could go many, many different ways, but where are you taking us today on our journey into sports innovation? I'm excited to say that today we're going to be covering the incredible and often chased. Wimbledon Australian open a global grand slam winner, Serena Williams and my gosh. Oh my gosh.
You know, Mike, when we decided to do a show on Serena, like we, we both knew her and we like to watch tennis, but. I think we have to be after share this with our listeners. As we dug into her achievements, we were just blown away. Right? I mean, I think they, [00:02:00] as, as a sister, as a pair of sisters, you know, Serena and Venus, they are unbeaten.
They hold the most. Metals in the guy in the doubles events, uh, around the world. But actually, interestingly, they're both incredible sports people and Serena, particularly, like you say, once we started delving into, you know, the Serena's past achievements and the sort of mindset and models that she's built over the years came very apparent.
I think, to both of us. That Serina really deserves. I think more, uh, attention. I think that it's amazing. It's amazing how much incredible work and incredible. No trophies that she's accumulated over the years. And to add to that, she's a mom she's built her own fashion brand. I mean, this is one lady that is totally unstoppable, incredibly inspiring.
[00:03:00] And what we've got ahead on the show today is so many great clips that give us an insight. Into how she thinks, how she operates. We even managed to track down, uh, her tennis coach, both for her and Venus. Um, and we have got some brilliant wisdom. We can kind of see where she gets her mindset from. Oh my gosh, we've got mental models.
We've got personal mantras. We. Have an absolute deluge of Serina Williams, goodness inspiration habits. So for all of you buck on in, because this one, this one is really good. If you liked Michael Jordan, then you're going to love Serina and, uh, Matt. But before we get into our first of many clips on Serina, we can, we've got to give some props, uh, out in the world because we get a whole bunch of new listeners tuning in from far, far flung countries, all [00:04:00] over the world.
Um, I'm gonna give kudos, uh, we just hit the top 100 charts for Australia. Uh, so welcome to you. All our listeners. But where else are we turning up markets? Like we're popping up all over the globe. Well, similar to your, you know, harrowing of the Australian parents in the charts. I want to say grey halo, great Britain.
You know, we're also in the top 100 charts for the gray Brin entrepreneurship podcast, which is fantastic. I'm looking at Norway, I'm high fiving, Italy. I'm saying hello to all of our listeners in Saudi Arabia, India, Belgium, Poland, Philippines, you know, the list just keeps on great top 20. Fantastic. Yeah, let's not forget all, all our friends in Romania where were showing up big time, but Mark, let's give some props to Algeria and [00:05:00] Honduras where we've also, we've also turned up in the, in the charts.
I mean, isn't that exciting? It really is. We're in the top 15 for Bulgaria as well as Honduras, uh, as well as Macau. In fact, we're really, really, we've got it. Welcome. I love it. Welcome to all of our new listeners. And thank you to all of you. Who've been rating and reviewing the show. Uh that's what gets, uh, our message into, uh, Into new phones, into new apps, into the hands of new listeners.
Thank you. Thank you. We are very grateful. Keep spreading the word. I am very, very grateful. And if you're listening for the first time, uh, you should go and check out our full archive and Mark, where should one go? If one wants lots of moonshots goodies while the main center court, where you can game set and match.
Point is [00:06:00] www.moonshots.io. As Mike said, you can find our archives shows all 78 episodes prior to Serina Williams. You've got Michael Jordan as well as Simon Sineck Cal Newport, Elon Musk, the whole nine yards. Everybody's there as well as a sneak peek at some of our future shows. We've got transcripts in the past and.
We've got lots of great content. So again, go and check it out and get in touch. You know, we've also got either you can sign up for our newsletter. At moonshots.io, or if you reach out to me directly@helloandmoonshots.io, we make sure that everybody gets a response. And we love hearing from all of our listening.
Yeah. Particularly tell us who you want us to study on your behalf. What innovators do you want to learn from? We're really keen to know that. And look, if you're lucky enough to be commuting back to work now, and you're sitting on the transport [00:07:00] and you're listening on your phone. I would really also encourage you to leave us a rating or review.
Oh, both because that's how we spread the moonshots podcasts to millions of millions of people around the world. Mark. We got to get going because we got so much wisdom, uh, from Serina. Where do, where do we want to start this adventure? Yep. You're right. We've got a lot of very, very powerful and revealing clips today.
So we've got to, we've got to get started. So we thought actually, who better to introduce us to Serina than, uh, a chap who has something quite interesting to say that I think, you know, some of our other listeners may. Um, attribute themselves to, so we're going to listen to Colin cowherd. Tell us a little bit about why he believes that Serena Williams is one of the most underrated athletes of our lifetime.
Your criteria here is who you put as your top five dominant athletes last 20 years, less for [00:08:00] you. And I agreed with only one. Okay. You put Floyd Mayweather, you same bolt Michael Phelps. Serena Williams and Roger Federer. Yes. The only one I agree with Federer and my other four were LeBron James, Mike trout, Alex, Travis never want to play off game.
Alex Ovechkin. That's pretty good. And Tom Brady, let me, let me fight for Serena Williams here. Now think about this. Serena Williams won the Australia open while pregnant. I think she, I think she gave birth during the first set. And one, the second case Serena Williams won a major while pregnant. She's not even the best individual player she's never lost in a doubles final.
She's never really had competition. Even Fetter had. Djokovich really struggled. Tiger woods. Serena Williams has won 15 grand slams [00:09:00] before the last time tiger won his last major. Serena Williams is the most underrated athlete of my life. Maybe the most dominant athlete of her generation in CRA. And by the way, when you and I grew up with Martina Steffi Graf, Billy Jean King, Chris Everett, I don't think they're close.
Not even close to me what Colin calorie and you should check him out. If you're into sports, he's on YouTube, a bunch. He is absolutely fantastic Combinator. Really interesting. Very provocative as you could probably tell, but I think. That really surprised me, man, because I actually didn't know that she found out she was pregnant before she won the Australian open.
But actually when you look at her doubles record with her sister, when you put it in perspective, I mean, You know, Cerena is like really good, but when you hear those facts, we know what we have on our hands is someone [00:10:00] who is truly great. Right? Totally. I mean, she took a test just before the tournament was a complete surprise.
Apparently. And she, you know, she did a double take from what I heard and she still went on to go and win. Can you imagine, I honestly can't for many reasons, but it is just a nod to her. Um, but Mark, I think. Think it might be time to hear from her. What have we got next from Serina herself? So this is a fantastic little clip of Serina reading, a very famous and powerful poem by Maya Angelo.
But I think it's a great segue to now hear a little bit about Serina has self demonstration of her approach, her mindset, her discipline, and her. Um, you know, a bravery, I think comes through a lot in her reading of Maya Angelo's poem. Still. I rise. I'm the [00:11:00] Wimbledon champion of 2015 Serina
you may write me down in history with your bitter twisted lies.
You may try me in the very dirt, but still like dust. I rise.
Just like moons and like suns with the certainty of tides, just like springing high still. All right.
Did you want to see me broken bald head and lowered eyes, shoulders falling down like teardrops weakened by my soulful.
[00:12:00] History's shame. I rise up from a past that's rooted in pain
on a black ocean, leaping and welling and swelling. I bear in the tie, leaving behind nights of terror and fear.
Daybreak that's wondrously clear. I rise
bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave. I am the dream and the hope of a slave.
Pretty powerful stuff. It's amazing. Mark. How both [00:13:00] Michael Jordan and Serena Williams, how they're so powerful and clear about their intentionality and their mindset is really. Has been the real reward of this innovators in sports series. I have never come across, um, any particular industry or craft where the.
The very best are just so explicit about their intentions and their mindset. It is totally inspiring. I totally agree. Something that's really coming through in the sports innovator series. And you know, we're only, we're only two people in so far is like, say how prolific and efficient they are communicating these different mindsets and approaches.
Um, but also, and I think we're about to go and explore a little bit of this with, with Serena. They have a very, very [00:14:00] clear vision at how they go in and be the best version of themselves. It's kind of a, it's almost a little bit like a formula they've sort of cracked the formula in how to be the best of the best.
And they're the perfect people that we can look into and learn lessons from. I think, I think that's what you, and I've found during this series so far. I agree. I agree. And I think to get us started, we're going to, we're going to look at a first thought, um, where we're going to get into this idea of, we, we look at Serina and we can see this Titanic effort is competitive spirit, this fight, um, and, and this, this.
Absolute commitment to being the best they can be. And, um, it really pushes us to ask where from, where does this come? Where does this start? And we're going to hear now from Serina herself, we're going to hear about [00:15:00] what it takes, where it begins and how training. Is the start. I always felt like an underdog
was really small for my age and I was Venus Williams, younger sister. I always felt like I was just fighting to make it. I never felt that would be great. One day. Training every day for 30 years is difficult. Then I also think someone is out there working really hard and there's a poster on their wall of me.
And they're working to beat me
with that. I get [00:16:00] up, I go every day, I'm sore, but that's the life I chose. So there's obviously days I don't feel like training, but there's no day that goes by that. I feel like losing. Hmm. I love that. And what it's doing is saying here is exactly what we were just referencing. There's a clear efficiency, there's a clear vision, and there's an acknowledgment amongst our sports innovators.
And I'll reference Jordan in a second, which is. I know that there's always somebody around the corner working hard. You know, it's really interesting how she's exactly the same as MJ, that the fuel comes from the sense of competition. But Mark, how about how she pays that off? You know, it's hard to get up every morning.
Wanting to train hard and win, but I never wake up [00:17:00] wanting to lose so good. I mean, this is the same that we heard with MJ about never being complacent. You know, even though, you know, Jordan, as well as scurrying up, they're both on top of their game. They're the best in the world. Both aiming to continue improving, improving themselves.
They are making sure that that. Always one step ahead of any of the competition, you know, 30 years of waking up every day and training every day, that rock solid mindset, that hard, um, attitude towards making sure that they're the best version. I think it's so great. So, yeah. Yeah. And I think the, um, the interesting thing is where we're pushing into here is what's motivating you.
And sometimes, you know, we wake up and we love the idea of doing really well of achieving being the champ [00:18:00] or, you know, scoring the home, run both on the field or in the office, but sometimes. No matter how positive you are, you kind of, it gets tiring. Right. And what's really fascinating. She says, well, if I really, what she's really pushing to you, if I have to really think about it, I just think about losing.
And then that's what gets me off the chair that gets me out of bed, which, which I like. So I want to ask you, like you get out there, you're trying to get the job done. Take us a little bit into, how do you kind of flick the switch, particularly when maybe you're in bed it's winter time and you're like, damn, I don't want to get out of this bed.
It's nice and warm. There are times where, you know, you should go for a run and you're considering not running. What do you do? What's your little hack to get yourself moving? I think the little hack for me is [00:19:00] the, the knowledge or the memory.
Being exposed to that level of hardship before. So if it is a really cold morning and you know, this was particularly in London that I'm referencing a little bit over here, but, uh, you know, I remember, you know, minus one, minus two degree centigrade that is for our American listeners minus one, minus two degree weather in the winter and I'd get up.
Get on my bike I'd cycle to work. And I think what motivated me to do that or go for a run, like you say is, Oh, I've, I've sort of dealt with this before. I sort of know how it goes. It's just a level of practice. You know, I want to be exposed to those sort of things because. Life can be short. I want to make sure I've experienced a number of, you know, hardships and challenges, because I think that's what drives you on that kind of [00:20:00] motivates you to remember, Oh, it's not as you think, but, but my take is like you're in the cozy bed and you're meant to go for a run.
And what, what is it that you think about? Like, how do you do it? Right. How do you flip the switch? What, tell me about the thought take us right to the very thought, like I say, I think it's, I know how good I will feel. If I go and achieve this. So my motivation has to come from within, you know, that's good.
Yeah. Yeah. So you think about the outcome. I know, even though I feel cozy now, I know I'm going to feel really great if I've had a run really revitalized fresh, you know, is that the idea? It's the ownership. Yeah. So I'm going to get my motivation, motivation. I can be inspired by. The innovators, I can be inspired by Serena or Michael Jordan, but actually to go out and make a difference to go out and be, and fight to make it and spend 30 years [00:21:00] to be the best tennis player in the world.
That's on me. I have to be the one who wakes up and goes for that run or goes for the cycle. So I think what motivates me is that awareness, that ownership. So, so what I do this is really interesting is. The most effective thing I have found is to be clear in setting the attention the night before. Yeah, that's true.
You know what I mean? Like if I, so for example, I had an eight o'clock call this morning. I looked at all the things in my day and I was like, if I. Don't get out of bed at quarter to six, I will never wake up, do my stuff, go for around comeback, share and be on my Cola dice. So I set a very clear [00:22:00] intention.
So I woke up naturally. I didn't, I didn't send an alarm. I got into bed early, which was also part of the intention, but here's the interesting thing. What I noticed is when I'm really clear. And it's just me. I sit down, I review my calendar, maybe nine o'clock at night, and I make a commitment to myself.
I'm running tomorrow. I looked at the weather. I'm going to run really early before my first call, because I know if I miss that window, it won't happen. And do you know what? It wasn't a battle. It was not a battle this morning. So a little, a little tip here is like, if you want to train hard, if you want to work hard, if you want to fight the good fight and stay motivated, sometimes it's not only in the moment, like you were talking about, think about the outcome, which is great, but it's also.
12 hours before 24 hours before. Think about [00:23:00] setting the intention, making it so concrete in resolute that I'm running tomorrow. That's it. And what's interesting for me. This is just for me is I tend to wake up and it's I'm, pre-programmed, I'm running. And there's not this physical, mental struggle of, Oh my gosh, how much I love that extra half.
And that is, that is a good tip. Yeah, you're right. Really, really effective. Definitely going to be effective. I'm going to try that tonight. I'm going to lay my kid out. And for next week, I'll tell you how many runs I've gone on. I think that's Mark. If you want, if you want to go extreme, you could jump into bed in your running kit, in your, in your shorts and your shirt.
And I know that some people do do that. Some people do that, but he it's really interesting. Look, whether you're trying to be a great athlete, trying to be great at home or in the office. The [00:24:00] truth is we are always exposed to some potentially some negative thoughts. It would be crazy for me to sit here and say, I never have a negative thought.
In fact, I know for a fact, all of us, at some point sometimes in when we're tired or frustrated, we'll think negatively, or if we feel like we're just not getting the results and this next clip, um, is from Serina, really framing. How we should think about, um, negative thoughts and obviously they're quite dangerous, but I think Serena's got the answer to let's have a listen to her talking about never quitting.
You know, visit the hospitals all the time. Children's hospitals, and these children's have cancer. They're dealing with leukemia, they're dealing with all kinds of diseases, but yet they smile. That stuff really inspires me to realize, okay, you know what? I can be in the darkest of holes and the darkest of positions, but I know that there's someone [00:25:00] out there that I can help.
I can change their life if I just never quit. And that's just what I, the mantra that I live by. Did you ever doubt yourself yesterday though? I did. I did. I thought, I thought. I at one point I was not playing one. I thought, gosh, you know, I may as well think about what I'm going to say, but it was, it was a brief thought.
And then I snapped right back and I thought, now I want the win is for 12 points in a row. Then I thought all I have to do is break and hold and break and hold. And then I thought there was so many different thoughts that went through my mind. One of them was negative, but, and that's normal. I think in like you do have that negative moment, that negative thought, but what's important is that you don't let it overcome you and let it take.
Priority. You let it fall. You let it slide and you let the positive thoughts come another great demonstration from Serina of a lesson or a mindset that she applies in her own life. So specifically one that is grand slam winning, and she's obviously referencing it here around playing the game and sometimes having a little [00:26:00] bit of doubt or negativity when the competition is playing.
Maybe a bit harder for us and for me, as I listened to that clip, I'm getting a really good level of inspiration to say, okay, well, there will be, you know, uh, clients or other companies or colleagues maybe who are challenging me in some way. It might not be malicious. It might be just because we're all out on the world.
But for me, it's, I think what serene is saying here, which inspires me is this. Positive spin on it. You know, I can still help out this for sure, but I shouldn't doubt myself. And I think that's quite a, quite an empowering concept. One empower consent. What do you think Mike? I love the idea that she is saying guys, as soon as you start to have a, uh, a negative thought develop like a reflex, uh, action, where you're like, [00:27:00] Ooh, that was a negative thought.
And then sh you can tell she's like, boom. No way. I'm not expecting that thought and it triggers her back into positive thinking. So I think what's what to build on. What you're saying is of course, we're going to have a negative thought it's natural, but if you can build a little, a habit, a ritual, a reflex reaction where you turn around and say, I will not accept that thought because if you immediately say I'm having a negative thought stop, right.
Believe in myself, take a breath. Reframe. I think this is really important. I find myself highly inspired there about this idea that you are, what you think if you, if you are always blaming others, if you're always not taking full and total ownership, if you are not. Truly wishing the best for yourself, your loved ones, your [00:28:00] friends, your colleagues, anytime that you're not on track with positivity, I believe those negative thoughts take you the individual down.
Um, so I love this idea. She's saying immediately respond with the positive thought, snap yourself out of it. Don't indulge, negative thinking because it's. You become it, it manifests inside of you. And I think if you treat it like some infection that you don't want to, it's like, it's like Corona virus, negative thinking yet, as soon as you see it, hear it, like run for the Hills, get positive for me.
I love it because when we're a bit off track, you'll often find that we've allowed negative thinking to take over, right? Yeah, absolutely. And I think, you know, just to build on it, what, uh, what I like about Serina and what she's saying in this clip is she acknowledges that you probably will have negative thoughts.
You know, sometimes you do [00:29:00] have those moments, like you say, it's, it's unavoidable mud here. You know, we've just got to build those rituals as you say, and make sure that they don't come priority. So. Don't beat yourself up if you feel negative. So when I, when I struggle, uh, and I'm thinking, Hmm, I'm rubbish at this.
It's very easy to go down that rabbit hole. Isn't it. It's very easy to think. Okay. Well, if I'm no good at this, then I can't be very good at. That and gradually your efficiency, your productivity, and actually even your relationship with the work itself suffers. And I, I like what Serena is saying here. And we'll couple of a couple of other mental models we're going to later in the episode is how you.
Can almost put it to one side and allow yourself to focus on getting the best result. And that's something I [00:30:00] really, really like about the sports innovative series. Same with mine. Yeah. Um, you can see where Serina and Michael are just. Totally kind of the same cloth when it comes to, to mindset. Very, very similar.
Now the gift that we've been able to kind of produce right now is, um, Serina and her sister Venus, both had Rick Mackey as their childhood tennis coach. And you might be wondering like, where does all this. Amazing thinking come from. And often it's, you know, family, parents, coaches that give us so many of these thoughts that stay with us.
And what we're really, really fortunate in is that we have found, uh, some great clips of Rick Mackie. And in particular, we've got one little thought from him that I think you can see so much of Serina in. And, uh, what we're going to do is just. That's a little bit of [00:31:00] an entre more as a little break is actually goes super meta here and not only take inspiration from Serina, but actually take some inspiration and some really powerful thinking from her coach, Rick Mackie.
So let's talk about. Past and present and how we can handle the pressure if you want to become mentally strong. All right. You got to have the ability to forget, and it's the hardest thing to do because when you double fault or you hit a ball in the net, or you hit it long, All right. You're going to have a feeling.
You're going to have an emotion and it's going to go right through your body. And it's probably not going to be a good one. But how you respond to that feeling is what I call the X factor. You got to slow it down in your mind, but if someone went ACE, ACE, ACE, I don't think you're going to say all right.
I got them now. I got them. Now. I don't think any of you are going to be thinking like that because what happened. But it was, you just got ACE [00:32:00] three times in a row, so you're going to respect it more. You're going to fear it more. You're going to be more indecisive. You're going to be more tentative. And that's the worst thing that you can do.
What does those three ACEs have to do with the next point? Nothing. If you can frame it like that, if you can just tee it up. Just like that. That's what greatness does. And that's the difference between someone who's good and great. They have the ability to forget they can focus on the present and it's been my experience.
You know, people ask me all the time. What's the similarities. Capriati Roddick, Venus, Serena. Okay. Mary Pierce, a lot of these players that Sharapova that I coach when they were young, the only thing they had in common, they just saw all love to compete. They just loved the battle. And if you can do that, you're going to handle pressure.
So if you look at it, it's pretty common sense. And if you're out here saying I'm slow, what happened? You just got [00:33:00] slower. That's the one thing. And only thing you have control over is your attitude. Boom coach Rick,
excuse me, excuse me. While I just sort of rattle off the last 10 greatest American tennis players, all of whom I coach everybody is, you know, Enviable. Right. So what Rick's saying that is, is so true, not only in sport, but also in our lives and our career, this idea of forget the faults or forget the, the, the errors, the challenges, and so on, you know, don't allow those to sideline you like, like I was saying a second ago, it's very easy.
For me to focus too much on the negatives and allow that to rub off on some of my positivity, some of my positive attitudes. And what [00:34:00] Rick's saying here is, okay, well be resilient, you know, build up this, uh, this focus right now. On the present, forget about the past and just keep on living each play each game as it comes.
One. I, what I liked about it actually upon further reflection of the club is it's quite mindful, you know, this, this element of, uh, focusing. On the ACE now, or the point now and forgetting everything in the past is a little bit mindful. And what we're saying, there is similar to how you are meant to focus on the breath.
You focused on this breath, the one now the one now the one now, you know, you have to be right in that moment. You've got to be totally, totally focused on the right here right now, I think is, is so true. So interesting. Yeah, I think what a nice package of thoughts that we've [00:35:00] been given there that, you know, train hard and just revel in training hard.
And while you're there, just do not let those negative thoughts take over. And when you face these adversity, Box it up, put it in the past, start fresh focus in on the moment and you will have the capacity for greatness and everything that I just said there, Mark is incredibly easy to say incredibly hard to do, but nevertheless, this is the frame that we need constant reminding of and the parallels with Michael Jordan.
He was always the one to be first to training. Last to leave. He was always the one who believed that no matter how many points they were down, they could make it back. Um, and what a nice treat to hear from both Serena and Venus's coach, you can literally see like the inspiration he gave to her and that we take from her.
[00:36:00] Um, what, uh, I think that's a great package and sets us up with some, uh, some nice mental models to come right. Oh totally. This, this is exactly what Serina goes on to talk about in all of the clips that we've just listened to, as well as like, say some of the work we're going to look at now, uh, this is the, this is the formula.
This is the foundation. This is the, uh, the starting blocks of building resilience and building, you know, that, that mindset going out there and challenging the, um, the opportunities that present themselves. Now, before we get into all the exciting metal mental models, let's just remind everyone that probably think himself.
They token about this. Michael Jordan show a lot. Um, where might they go, Mark, if they want to get their hands on this Michael Jordan show. I was going to do an in interpretation of, of a, you know, an umpire from a tennis game, but I've realized that's probably going to be difficult to do over the microphone.
[00:37:00] A little obstruction. One say you can go to www.moonshots.io, and you can find everything from all of our past archive shows online. As well as navigating to your Apple podcast platform, your Spotify, your stitches, your overcast, all of your favorite podcasting platforms. You can go and find us there. And while you're there, please leave us a review or rating or get in touch because we'd love to hear from you.
Sounds damn damn fine. And now we're going to kind of pivot across, um, into some mental models. Um, some things that are crucial if you want to. Be great at whatever you choose, wherever you decide to invest your effort. This is not just for those of us that are athletes and sporting types. This is for everyone.
[00:38:00] And first up we've got this really, really, really important thing. Um, and. I think to set the context is so many times people start a new endeavor, whether it be a sport or a business, and they imagine that success will come easy and quickly. And Mark, is that true? I don't think it is Mike. I don't think it is true.
I, I would be surprised that anybody who can really point to a true overnight success, what we learn is that there is sometimes years, if not a lifetime of effort in order to get to greatness and what separates those that have talent and those that achieve greatness. Really this idea that Serina embodies, it's this idea that, Hey, you've got to stick at it.
Um, because you know, not everybody makes it. [00:39:00] On the first go. So let's tune in for our new mental model from none other than Serina Williams to raise my voice and hopes breaking barriers and make it easier for those coming up after me. And one thing that I truly truly believe in is that the success does not define a person.
It's how you successful. You can be after you fall. A lot of people that truly inspire me, are those not who are wildly successful, but those who are wildly successful after they fell. And then they came back to be super successful again. And that's what for me feels like successful brand and a person.
Lots of brands do not know how to make it on the first time. I know as a professional athlete, as a tennis player, as I stand here as Serena Williams, I guess I can't put that in quotations because I am Serena Williams, but I just did,
but I know my first time [00:40:00] as a professional athlete, I lost in less than an hour and to a person who. You know, who, I don't think anyone in this room can remember, but I never stopped a good trying or believing or believing that I can reach my goals. Also the same thing as I started my fashion company, it didn't happen instantly with success, you know, somewhere in between winning Wimbledon's and winning the U S opens.
I also never stopped believing. Um, the art of failure for me is not limited to athletes or entrepreneurs or even seasoned executives. It's open to everyone in life. And part of the journey for me has taken a fall and dusting yourself off. Never stop trying, never stop believing dust herself off. This is a great, great little, um, I think it's an award acceptance that Serina was giving there.
Um, actually I think it was from ad week comes to think of it with her, with our brand. But anyway, I love what she's saying here. And what's [00:41:00] interesting is hearing from. A sports individual who has gone through, uh, a lifetime, a career full of, of amazing wins. And the harsh truth is not everybody does win all the time.
And we'll Serina saying is, okay, well, those who can dust themselves off once they've been at the top. Maybe they've had a loss, maybe they haven't won that next championship. Maybe they haven't won the grand slam. How you come back and respond after that is, is a really, really incredible moment because that shows that resilience, that coach Rick was telling us in the clip just before, as well as serene has been, been telling us throughout her career.
And for me, that's, that's pretty, pretty empowering. You know, it isn't just about whether I get that success straight away or not success. Can come in the way that I respond to things, the things that I'm the impact on those around [00:42:00] me and the work that I do, you know, it doesn't necessarily have to be a grand slam singles or doubles tournament.
It can be, it can be amazing. It's amazing to think that an athlete that when 23 grand slams. Can remind us that her first professional game, she was completely completely beaten in less than an hour. So you appreciate her journey so much more, but you know what, when I hear this, what it does for me is it reminds me that, Hey, when you get beat that first time in less than an hour straight sets, That's okay.
That's part of the process. Hardship is a natural thing that should happen. Right. It's natural. So don't get dejected in a way. What we're seeing from serene or an MJ [00:43:00] is that hardship and failure are essential steps along the way. So if you love the competition, you can literally engineer a mind state of great.
I just found that means I'm a bit more closer to success now. Because what happens is we all get so embarrassed about failure. What happens is we all think so poorly of ourselves, we compare ourselves to others, but what Serina and Michael are doing is they're taking it all on the inside and saying, good, alright, another learning, another lesson, uh, Zaha did.
She would just say, I am that much stronger because of this. And I think this is essential. If you want to stay the course. No, you want to start a new business. You want to start a new sports? Well, you're going to start at the bottom. You're going to find it hard. You can have to struggle, but know that the struggle is essential if you want to be great.
And if there's no struggle, there's no gray. Totally this never [00:44:00] quit attitude of, uh, avoiding negative thoughts, taking precedent, you know, retrain your mind to see those challenges, those speed bumps, those, um, I dunno problems, I suppose, as opportunities to, you know, build up that resilience, build up that strength.
And that's really what's coming through in this whole series and especially serene, or I'd say. I agree. And you know, the funny thing is that once we start getting momentum and sometimes when we have ascended to really great levels of success, What's interesting is sometimes we can lose a connection with our desire.
We can make the mistake of falling into some bad habits and to keep us on track. We've got another thought from Serina, but this time she's got some advice for us that there's like this question. It's [00:45:00] like, if you're going to turn up. Are you really ready? And she's going to frame how she thinks about a match or a tournament before she shows up.
And I want you to listen to this one because this one is super powerful. Let's have a listen to. Serena Williams talking about always play to win difficult. Was it to make the decision not to compete in Melbourne? It wasn't that difficult actually to decide not to compete. I really, when I was there, well, I wasn't there, but when I was making the decision, I didn't want to go to Australia just to compete.
I wanted to go or to any tournament just to impede. I want to go with the mindset and the mind frame that I'm here to win. I'm not here just to show up and, you know, just kind of take a space in the room. So for me, that was really important. And when I realized that if I went to [00:46:00] Australia, I would be just filling a seat.
I knew that that's not how I've traditionally done my career. I've always entered with the mindset frankly, to win and yeah, I don't want them all, but at least my mental was there. So, um, I didn't make it and I'm okay with it. It says it's a nice admission from Serina here and it shows again, this.
Winner's mindset that Serina has, which is make it count. If I'm going to go and turn up, I'm going to be prepared. I've done the practice. I'm the best version that I can, and I'm going to go and smell. I'm going to go. And when exactly, and what I like is she knew that she wasn't ready. So she's like, I'm not coming, but what's really interesting is if you look at Michael Jordan, the same thing, he always walked onto the court with absolute, he turned up to play and to win and to work harder than anybody else.
[00:47:00] And I think what I take from this Mark is sometimes. We can find ourselves just making up the numbers, you know, and I think this is another lesson from Serina. Never just show up to be counted, show up to win, right? Bring your best, bring all the preparation you can or just don't play because you're not doing yourself a service.
And I think this is so good that she had the presence of mine, of like, Oh, I could turn up, earn a few million, whatever. It's it's a great, uh, demonstration. In fact, as, as we're going to see, um, in the next clip as well, it's this idea about thinking of the big picture? So rather than, you know, Serina, like you say, tourney up and you know, maybe not doing the best that she can, she thought, okay, I've got the awareness and the right mindset of only going for something when I'm a hundred percent [00:48:00] sure that I've done that preparation, I've woken up on Sunday morning to go and train.
I have that resilience or that mindset to God and play the best I can. And as we're going to see in the next clip, which I think is a nice to handle for this idea. Is Serena now telling us a little bit more about, uh, you don't always need or want to focus on the shorter, make sure to think about the big picture and actually relax and even have fun.
A recent vanity fair cover. And in the article discuss how, once you stopped focusing on the short term and relaxed, it really just changed the game for you. And it became more fun to discuss that a little bit. Yeah. It's once you start, once I stopped looking at the short term. I was just able to like something released.
It was like, this is something chemically released in me. And I totally relaxed. I think I went four in a row at that point. And it was just, it [00:49:00] was just a lot easier, you know, sometimes I think I know I, and I think we, a lot of people in this room can relate, put a lot of pressure on yourselves and it's, you know, it's hard.
So you just have to kind of just take a deep breath and, you know, almost sometimes take a step back and then take those three steps forward. Yeah. You know what I'm inspired of? He and Mark is the thought that hard work and practice remove all fear. And I think what you see in people who are great in the office, great on the sports field.
Is it a certain point? They are relishing and enjoying what they do because they put in the work. And I think the reason why we have this clip at the end of the clips is that you can't enjoy this unless you've done the work. You can't just. Be a total ease because if you haven't done the work, [00:50:00] you can't just flip that on it's in the knowingness that you trained hard.
You didn't give up that you focus on making every shot count it's because you did that. And you overcame all this adversity when you are there. When you're in front of a big crowd, about to give a speech. If you've done the work, you can just enjoy sharing your ideas. When you're a great athlete, you can just breathe in the moment and the atmosphere, but this is a result of all of the mindsets that she's spoken about.
All of the hard work that she has illustrated is that she can just walk out, be chill, be relaxed because deep in her conscious, she knows she put in. The work, and this is where we see her and MJ in their greatest intersection that they truly put in the work, which [00:51:00] enabled them to get so much joy from the work, from the sports, from the effort that they put in.
You're you're, you're totally right. You know, serene is telling us she's having fun, you know, when moving that focus on the short term, and we've heard in a couple of other clips from the master coach, Rick he's focusing on the present, you know, remove the faults from your, from your memory and just play it on.
It's the same as, as MJ telling us to. Be resilient and, you know, focus on being the best that you can be. And this awareness once you've, once you've got it, once you know how to be your best self, uh, I think that's the empowering thing, but, but it is a challenge, right. Mike, you know, to know and be aware of yourself and know when maybe you're not performing your best.
How do you identify when, you know, you might wake up and, you know Hmm. [00:52:00] I'm not quite on point here. What's what's your methadone here? Well, it's an interesting question because I think it comes from even the first principle of, are you listening, uh, to your body, to your conscience or your subconscious?
Cause I think we, we often get a signal, a slight uncomfort, a thought what I'm using. But I think we just don't listen to it. You could be right. You know, I think we're very intuitive things as human beings. Um, and I think we do process a lot of signals and we try and, you know, our subconscious tries to tell us what's going on, but sometimes we deny them.
And I think that the biggest thing is that a lot of people. Um, find things [00:53:00] too hard, too stressful and not enjoyable because maybe they've dreamt of having some success, but the real struggle is they know they just haven't put in the work. Okay. And I think that if you can learn. And measure what the work looks like.
For example, you know, we've talked about the idea like you should, if you're going to give a speech to a large audience, then you should probably give it at least five times in rehearsal over the course of a week beforehand. Because then you can walk on the stage and you're so comfortable in the subject energy.
You can just talk, you just know it just like we might be kicking around clips for several days before we actually record the show. We're in a constant convict station. So by the time we're like, wow, what a great show we've got coming up. It's full of good stuff. Whereas if we were just [00:54:00] rushing around, we'd feel a little bit apprehensive or.
If you go back to your school days, you know, when you're walking into an exam and you just haven't put the work in, you're not excited to be there. You're anxious, aren't you. Exactly. And that's exactly what Jordan told us. You know, the way to remove anxiety in a lot of the cases is to work hard, put in the practice and step out onto the court.
And I think serene is exactly the same when she. Wouldn't focus too much on that short term anxiety and thought about it alone. Then you can go out and you can have the fun can be, uh, an incredible addition to a team or yourself, your career. And so on. Once you've put in that hard work and practice five times, you have that, that confidence and that awareness to garden and smash it, go on and win the grand slam.
Yes. And talking about [00:55:00] smashing it. I think that we've touched upon this winning formula that seems to be emerging between both Michael Jordan and Serina. And it seems to be like some of the entrepreneurs that we've seen, that they can make. A failure, not, not something that is negative, not something that's laid with guilt, but it's like a fuel.
It actually makes them stronger. And. This last and closing thought from Serina goes to the heart of this. And this is perhaps one of the most inspiring things that Serina can offer us, which is this role that failure can play in your success. So for the last time, let's tune in and listen to one of the true tennis greats, Serina Williams, talking about the role of failure.
Tell us about a time you failed, it could be on the [00:56:00] quarter or fail failed. And what did you learn from it? Um, I dunno, I fell a lot. I feel so many times in fashion and I don't know we're working on this new collection. It could, it could fail too. But, um, the thing about failing is it's it's good. Cause if you fail, you don't, you sometimes you don't know how to be better if you're always doing right.
Or you can just kind of stay in this plane and you're probably like. How come I'm not here. How come I'm always here, but if you fail, then you fall and then you kind of can rise up higher than you ever would have if you didn't fail. So I, every time I lose, which I absolutely whore, um, but every single time I lose, I get 10 times better.
And that's failing what it does for you. Get 10 times 10 X better through failure. I mean, what a great closing thought from Serina failure is a way to success, or maybe it's no [00:57:00] weight, excess you've found out what doesn't work and by doing so. You've illuminated the path to success. Yeah. What a great lesson.
Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, just to draw parallels with, entrepreneurial-ism look at James Dyson, I think he made thousands of vacuum prototypes before he nailed it. Um, and every single time he got a little bit closer. Every single training session, every single game for Serena was getting that bit closer. And what's so good.
Is. The unlock that comes with this idea that we have from Serina Williams today, which is don't get on the heavy boots. Don't go all more burden and sad about something failing. No quite inverse certain be absolutely. Um, Positive in the thought that [00:58:00] this is a deliberate step towards your greatness. And if you learn what is there to be learned, you have actually grown in an improved.
And I think this totally changes how we see failure and sets us on the course where we're not held back by a fear of failure, but we're just. All in. I think that is so powerful. Mark. I think it also is very similar. It's a similar mindset model that you and I have explored before, which is go to the pain, focus on this.
I do have ripping or stretching a muscle and it gets stronger by going towards that as a challenge and adversity, perhaps you're going to grow that resilience and you're going to get better. And through experience, you'll learn. Whether it's a business or in this case, you know, sports, you'll learn to be the competition because you'll have more experience.
Fantastic. Just perfect,
[00:59:00] pretty exciting stuff. And I go, I've got to say it's just been such a joy, um, to. We truly appreciate Serena Williams and her accomplishments. She's um, she's ascended on my, uh, list of old time inspirations. Um, I mean that story that we opened with, she won the Australian open whilst pregnant. I mean, I was sold at that point.
I'm like, dang, that is so huge. That is so remarkable. And to see that it's 23 grand slam totals, not two, not three. 2030. Um, it, and it all comes back to mindset. Hard work don't give up and the more you can control your mind, your body can be the best in the world. I mean, Oh, yeah. I mean, I'm, I'm right there.
I'm pumped too, too. This is like such a confirmation and a fresh look at what we got from [01:00:00] Michael Jordan. It's this whole sports innovator series is just full, full of learning, understanding, and it's just changes the way you look at things. Doesn't it matter. It really does. It's a rip. Different tastes through one that we've obviously done before, where we'll focus on, uh, who are architects, uh, innovators of, of business.
And it's been really, really fun to sink our teeth and get on the courts and the various spaces in the sports series so far. But remember Mike, we're not, we're not done with sports innovators yet. We've still got one and quite an interesting cat. Yes. Our next show will be on Joe Rogan, who. Obviously super thick guy did a bunch of MMA, obviously an entrepreneur television host, uh, just signed the biggest podcast deal in history.
Oh my [01:01:00] gosh. I don't know how are we going to fit Joe into one show, but we're going to try we Mark. We're going to give it a go. We're going to give it a go. Uh, you know, we're going to have to do a real element like we've done with Michael Jordan and Serena Williams. A lot of. Focused collect, collecting. I think we can do an entire series on any of these sports innovators.
And obviously I recommend for everybody to go and check out the highlight reels of Cirina and Jordan as well when they've got time, because they are incredible players on there. Action packed action packed. So Mark, I think, I think we're done. So I want to say thank you to you. I want to say thank you to all our listeners from Australia to great Britain, into all the wonderful places such as the Honduras.
Macau Algeria, Lithuania. We welcome all of our listeners. We are so excited to see the moonshots family growing. Thank [01:02:00] you to you, Mark for all of your clips and your thoughts, and thank you to our audience for their ratings, their reviews, uh, lending us. There is, uh, for this job of learning innovators.
We've learned from Michael Jordan. We've led from Serina Williams. Next is Joe Rogan and I. Wait, so we'll see you all next time on the moonshots podcast. That's a wrap.