Determination is Essential for Progress
In 1998, tennis star Andre Agassi dropped to 140th in the world.
Have you ever gotten totally discouraged and off course? Have you ever in your life been in a prolonged slump? Or have you ever been unable to figure out which end is up and what to do next? Then you can relate to what Andre Agassi was going through.
What did he do?
1. First he said to himself, “This is not me.”
2. Then he made a decision to take charge of his career, and he went to work.
He played what they call challenger matches. A guy who had played on TV—a top ranked player—was playing in front of 200 people at local public tennis matches. Agassi was humiliated. He didn’t have ball boys or girls; he had to pick up his own balls. That’s how it was in the most minor, minor league.
He worked every day, because he wanted to come back. He said, “Every day I would take out my notebook and write down my goal for the day because I had to accomplish something that day.”
As a result, he began moving back up, flying to 6th in the world that same year. At the end of the next year, 1999, he won the French Open, becoming the only pro to win all 4 majors on 4 different services plus an Olympic Gold Medal!
From Great to Legendary
He went from being a great player to become a legend.
The desire to do something great gave him the drive to pay the price to do what he had to do.
He ran on Christmas day until he threw up. He ran on New Year’s Day through the mountains outside of Las Vegas until he threw up. It gave him the desire to overcome the humiliation of starting at the bottom all over again, enduring the taunts of his critics. The determination to get back to the top was so strong, that he was willing to submit himself to the process that he knew it would take to get there.
The payoff came as he changed his life, and that allowed him to change the lives of others. He set up a foundation for kids, The Andre Agassi Boys and Girls Club, and he started a school for underprivileged kids in Las Vegas.
He played 7 more years until the US Open in 2006 before retiring.
Overall, Andre Agassi is considered one of the greatest come backs of all time.
He showed people that if you’re willing to pay the price, you can come back, take the good things you have done and turn them into great accomplishments. And in changing your life, you can change the lives of hundreds and thousands of others.
If you’re down, you can do the work—just like Andre—and come back. The rewards can be 10 times greater than you imagine.
[bctt tweet=”If you’re down, you can do the work to come back! The rewards will be even better! “]
