fifteen love

Back in March, I attended a gym management conference in San Diego. One of the keynote speakers was Martina Navratilova. It was really quite an inspirational address. At least, that's what I remember thinking of it at the time. I remember being impressed with the lack of compartmentalization she had with her life; everything was open to provide anecdotal support to her point, from her tennis career, to her personal life, to her political activism. That was refreshing to see.

Regardless, in an effort to continue cleaning up my boxes in storage, I'm considering using the blog as a new home for some of my notes and papers and stuff. So these are my notes from her address.

Live a Champion's Life

1. Play consistently to your strength
   
   • play your best
     
   • use what you have
     
   • love the game—play against the wall
     
   • don't lt what you can't do interfere with what you can do
   
   
2. Don't quit until you get it right
   
   • take note of what's wrong so you can learn from it
     
   • always change a losing strategy
     
   • you can teach an old dog new tricks
     
   • it's not an accident to hit a great shot because you did it in practice
     
   • quality over quantity
     
   • must look the part—can't ask clients to do what you're not willing to do yourself
     
   • we all have to strive for excellence—not perfection—in everything we do
   
   
3. Decide what you want
   
   • measurable, manageable goals
     
   • dream should become part of who you are
     
   • short-term goals support long-term goals
     
   • little by little is manageable
     
   • visualize achievement
     
   • believe in goals
     
   • mental rehearsal
   
   
4. Turn adversity into advantage
   
   • valleys and struggles build strength
     
   • figure out where mistakes were made and fix them
     
   • you have the same brains and ability as when you were on top
   
   
5. Show the world who you really are
   
   • be respectful to your opponent
     
   • as people get to know you, your characteristics no longer matter
     
   • you are responsible for your branding
     
   • how do you demonstrate value?
     
   • take steps and risks to make things happen
     
   • how you: look + communicate + act = personal brand
   
   
6. Surround yourself with support
   
   • do not protect yourself with a fence but with friends
     
   • your support system will save you when you need it
     
   • people around you need to believe in you
     
   • strength in numbers
     
   • important to have heroes and mentors
   
   
7. Gotta have fun
   
   • learn to happily achieve rather than achieve to be happy
     
   • do what you love doing most
     
   • concentrate and capitalize on what brings you most joy
     
   • be passionate about what you do