Life is Bigger than the Court: Lessons from Roger Federer's Commencement Speech to the Dartmouth Class of 2024
Life is Bigger than the Court: Lessons from Roger Federer's Commencement Speech to the Dartmouth Class of 2024
"I knew that tennis could show me the world, but tennis could never be the world."
"Who are you said the Caterpillar.
Alice replied, "I know who I was when I got up this morning, but I think I must have been changed several times since then."
Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
While growing up, tennis star Roger Federer dabbled in basketball, handball, skiing, wrestling, swimming, table tennis and skateboarding. When he began to gravitate towards tennis, his parents cautioned him against taking the sport too seriously. When they discovered his love for sports, they encouraged him to have what author Dave Epstein calls “sampling period”, which includes low risk experiments meant to organically discover what one loves doing and wants to succeed in. I reflect on Federer’s work in this widely-read essay on deep-generalists.
Recently my friend Jash sent me this commencement speech which made me pause and reflect on the pivotal moments of Federer’s incredible career. You should watch the speech in full and pay attention to these points:
"Leaving a familiar world behind and finding new ones is incredibly, deeply, wonderfully exciting."
“Effortless is a myth.”
"Talent has a broad definition. Most of the time, it's not about having a gift; it's about having grit."
"Trusting yourself is a talent. Embracing the process. Loving the process is a talent. Managing your life, managing yourself. These can be talents, too."
"In tennis, perfection is impossible. In the 1,526 singles matches I played in my career, I won almost 80% of those matches. But I only won 54% of the points."
"The best in the world are not the best because they win every point. It's because they know they'll lose again and again, and have learned how to deal with it."
"When you're playing a point, it has to be the most important thing in the world. But when it's behind you, it's behind you."
"Life is bigger than the court."
"Philanthropy can mean a lot of things. It can mean starting a non-profit or donating money, but it can also mean contributing your ideas, your time, your energy to a mission that is larger than yourself."
"The world is a whole lot bigger than that. Even when I was just starting out, I knew that tennis could show me the world, but tennis could never be the world."
"Even when I was in the top five, it was important to me to have a life, a rewarding life full of travel, culture, friendships, and especially family."
"I was excited to travel the world, but not just as a tourist."
India Global Forum: June 24-28, London
I will speak at the India Global Forum (IGF) in London. It tells the story of contemporary India and serves as the gateway for businesses and nations to help explore new economic opportunities in the region.
Network Capital has a few free passes for its subscribers. You can attend the summit as part of the Network Capital cohort by subscribing.
