If you are a tennis fan, you know that this week Madison Keys won the first Grand Slam tournament of 2025 at the Australian Open. However, that’s not the headline. It’s not that she won the first big tournament of the season, it’s that this was her FIRST Grand Slam win in her entire career, and it took her 15 years to achieve it. Madison was one those rare, incredibly gifted, and super-talented tennis players who became a professional athlete at the unimaginable age of 14. While most teenagers are navigating various high school challenges, she was traveling the world playing tennis at the highest level. And not just playing the game – she was expected to win multiple coveted Grand Slam titles.
What happens when you don’t live up to certain expectations or achieve certain results? At one time, Keys believed that “the longer time went by where I hadn’t won one, I kept thinking if I don’t win one, am I a failure?” That internal pressure can easily build up especially when success is defined in a binary way – win or lose. That is true for everyone, not just professional athletes. Our clients are elite “corporate athletes” and are also hard-wired to win. However, not every top-performing salesperson, for example, is going to be selected, or earn, an invitation to the exclusive President’s Club (aka…Grand Slam) event that rewards the “best-of-the-best” salespeople with an extravagant trip to an exotic location. Regardless of whether you are an amateur or professional in any industry, learning how to redefine success and how to play the long game will serve you well.
Follow the ON Point Action Plan to master your mindset so your “game, set, match” is played on your terms.
7 Ways to Win the Long Game of Success
Believe – cultivate an unshakable & relentless belief, confidence, drive, determination & commitment to success regardless of how long it takes
Branch Out – instead of a single point of success, create other mini-goals, metrics & aspirations to focus on & to celebrate along the way
Dig Deep – connect or reconnect to the deeper meaning of why that goal, end result, accomplishment or reward is so important
Get Perspective – look up, out & around your life in a more holistic & comprehensive way to evaluate or reevaluate what really matters
Be Patient & Persistent – immediate gratification feels good but doesn’t always happen;
learn how to appropriately pace yourself & appreciate the positive momentum
Strengthen Your Resilience – learn from failures, missteps, setbacks & disappointments & come back bigger, better, faster, stronger
Build a Team – everyone needs a cheering squad, coach, champions, trainers & mentors who will lift them up, go the distance & help them raise the trophy
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