For those of you who follow the tennis scene, you may remember Brad Gilbert, a tennis player that was infamous in his playing days. He is remembered for being an average player that overachieved and “a hustler” on the tennis court that annoyed almost every guy he played with on the Tennis circuit i.e. just ask former pro player David Weaton.
He even wrote a best selling book “Winning Ugly: Mental Warfare in Tennis” which is an ingenious way of staying competitive in tennis (no matter what level of player you are) – and to a certain extent shows you how you can win in the world and “to be the best you can be” if you put your mind to it i.e. with mind conditioning. Off the court, he is now proving he is one of the best tennis coaches in the world. Just look at his track record, coaching Andre Agassi from the brink of destruction to the first modern era tennis player that holds all 4 grand slam titles and the ranking of World Number 1; getting Andy Roddick to the US Open Grand Slam title and World No. 1; and now coaching Andy Murray, currently one of the best up and coming young players. Incidentally, he (Murray) did the unthinkable today by beating the current best tennis player in the world Roger Federer a.k.a Mr. Perfect, a Swiss player who hasn’t lost in the USA in the past 2 years.

Love or hate him, Brad Gilbert is a guy that knows how to coach but more importantly, he is a person that knows how to positively “manipulate the mind’; a marvelous mental motivator that points out that you are not just a mediocre person (regardless of what anyone else tells you) and that anyone can be the best if they put your mind to it.

Some good advice from his book that can be applied to the real world:

• “Don’t rush yourself”; when you are ahead or successful at something, slow down and don’t speed up, speeding up will only cause bad decision making and carelessness
• “Be a good liar (to yourself)”; When things are going easy and life is cozy, one tends to “drop their armor”, relaxing causes vulnerability, complacency and the potential to get left behind. Fuel your intensity for life by “lying” to yourself and picking yourself up, there is always room for improvement to be the best you can be.
• “Look in the mirror: You should see Pete Sampras?”; You should always look in the mirror and see a person that has achieved and worked hard to be the best he can be … life is not about mediocrity, its about achieving your potential. It can be anyone in the mirror, someone you admire… a Michael Jordan, A Tiger Woods, A Bill Gates, a Roger Clemens, a relative of yours etc.
• “Practice with a purpose and methodology”; When you are wanting to be good at something, do it over and over again … but do it with a purposeful plan. You’ll tend to develop proactively and reach your goal with more ease.
• “Having the skills is just a small part, the majority is the mind and self confidence”; when you put your mind to it, if you believe and if you have self confidence – anything is possible.

Not sure how I can get so philosophical over a tennis book but I think he does give Tony Robbins a run for his money. Now I just have to put it into practice!