What We Can Learn From Novak Djokovic Overcoming “Mental Hurdles” to Win Wimbledon

Last week, Novak Djokovic won the famed Wimbledon tennis tournament, his first major win in two years.

In celebration of his win, he penned an open letter that detailed some of the “mental hurdles” he had to overcome to raise the trophy.

In 2016, Djokovic struggled with an elbow injury that derailed his career. During the 2017 season, he dropped out of the world’s top 20. He admitted to having little motivation during the season. He wrote:

One day I will share more in depth what kind of challenges I had to face and how I felt.

I have always respected people that share their most vulnerable moments as their turning points in finding true strength that inspires so many people. I was vulnerable so many times in the last few years. And I am still vulnerable. I am not ashamed of it. In contrary, it makes me more true to myself and others. It allows me to get closer to people. It allows me to “dig deep” and analyze what is truly happening inside of me. When I find that out, I am able to create a strategy to overcome this occurring issue and move on as a stronger, wiser, happier human being.

We’ve all been presented with hurdles in our life that knock us off our path and cause stress, anxiety, depression and a whole host of unwanted side-effects. Djokovic’s words provide inspiration to us all as we look to overcame our hurdles.

Often when we hear stories of athletes or celebrities overcoming adversity, it’s hard to compare our struggles to theirs. They’re living in a different world than us. How can we relate our journey back to someone who won a prestigious tennis tournament when there have only been 141 champions in its history?

You need to find your Wimbledon. It’s probably not a tennis match, but there is something in your life that holds similar value. Think about what you have to do to win it. Right now, you may be where Djokovic was in 2017, but I have no doubt you can get back to where he was in 2018.