Whether your motivation is a better life for your family, or just an inherent drive to win at all costs, you’re passionate about the time and sacrifices you put into your company meaning something.
Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic are considered to be two of the three best tennis players of all time.
Both won more Grand Slam titles than anyone who had come before them.
Yet their philosophies about achieving greatness couldn’t be more different.
Here’s how:
Federer vs. Djokovic
Both Federer and Djokovic have their own famous stories.
For Djokovic, it’s all about discipline.
He won the 2012 Australian Open. The final match lasted 5 hours and 53 minutes (the longest Grand Slam final ever).
It was a grueling match against rival Rafael Nadal, with seemingly endless long rallies.
After failing to break through to the top of the sport for the first few years of his career, he’d now won 4 of the last 5 Grand Slams.
But he hadn’t allowed himself any of his favorite sweet, chocolate, since 2010.
However it was clear, after an intense match like this one where he emerged victorious again, that his discipline had paid off.
A team member brought him a chocolate bar. And he broke off just one tiny square, and ate it.
He refused the rest of the bar. According to his book, Serve to Win, he claimed that absolute restraint was the true cost of reaching the world #1 ranking.
Federer rose to the top before Djokovic got there, and they battled for years.
He undoubtedly made sacrifices as well in order to remain an elite athlete.
But his definition of greatness is different.
In 2017, Federer visited Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors when they were all in China.
Warriors player Draymond Green asked how Federer stayed at the top for 20 years.
The team expected to hear him talk about outworking everyone.
But Federer described his simple daily routine:
Making breaking for his kids and dropping them off at school
2 hours of tennis practice
Lunch with his wife
Cooking together and spending time with the family in the evening
Putting the kids to bed and feeling grateful for a “perfect day”
Federer said that being able to do that, and have that same great day whenever possible, is what motivated him to stay sharp and stay on top.
Both Djokovic and Federer are undeniably great.
Your own definition as a founder should be based on building a life you never want to escape from.
Sustained success relies on your perspective, passion, mindfulness, and honestly joy.
For Djokovic, he achieved that through extreme discipline.
For Federer, it was balance.
Find yours. Build the business to enable it.