Perfection at Wimbledon Redefined

Wimbledon is the epitome of perfection and the ultimate prize as one of the four Grand Slams but the only one played on grass. Most professional tennis players dream of playing at Wimbledon while most of us fans dream of walking on the hallowed grounds, including me who have enthusiastically waited in the cue for 4 hours to get into watch the tennis – yes I am one of those crazy fans! Known as "The championships", it is played on pristine grass at the All England Club which is a members only club for the British elite. Everyone must wear white – cream is not acceptable - and it all appears to be white, pure, and unchanging except it is the complete opposite for the tennis players.Chris Evert, former 5 time champion, said in the July-Aug issue of Tennis Magazine, "Power remains indispensable, but a player also needs physical elasticity and mental improvisation to deal with the all court uncertainty of the fast and unpredictable surface."  My favorite line is "mental improvisation" because to me, it represents the dichotomy and mystery of Wimbledon – perfect on the surface and yet it appears that mental improvisation needs to be perfectly executed...but what does that exactly look like?The two winners- Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic - each demonstrated mental improvisation in different ways.  Serena Williams had to first play her sister in route to the final which is always a mental, emotional, and athletic challenge given that her sister has won 5 Wimbledon’s.  After she beat her sister, she said in a NY Times article, "I just wanted to take the moment in. I remember when we were 8 years old. We dreamed of these moments. It was kind of surreal there." At the final, Serena struggled with her serve and didn't play her best; she began the final by losing her serve making three double faults...but managed to overcome a formidable challenge from Garbine Muguruza, a young 21-year old from Spain, winning 6-4, 6-4.  This is what Serena does- she makes mistakes, admits to getting nervous, but somehow manages to pull herself together and win by seeming to take in the moment. Novak Djokovic had to overcome a different challenge than Serena - he had to move past a gut-retching loss at the finals of the French Open just three weeks earlier.  Then, in the finals he had to play Roger Federer, the 17-time Grand Slam winner and sentimental crowd favorite. In a NY Times article after Djokovic's Wimbledon victory, Federer said he regretted not making the proper adjustments when Djokovic started to figure things out in the third and fourth sets to win 7-6, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3. Djokovic explained, “if here is one thing that I learned in the sport, is to recover fast and to leave things behind me and move on.” So it seems that his version of mental improvisation is to increase the speed of resilience.I am still on awe of how both Novak and Serena were able to win this Grand Slam, especially by adopting a strategy to play on grass - a surface neither is highly experienced in playing on outside of this tournament. Serena is known as a perfectionist and can be seen during matches yelling at herself; yet, she was able to let go and quickly move on. It seems so obvious and yet Federer, who seems to have the most experience having won 17 majors and is viewed as one of the all time greats, couldn’t seem to adapt fast enough. So, the question is how does one develop mental improvisation and be able to quickly be perfect in the moment?My hunch is that Serena and Novak practice compassion towards themselves and an optimistic belief that they can adapt and win, whereas Federer appeared to have more of a resigned mindset given that he has been losing to Novak more often than he has been winning in the last few years.  I believe that compassion, optimism and self-belief create the right environment for mental improvisation to blossom.  Serena and Novak offer us unique strategies for bringing your best self to any challenging situation.  This seems what perfection is about in our fast changing world - creating a supportive and satisfying place for yourself in order to be able to increase the speed at which you can adjust and be present.What has been your experience in adjusting to challenging situations quickly? What helps you perform and get results as opposed to becoming resigned? I am off to build my compassion and optimism muscles and hope you will too!