Game, Set, Match

In tennis you win points, then points win you games, games win you sets, and sets win you matches. So when you walk out on a tennis court, your end goal is to win two sets, because winning two out of three sets wins you a match. Seems pretty simple, right? But the reality of the matter is that you have a lot of little points you have to win, if you want to be the one to win two sets.

Tennis players can get so caught up in winning sets that they forget they need to win games and points to get them there. What really makes a difference is to think, "Win one point at a time." If you have this type of attitude as a player, you will win points, then you will win games, and the sets will come.

Overlooking the simple, small steps is a common mistake that I often make in life, too. I am generally pretty good about setting an overall vision for myself. I set a goal, and I know exactly where I want to go (in other words, I want to win the set). What I often fail to see is that just like in tennis, there are lots of little steps I need to focus on to lead me to my goal.

For example. I just made a goal to read a book a month--doesn't seem like it should be too difficult in theory. But what I am noticing is that I will say to myself at the beginning of the month, "You have a long time to read this book--you can start in a few days." Well, you can probably imagine that I have that attitude until about the twenty-first of the month. Then I don't want to start because the task is overwhelming. What I need to realize is that every day of every month I just have to do a little to reach the overall goal.

In tennis or in life, focus on the small steps that help you work toward your overall goal.