At a recent interview, Novak Djokovic stated that his focus is not a gift. It may seem like he is always in the state of flow but the mental strength Novak displays is “something that comes from work.” Novak has a process to keep his mind in the present moment. He defines mental strength as how quickly you bounce back from a mental or emotional distraction.
Everything we do is an extension of what takes places in our mind. The way you act and feel about yourself on the tennis court has nothing to do with your environment. It is influenced by your state of mind. If I stress myself out over something I can’t control, then my actions will reflect that anxiety. If I am distracted, you’ll see it in my wandering eyes. However, if my mind is focused on the now, then you’ll find me paying attention to my environment. I’ll be alert and aware without tension. Your level of presence comes from your state of mind.
That kind of focus exists within you. You can learn to find flow and tune-in to your environment with minimal mental distractions. And by mental distractions I mean spending energy on thoughts while you’re trying to do something in the moment. The second you think of something, you’re out of the flow state. During a tennis rally, this could mean you lose track of the ball for a split second. The likely result is you hit it out of your strike zone and miss.
So I want to bring your attention back to Novak’s statement: that his focus is not a gift. The idea that geniuses are born and not made has become a clear myth. If a person worked on it and learned how to stay in the zone during pressure moments, then you can too. Richard Feynman, a noble prize winning physicists, also asserted that he just worked on learning his skills that led him to become a phenomenal lecturer and physicist.
You can learn the tools to develop mental strength as well as anybody else.