What I do on court is great, but what really matters is what happens off court, the people who you affect.
Coco GauffRead
Everyone asks me how I stay calm on court and I think it's because I accepted who I am after overcoming low points in my life.
Interpretation
Embracing oneβs true self helps maintain composure during challenges.
Coco Gauff's quote reflects the importance of self-acceptance and resilience. By acknowledging and overcoming personal struggles, one can find a sense of inner peace and calmness, especially in high-pressure situations like sports. This self-awareness fosters confidence and enables individuals to handle adversity with grace.
In practice
During motivational talks for athletes discussing mental health.
What I do on court is great, but what really matters is what happens off court, the people who you affect.
The amount of people - and kids especially - that come up to me saying I inspire them is honestly better than any match I could win, just to know that I inspire another kid maybe to pick up a racquet or go through something they're facing at school.
There's so many people going through so many, like, uncomfortable situations. For me to be - I mean, obviously being nervous is natural - but for me to think that winning a tennis match or losing a tennis match is the end of the world, I think just kind of shows what kind of privilege I have.
Throughout my life, I was always the youngest to do things, which added hype that I didn't want. It added this pressure that I needed to do well fast.
It's important for us to know that our worth isn't defined by how well we do in our sport.
If you are choosing silence, you're choosing the side of the oppressor.
The thing you fear most has no power. Your fear of it is what has the power. Facing the truth really will set you free.
Give us what belongs to us in peace, and if you don't give it to us in peace, we will take it by force.
When all usefulness is over, when one is assured of an unavoidable and imminent death, it is the simplest of human rights to choose a quick and easy death in place of a slow and horrible one.
You'll live. Only the best get killed.
Although extraordinary valor was displayed by the entire corps of Spartans and Thespians, yet bravest of all was declared the Spartan Dienekes. It is said that on the eve of battle, he was told by a native of Trachis that the Persian archers were so numerous that, their arrows would block out the sun. Dienekes, however, undaunted by this prospect, remarked with a laugh, 'Good. Then we will fight in the shade.
Things will go wrong at times. You can't always control your attitude, approach, and response. You options are to complain or to look ahead and figure out how to make the situation better
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