| Amazon has more than 300 reviews of Lance | | | | unrealised potential. This requires will power, |
| Armstrong's autobiography, It's Not About the Bike: My | | | | determination and a preparedness to win against all |
| Journey Back to Life. The reviewers consistently | | | | odds. Lance survived his cancer even though the |
| agree that this book is highly inspirational and full of | | | | doctors estimated that he had a 3% chance of |
| hope. | | | | survival, not great odds! |
| There are too many messages and lessons in the | | | | Here is another pertinent example. The press, globally |
| book to cover them all in this article. However, there | | | | and locally, decided at the start of the 2007 Australian |
| are three key strategies that are of particular | | | | Open Tennis Championship that Serena Williams had |
| relevance to the inner game of tennis. In essence, they | | | | no chance of winning because she was overweight |
| can be captured by the statement, It's not about the | | | | and unfit. They did not allow for her basic underlying |
| racquet. | | | | fitness or her capacity to tap her incredible inner |
| The three key strategies are: | | | | reserves. Her will power was so strong that her |
| 1. Do not let others limit your goals or your dreams | | | | opponents often wilted in the face of her sheer |
| When Lance Armstrong was recovering from brain | | | | determination even when they were leading in the |
| surgery and aggressive chemotherapy, there were | | | | match. |
| many people who said that he would never ride again. | | | | Hence, the second key strategy is to learn to tap your |
| Even one of his key sponsors dropped Lance | | | | inner reserves by challenging the limits you impose on |
| because he believed that he could never recover from | | | | yourself. |
| the devastation of cancer and the related treatment. | | | | 3. Make every obstacle an opportunity |
| Lance refused to let others define his capacities or limit | | | | Lance Armstrong attributes this strategy to his mother |
| his goals and dreams. He was determined to not only | | | | who continuously reminded him, even as a child, that in |
| ride again but to win the gruelling Tour de France for | | | | every obstacle lay an opportunity to improve himself. In |
| his first time. Lance Armstrong went on to win the | | | | an interview after his first Tour de France win Lance |
| Tour de France seven times! | | | | stated that his illness created the opportunity to |
| Even when he was emaciated, exhausted and | | | | improve himself on many fronts. He claimed that his |
| depleted, he still maintained his goals and dream. So the | | | | battle with cancer enabled him to become tougher and |
| first strategy is to maintain your goals and dreams | | | | more patient as a competitive cyclist and more |
| even in the face of opposition from well-meaning | | | | thoughtful, compassionate and responsible as a person, |
| people. | | | | a father and life partner. |
| 2. Dig deep into your inner resources | | | | Hence, a third key strategy of the inner game of tennis |
| Lance maintains that the key learning for him from his | | | | is to improve your game and yourself through every |
| illness and survival is that we are better than we know. | | | | obstacle you encounter. |
| We totally underestimate our inner reserves and | | | | The inner game of tennis is not about the racquet. It IS |
| unrealized capacities because we do not test the | | | | about YOU. It is about how you define your capacities |
| power of our minds. It is often only in a crisis that these | | | | and maintain your goals, how you access your inner |
| inner capacities emerge. | | | | resources and how you use obstacles to improve |
| One key strategy of the inner game of tennis is to | | | | yourself and your tennis game. |
| learn to dig deep into our inner resources and tap our | | | | |