The Weekly Reframe: Growth Lives In Discomfort

Supporting you to free your mind so you can live from your heart!

 “I’m going to aim to maybe even lose some matches from now on, but try to do some changes, trying to be a bit more unpredictable as a player, because I think that’s what I have to do to become a better tennis player.” 

– Jannik Sinner

I love writing about the lessons learned and the mindset work I see in professional tennis. Back in June during the French Open, I wrote about facing adversity. And most recently, during the US Open, the same pair -Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz - came together again. Hearing Sinner’s reflections afterward, I was struck by how much gold there was in how he framed losing.

The learning can be distilled into three main lessons:

Loss Isn’t Personal or the End, It’s Feedback.

Most of us hold a very embedded belief that we are somehow not enough as we are. Often this belief is unconscious, but it shows up in our feelings and behaviors. It can sound really loud when we fail or fall short.

Because of the mindset work he’s done, Jannik is able to see defeat differently. He looks at it as results, as information, not as a reflection of who he is. He uses the loss as an opportunity to assess where he can grow his skills and adjust his strategy. And notice where his attention goes: it’s solely on becoming a better tennis player. That’s his life’s intention, and he stays aligned with it. He doesn’t use the loss as proof that he’s not good enough, he uses it as feedback to improve.

Growth Lives in Discomfort.

Jannik is willing to step out of his comfort zone and try new techniques, even if it means losing matches along the way. He is consciously inviting in the experience of losing matches for further growth. This is the opposite of how our brains are wired. We are designed to avoid change, to cling to what feels safe and familiar.

It takes deliberate brain training to override that instinct. Jannik has clearly trained his mind to welcome discomfort for the sake of growth. And that’s what makes his words above powerful. He is choosing the harder path, knowing it’s the one that leads forward.

Reinvention Takes Courage.

He’s also willing to reinvent his style of play by being less predictable and let go of what worked for him before. Those strategies brought him into the top five players in the world. But to go further, he knows he needs to change.

Jannik is willing to be courageous and let go of what’s been successful in order to create space for something new so that he can get to the next level of his game. Reinvention is never easy, but it brings possibility, resilience, and ultimately the next level of growth.

Sometimes you have to lose first so you can win later. You have to be willing to play the long game, the bigger vision and delay gratification.

The great news is that every single one of us can develop the mindset of elite athletes and reap the benefits and transformation.

So I invite you to look at your own life and the game you want to play. Where are you willing to lose now so you can gather the lessons, grow and transform?

Step By Step,

Jessie