According to Andre Agassi, considered one of the greatest tennis players of all time, the one piece of advice that’s guided him through thick and thin comes from William P. Young, author of The Shack.
That advice? Simply to live fully in the present.
Andre Agassi at the Champions Shootout, Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia
Imagine if every time Agassi missed a shot, he had turned his attention to figuring out reasons he’d missed instead of focusing on returning his opponent’s next shot.
But it’s not so easy to live “fully in the present.”
As Agassi says, “We all have a tendency to go to a place in our minds where we’re solving problems that actually don’t even exist.”
If you’re worrying about the future, which has yet to occur, or regretting the past, which you can’t change, you aren’t living fully in the present.
Working to stay in the present–a building block for psychological flexibility–is the hallmark of champions as Agassi has proven.
So when you hit a bump in the road, take a hint from Agassi. Remind yourself that the ball is still in play and the only thing you can do that really works is to send it back over the net . . . without beating yourself up for how you did on the last shot or worrying about what your opponent will challenge you with many shots in the future.
Staying in the present time, focusing attention on things you can control, and doing what counts are the result of psychological flexibility.
The question is how to grow your psychological flexibility when the norm is to be inflexible, as reflected in what Agassi said.
But the story doesn’t end there because anyone can boost their resilience, and everyone would be well served to try.
Expand your capacity to “be here now” and avoid the trap Agassi talks about of solving problems that don’t even exist.
As a first step, take this psychological flexibility self-assessment to see where you’re at.