Basic Goodness

Life-changing journeys for talented human beings offered by a some zen dude with the brain of an advertising guy and the body of a nightclub doorman. Welcome to Atalwin's blog!

  • Connect
  • Ambien Buying Online Cheap Zolpidem Ambien Online Sales Buy Real Zolpidem
  • 100 DW website

Eps 78: What Andre Agassi’s Comeback Can Teach You About Finding Your Purpose

November 30, 2014 By Atalwin Pilon Leave a Comment

Agassi comeback French Open 1999

The first line of Andre Agassi’s autobiography “Open” is “I hate tennis”.

It is a great autobiography where he explains how his abusive father who vowed to drill his children into tennis champions robbed him from his childhood. Unfortunately for Andre he has the most talent and therefore suffers most. Or he endures the most hardships; his sister who has no talent for tennis is just ignored by her father. Not very fun either.

It is a fascinating story of a boy who becomes a victim of his talent. Although he hates his sport he becomes rich and famous for being so good at it. He has learned to win because although he hates tennis, he hates himself even more when he loses.

There is an interesting turning point in his relationship with tennis somewhere in his life. He is having dinner with his wife in an Italian restaurant in New York that he likes a lot. He is friendly with the owner and asks the man how he is doing. The owner of the restaurant shares his concern. He has to work very hard and isn’t sure that he will make enough money to pay for his children’s higher education. Putting your kids through college is very expensive in the US. Andre is touched by the story and –if I remember correctly- appalled by the lack of interest of his wife at the time, Brooke Shields. The circumstances lead up to him creating a trust fund for the children of the restaurant owner. He put enough money on that account so that in 10 years or so their education was guaranteed.

At the time he was a very rich athlete who could do such things. But the reaction of the restaurant owner changed something. Apparently the man was so grateful and crying over the phone from relief and gratitude that Andre for the first time in his life realized that he could change people’s lives with the earnings he made by playing tennis. This was his epiphany. This was also the start of his comeback that brought him al the way back to the no 1 position in the world. He wasn’t playing for himself anymore and he wasn’t just avoiding the self-loathing that came from losing matches: he found a way to make a difference in the lives of others by doing what he did best.

Andre Agassi started exploiting the talent he was famous for in a different, more selfless way. I think this is an inspiring answer for people who struggle with their role in the world. Some of my participants of the 100 Day Warrior start to doubt the meaning of their work. It feels senseless. But I don’t think we should devaluate our talents. Instead we should figure out how we can help others with our talents. An easy way would be to ask yourself; ‘what would a warrior do with my talents?’ I think it is quite simple. Instead of working on the question ‘how can I maximize my revenues and income?’ we can ask ‘how can I maximize my social impact?’. You shift from ‘how can I benefit?’ to ‘how can I serve?’

Once you have mapped out your greed and fear you muster up the courage to break with those patterns. Breaking the patterns alone is already inspiring and healing. Even without changing your role you can change a lot by playing the same role differently. You can add courage, honesty, integrity, sensitivity and compassion to the mix. You can allow not-knowing to enter the equation and you can allow your warrior heart to do the navigation. Surely you will move into terrain where you will find opportunities to contribute to increase consciousness or relieve suffering. Your warrior heart will take you there.

***

This is episode 78 in a series of 100 blog posts that will be published daily during the 100 Day Warrior, a unique program around physical strength, inner wisdom and meaning. All posts are written by Atalwin Pilon, founder of Basic Goodness and creator of the 100 Day Warrior. For requests for motivational speaking, in-company workshops, online coaching and mindfulness training click here. If you would like to join our international community of brave and inspiring human beings or just follow this blog and receive updates, please click here or sign up on the right side of the page. Atalwin specializes in coaching smart and creative people, both groups and individuals. If you are interested in a free coaching session click here.

You may also like:

  1. EPS 39: PEOPLE DON’T CONSCIOUSLY HURT EACH OTHER
  2. Eps 58: Don’t Be Afraid Of Heavy Things. Just Lift It!
  3. Eps 64: Why ‘Super Human’ Is In Fact Natural
  4. On Lovers And Leaders And The Importance Of Exploring The Unknown

Filed Under: Basic Goodness Tagged With: 100 Day Warrior, Compassion, Insight, Service, Transformation, Warrior

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

SideAd

Would you like some Basic Goodness in your inbox too?

More than 2,367 awesome people from all over the world follow Basic Goodness. Sign up and join our tribe if you are into courageous living too.
* = required field
Language



powered by MailChimp!

Top 5 Most Popular

  • The black wolf and the white wolf (406962 Views)
  • 12 things every guy should master to become a real man (379228 Views)
  • Using social media as a tool for spiritual growth (153260 Views)
  • Open letter to my teacher Genpo Merzel (82639 Views)
  • I dare you to become more than a coward and a liar (62799 Views)

13 Questions to Joost

13 Questions to Douwe

13 Questions to Joan

Tagcloud

100 Day Warrior Amsterdam Anger Australia Bali Beautiful Beirut Blogging Colombia Compassion Courage Death Ego Fear Frustration good Gratitude Healing Heart Honesty Hong Kong India Insight Inspiration Iraq Journey Joy Karma Liberation Life Love Masks Meditation Personal Relationships Sadness Sam van Eeghen Thailand Transformation USA Vulnerability Warrior Wholeheartedness Wisdom Zen

You may also like

  1. EPS 39: PEOPLE DON’T CONSCIOUSLY HURT EACH OTHER
  2. Eps 58: Don’t Be Afraid Of Heavy Things. Just Lift It!
  3. Eps 64: Why ‘Super Human’ Is In Fact Natural
  4. On Lovers And Leaders And The Importance Of Exploring The Unknown

Are you ready to become a Warrior?

Click the button below and dive into the World of the Warrior. You will find everything you need to know about the course and you can register immediately. Your transformation is important, it's how you will inspire the people around you to follow.

Learn more about the 100 Day Warrior

  • Connect
  • 100 DW website

Copyright © 2025 · Genesis Framework by StudioPress · WordPress · Log in