The Inner Game of Tennis: The Classic Guide to the Mental Side of Peak Performance

by W. Timothy Gallwey

Focus means not dwelling on the past, either on mistakes

I didn’t give up in the sense of quitting. In one sense I gave up one kind of caring and was imbued with another. Apparently, letting go of my grip on life released an energy that paradoxically made it possible for me to run with utter abandon toward life.

“Abandon” is a good word to describe what happens to tennis players who feel they have nothing to lose.

Now, as we reach the last chapter of this journey, we arrive at a vital aspect of the game and life itself—the will to win.

Articulating the will to win involves asking these questions and trying out responses. This process is my way of embarking on the inner challenge to “know thyself,” as the Greek philosopher Socrates famously suggested.