Tattoo on Stanislas Wawrinka’s Arm

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.

~ Samuel Beckett – Irish Poet

After the surprising outcome of the Australian Open Tennis match this past weekend, I have been obsessed with the inspiration found in failure.  I am intrigued by the mindset of those who value the trials, tribulations, set-backs and epoch fails on the road to their goal(s) that lead them to success.

Now my expertise is in understanding others and the way they communicate and I am not claiming to be an expert in sports analyses. I merely enjoy watching and playing tennis (since my mother tossed balls to me over the net on a tennis court as a young girl. I’ve long admired Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, Rafa Nadal, among others and (of course after disliking him for defeating Agassi) I soon found admiration for the 17 time Grand Slam winner and record holder: Roger Federer.

Now I must add one more player to my list who peeked my interest during his interview prior to the Finals match on January 26th: Stanislas Wawrinka (prn:  (St-un-E-Slas Vav-rEEnk-a). Although, many sports casters refer to him as “Stan the Man” (perhaps it rolls better off their tongue)

Stanislas is considered by observers to be tight-lipped (not much of a talker). However, when it came time for his interview, aired prior to his match with Nadal, the few words he said were profound, inspiring.  His dialog provided insight to how he motivates himself to rise up from a loss/failure and learn and play the game again — following his passion: The game of tennis. He talked about the tattoo on his arm, his M.O. It is saying from the Irish Poet Samuel Beckket: Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.

In short (and much less poetic), you have to try and it’s okay to fail. You must try again and fail again, each time learning, improving, growing… each time failing better until you essential fail at failing! This M.O., and his focus had led Stanislas to a 2014 Grand Slam win and a bump up from 8th to 3rd ATP ranking.

Wawrinka was born and raised in Switzerland like his friend and fellow tennis player Federer. In fact, the two are a good team, as they won the Gold Medal in the men’s doubles tournament at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Stanislas is not the only one who is inspired by and shedding a positive light on failure.  In 2008 J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter book series, delivered a commencement address at the Annual Meeting of the Harvard Alumni Association, “The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination.”

Remember when we set out to accomplish our goals it is a windy road to success and we need to find ways to motivate ourselves to push forward after our missteps and failures along the way. Sometimes it can be challenging to find this strength ourselves. This is normal and happens to all of us, that’s why we turn to others who inspire us by sharing their knowledge, wisdom and experience along their journey to success.

It is important to recognize if you never try, then you never fail.

If you never try then you will never win, never succeed.

Why not Fail to Win!