.png)
Highlight: Serena Williams, the 23 Time Grand Slam Winner, yes 23!! The 23 time winner is yet again choosing making tough choices and growth over comfort.
Context: Serena Williams told Vogue that she will move on from tennis. Serena Williams said that she had never been good at saying goodbye. Before watching her go on, we need to highlight how much she has already done. In her 40 years on this earth Serena Williams has not only become a 23 time grand slam champion but also accomplished the following:
14 major championships in doubles with her sister, Venus Williams
Winning over $94.5 Million in prize money
Launch of her own clothing line Aneres
Multi-million endorsement deals with Puma, Nike and more
Support for the #EveryChildAlive campaign, affordable, quality health care for every mother and newborn
Four Olympic gold medals
Authored a book with her two beautiful sisters Venus Williams and
Appointed Goodwill Ambassador, Serena championed the UNICEF Schools for Africa initiative, providing education to the most marginalized and vulnerable children.
At age 13 she went to meet with South Carolina leaders in support of racial healing
In 2000, she supported the NAACP's call to remove the Confederate flag from the S.C. state house since it was used to hurt and strike fear, and be a symbol to legalize the enslavement of humans her words at the time were "My decision to not play in South Carolina was based on a much deeper issue and one that I feel strongly about," said Williams, she was then an 18-year-old star who just the September beforehand she had become the first black woman in more than 40 years to win a Grand Slam title when she won the U.S. Open.
Tips & lessons to be learned from her story for current and rising Culture Leaderz:
Focus - focus on an area of strength, work hard as well as consistently to be great at it, Serena Williams definitely did this with her athletic gifts. Serena Williams is quotes as saying "Everyone's dream can come true if you just stick to it and work hard." In 2017 Serena Williams said that she works hard for two to three hours a day practicing on the tennis court, along with another two hours in the gym that is a total of nearly 5 hours on practice and training plus how many ever hours she spent on her business endeavors, travel, interviews, and more to support her tennis career.
Build - after focusing on a a core key area of strength for you, build upon it. A great example from Serena's success is how she built upon her tennis successes to go on and become an author, spokeswoman, entrepreneur, ambassador, and more.
Key questions & next steps to use on your own:
Your Core Key Area - what is your core key area of strength or focus? To further define it, try asking close friends, family, or social followers for 3 words that define you.
True Strengths vs. Traps - there is a notion about strengths and weaknesses, that what some people would consider your true strengths are things that strengthen you, tasks, skills, gifts that make you feel energized when you are doing them or after you complete them, even if you aren't good at them. True weaknesses are things, skills that make you feel drained or frustrated after you use them, even if it is something you are great at. An example could be feeling drained and frustrated after doing an expert job editing music video, it would make music video editing a weakness for you. Since you are good at it, you could get 'trapped' into making it a focus even though doing the editing makes you feel terrible. Another option could be singing, if you absolutely love arts & design and get totally fired up refreshed by all things art or graphics but aren't terribly skilled at being an artist yourself. You could look at being a graphic artist manager, owning a graphic design agency that hires artists, being an art critic, and more. In that example, an arts related role that fires you up would be a strength for you because it strengthens you.
Find your strengths, build upon them, and go hard.
Comments