On Purpose with Jay Shetty - Novak Djokovic: ON One of the Greatest Comebacks in History

Episode Date: February 18, 2019

Most people, even non-sports fans are inspired by world class athletes like Novak… but why?To be world class at anything it takes more than natural skill, it takes physical, personal, spiritual development and a healthy relationship with one’s own ego to begin a fulfilling journey to greatness - something we are all capable of, given we know how to use the appropriate tools.In today’s conversation, Novak shares everything.He even takes us back to his childhood where he remembers confiding to his tennis coach instead of his own parents about the growing pains of being a young man.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our 20s are often seen as this golden decade. Our time to be carefree, make mistakes, and figure out our lives. But what can psychology teach us about this time? I'm Gemma Speg, the host of the psychology of your 20s. Each week we take a deep dive into a unique aspect of our 20s, from career anxiety, mental health, heartbreak, money, and much more to explore the science behind our experiences. The psychology of your 20s hosted by me, Gemma Speg. Listen now on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm Brendan Francis Nunehm. I'm a journalist, a wanderer, and a bit of a bon vivant, but mostly a human just trying to figure out what it's all about.

And not lost is my new podcast about all those things. It's a travel show where each week I go with a friend to a new place and to really understand it, try to get invited to a local's house for dinner, where kind of trying to get invited to a dinner party, it doesn't always work out. Ooh, I have to get back to you. Listen to not lost on the iHeart radio app

or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Munga Shatekler and it turns out astrology is way more widespread than any of us want to believe. You can find it in major league baseball, international banks, K-pop groups, even the White House. But just when I thought I had a handle on this subject, something completely unbelievable happened to me, and my whole view on astrology changed.

Whether you're a skeptic or a believer, give me a few minutes because I think your ideas are about to change too. Listen to Skyline Drive on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcasts. I started sharing so much with my coach. I think that I remember my dad was like, why don't you share that with me? And I was like, because I don't feel we can resonate on that level. And we tried, but we never worked out.

But he was understanding that I also have to have people that are close to me and influence me in different levels. And that's what I feel like it helped me a lot to develop. Hello and welcome back to On Purpose. This is the place where I speak to people searching for, creating and living their purpose. If you believe in what I'm doing, please subscribe, rate and review this show. It would mean so much to me. This episode is with the best tennis player in the world, Novak Djokovic. Novak and I actually connected over Instagram.

I noticed he'd been following my work, watching my videos, and so I sent him a DM and we had an instant connection. Last December in 2018, I got to spend time with him and his amazing wife in Monaco where they live. And this is where we recorded this interview. His background is incredible and shows how anyone has the opportunity

to become a change maker. We go beyond tennis. We go beyond the athlete, deep into his upbringing and psychology. The human Novak-Jokovic is even more impressive than the athlete and I'm so grateful to call him a friend and I can't wait for you to learn about his mindset and the mission that he's on.

Welcome to the show, enjoy the episode. Hey everyone, thank you so much for coming back for this very, very special episode. I'm genuinely so honored and grateful to introduce our next guest. Not only is he the number one tennis player in the world, he has 14 grand slam titles, including four Wimbledons, but on top of all of that, he's extremely spiritual, an incredible healer, transformer, and someone who's doing so much great work in the world. I've had the pleasure of getting to know him

over Instagram and WhatsApp, and today I get to sit down with him for the first time, but he's definitely someone who's attracted me here to Monaco through his energy and through his incredibly humble and graceful spirit. So Novak, it is an absolute pleasure being with you, my friend. My friend? And I feel your energy over what's happened in Instagram. I feel it in front of you right now.

And I really believe that we've just been pulled together. So good. I mean, thank you so much for coming to see me here. I'm really honored. And as you said, social media was the platform through which we established the first connection. But I feel like watching you and what you do and sharing your message, I felt connected with you instantly.

And your message deeply resonates with me, with people that are close to me, and it's a dream come true to be with you here today. No, you're the sweetest man, and I genuinely feel that when you have a good, and anyone who's listening, I highly recommend this. If you have a good online connection with someone, take it offline as quick as you can.

Yes. Like turn it into face to face, and that's what I saw that we were connecting so beautifully. I remember one of the first things you said to me was, higher forces are connecting us. Like higher forces are between us getting connected. And when you said that to me, I just felt, I have to meet you. There's no need to keep this relationship online.

There's no need to just have it here. If this is someone who truly believes there's a deeper connection here, let's get together, let's see each other. So I'm so grateful that you opened up this opportunity for me to visit you. Thank you very much and I'm really grateful that and generally, honored that you guys came all the way from LA, it's a long trip. And I think we all share a common kind of vision and compassion for the world and I think we all interact with the world in very similar ways even though I'm an athlete but I don't like to categorize or label myself as an athlete as society likes, I think we expand much more than that.

Social media and internet is great if you use it in the right way. So I feel like it's a great platform and it got us connected and we're here today and not a while ago, I've sent you a message on Instagram because I'm your fan, I follow, of course, I follow your message and I follow your energy and everything that you've been spreading

and sharing with people. So I'm just happy to to to get deep and talk about, you know, things that I usually don't get asked on the tennis tournaments. So it's it's really exciting. Absolutely. Absolutely. And that's what I love about you. And that's what I'm excited for. Everyone who's listening and watching is that you aren't athlete, but what I was saying to you earlier is you are so much more and you have so much more to give. You've worked so hard on the court, but what I love about you is that you're also an inner athlete, that you're doing this inner work, and you've really focused on growing yourself, healing yourself, working on yourself.

So let's dive into all of that today. Make this the interview where you get to talk about everything that's important to you. And that's why this podcast actually started. I was speaking at an event last year and Tom Brady was speaking before me and he was interviewed by a sports journalist. And the conference was actually about building meaningful lives. So I was asked to speak while I was talking, Tom was speaking before. And the interviewer asked him a question and Tom started speaking about his family. He started talking about being a father.

He started talking about all these beautiful values and responsibilities and how he's growing now that his sports career is coming to a natural end, et cetera. And the sports journalist just said to him, they said, Tom, leave all this soft stuff. Let's talk about the sports. And I felt so bad for him because I just felt like he was really trying to open up his heart

and the sports journalist was almost just squashing all of that and saying, let's just talk about your rings. Like, let's talk about the medals. And so I wanted to build a platform where people like yourself and people from music, media, movies, film, everyone can actually come and talk about your deeper sides and your real heart.

So I want you to feel really comfortable to be able to do that today. I am very much and you are definitely one of the very few people that I'm following that I can share this message with. And I truly mean that because, and I don't mean that in a bad way for the society, I'm not judging, I don't like the judgment, I like the, you know, the word hatred or anything like that. I respect everyone and we, I respect also this kind of moment in time that we as people are in, you know, and our society is where it is, with a reason, and we just have to go through that stage of development, I think, and an evolution. And it took me time to really, I feel like, come to that understanding in a way,

because I was also, for many years, through my character-building process and spiritual development, and kind of opening my mind to different dimensions and horizons of self-awareness and self-care. I was just feeling a lot of times lonely, you know, and I just felt like what I was doing was not understood, especially in my world. And not just understood, but it was not accepted, which was even worse, because then, you know, you're labeled as a kind of like a black sheep, you know, in the herd. And but I still wanted to play tennis and still stay in that sport, in that, you know,

field of life, which I have and I'm not, you know, regretting in contrary, I'm so blessed to do what I love. I've started playing tennis when I was four years old. And my family did not have any tennis tradition. So it was literally a sign of a destiny. Three tennis courts in front of my parents' restaurant in a small mountain place in Serbia called Coponic. My father was a professional skier. He was a skiing instructor.

It's how he met my mom on the skiing slope. And it's a funny story. She kind of like, tell us, tell us. She was skiing and then she fell and then he was there. And he's like, I need to help. He didn't trip around. I think I can help you. He probably organized the whole thing.

But it's how they met. And six months later they got married. And my mom was pregnant with me. And then a year later, they opened a restaurant in the very mountain where they met and six months later they got married and my mom was pregnant with me and then a year later they opened a restaurant in the very mountain where they met and the restaurant was the business that generated the budget for our family. So we spent a lot of time there because we lived three hours by car away in a capital city of Serbia, Belgrade where I went to school and my two younger brothers have two younger brothers. Their names are Marco and Georgia.

They're one is four years younger than me. And the other one is eight years younger than me. They both play tennis. But they stopped. And they went in different ways. Marco is my middle brother. He lives in Spain. And he still stayed in tennis because he just cares about it

a lot. And he's working as a tennis coach with young children and spreading love through that sport. And George is doing studies and setting up his own business and he's 23 and I have to kind of pinch myself. You know, every time I see what he has done in the last two years by himself. And we talked about my children and the indigo children

and I kind of like a new wave of Energy and consciousness and awareness that we're receiving from above through children that already have what we don't have and that's what I see in my brother You know, and and he's been born with this capacity and ability to just multitask and deal with things so successfully and still be happy and it's it's quite amazing multitasking, deal with things so successfully and still be happy and it's quite amazing. So going back to my story is when you're a professional athlete, you know, it's all about winning or losing, right? I don't see losing or failure as such. I see it as another great lesson that awaits for me to learn from.

Did you always have that even when you're a young man? No, no. I just, as I said, I went through my evolution and I was fortunate really that when I started playing tennis, I ran into and came across some really, really knowledgeable people about tennis and about life. In particular, one woman, and her name is Yellen Agantich. She's not with us anymore.

She passed away in 2012, but she was my tennis mother. And so my parents invested a lot of energy and efforts and those times during 90s, when I was growing up, we had two wars. We had unfortunately war that broke down the whole Yugoslavian region because it was big Yugoslavian country, very strong, made of six different states. I mean, countries that are right now independent. I'm coming from one of them, which is Serbia. And then during 90s, from

like 91, 92, all the way to 2000, we had embargo, so people waiting in line for bread and milk and like absolutely most, you know, necessary things. And then 99, we had in Serbia, we had bombings for two and a half months, every single day and night. While I was there, my family was there every single day, we woke up every night for two and a half months because of the alarm but because of the planes flying over us. It was devastating. It was frightening. It was a worse thing that definitely we ever experienced, seeing planes over your head and just dropping bonds and hospitals and everything.

It was just terrible. Terrible. Many innocent people died. Thankfully, I didn't lose personally anyone that is very close to me, but I know people that lost their loved ones and that's a scar that stays with you forever. So this memory stays and will stay with me forever. But at the beginning, I felt like probably most of the people in my country, I felt, I won't revenge.

I felt like who are these guys to bomb innocent people? What the hell is going on? I was 12 years old and I remember I was there day and night and I celebrated my 12th birthday during the day because we didn't go to schools obviously. I was just hiding in shelters and everything. And then we just after a week or two hiding in shelters we just said, okay, we're just gonna, you know, go about our life, and that's it.

You know, we're not gonna care what happens if we're hit, we're hit, you know, what we can do. I mean, and so I remember on my 12th birthday, kids were singing my friends at the tennis club, because we spent a lot of times playing tennis because we didn't go to school so far, it was great. And they were singing the Happy Birthday song and there was a plane flying and I have this image of my own plane and just kind of dropping bombs everywhere. And it was terrible but at the same time, I felt like as I was kind of growing inside out as well, I felt, and I think my parents helped me a lot with that,

is that we can't judge the whole nation or everyone for the actions of certain individuals or certain groups or institutions or whatever that decided to bomb our country and just kill innocent people. We can't judge everyone for that. That's when I kind of like shifted and I just write, you know, this moment absolutely forgiven everyone and everything that have done that. But you can all forget that. You can all forget that. It it stays as I said as a car, but it has on a brighter side brought a lot of value to my life and a lot of appreciation for the value. I felt like this

experience, I'm so grateful for this experience, I truly am because it has helped me to shape me into the person that I am today, the player, tennis player that I am, it has made me hungrier for the success in tennis, made me hungrier to work, train, build myself, so I can show to the world that kid from, you know, war, torn country can actually be the best in a sport that is very global. And so that's what happened, but all of these experiences have definitely been there for

reason. And I don't regret anything. I don't pity anything. I just feel like, okay, you know, that's my karma. You know, that's something that I had to go through and I had to live that. And if we manage to get through that as not just as a family, but as people as a nation, there's not much that it can break you down. So, here, historically, serving people and people in the region have had

a lot of hard wars and hardships and they've been through that. So it was really nice to see the unity with people. And I remember one of the, I was actually talking the other day with my brother and my wife about still reflecting on that period and what was the strongest image that stayed with us from this bombings of two and a half months, in 99. And one of them for me was, obviously, the one

that I explained to you with, with a birthday and shelters, but there was one where I remember thousands of people gathering on the bridge, one of the most important bridges in our city, with shirts that have targets there, and everyone painted their heads in a shape of a target, and singing songs, and, you know, kind of just enjoying having fun. And in a way, showing to the the world and to whoever is kind of dropping bombs that we are the target. So we are protecting this bridge, we are protecting this this city. You know, if you want to crash it, you have to go through us and it was, I think more than that, it was just that power of unity, you know, that energy and that strength that they just showed

the resilience and those moments of hardship. That's incredible, man. That's such a, I've heard you tell that story. I've sidetracked from the awkwardness. No, no, no, I'm glad. No, no, I'm glad you did, because I've heard that story before. I'm glad that everyone who hasn't heard that story

before has an opportunity now. And the reason why it's so beautiful is because, probably most of the planet does not experience that. That's pretty extreme. And so for someone like you to come from that extreme, and especially what you said, your initial response was revenge. For you to be able to transform that revenge into resilience, that's incredible because it would have been so much easier to just have that pain and have that unforgiveness. And so it was a great story that I've read. I'm sure it's quite popular on the social media everyone is sharing it. It was about the snake and the saw. I don't know if you've came across.

Tell me. And the snake, it's true story actually. The snake came into the, you know, Carpenton's shop and it was kind of going and it got caught by the saw and the saw kind of cut it. And the snake didn't realize what was happening. So it went to bite the saw and it hurt itself even more. So the snake didn't know what was happening. So it started going around the soil in order to suffocate it, thinking that soil is attacking it.

So it was protecting itself and finally snake died. And this kind of translates into life. And it's so many times that we get angry or upset with some people thinking that we want to hurt them because we feel hurt, but finally we are hurting ourselves. And it was such a deep message that I kind of resonated with really. And I think that kind of sums up my evolution in a way and my growth mentally of how, you know, I should deal with these particular circumstances and events that

have been quite significant in my life. The wars and those times of hardships were definitely one of the most significant times of my life and my career where I experienced what it feels like to literally have $10 at home in the apartment with my father and my mother with three children to feed and having to wait in the line to get peace of bread for hours and not being able to travel around the world to play tennis. And tennis is expensive sport.

You know, you need money to pay for the record, for the tennis balls, for the coach, for the court. So all of these things, you know, and I think in the end of the day, as I said, it brings light and value to my life because I think going through all of that has made me stronger, but at the same time, made me more grateful,

because I understand the both extremes, so to say, because today I really, I enjoy so much of success in this society, in the sport, and I can afford many things, and I'm really, really grateful for that in West. But I've been on the opposite side. So I think that storyline is really something that enriches me. Absolutely, man.

And your life story is such a beautiful message of the world. It's a great message to the world. It's incredible. And I'm glad that I see, from the way I view it, you live it like a message to it. It's not about you. That's why I feel when I'm with you, that it's not about you. It's not like I did this. It's actually a story and a message to it. It's not about you. That's that's why I feel when I'm with you that it's not about you

It's not like I did this. It's it's actually a story and a message to the world that you know any child any person who is In such object-pand-conditions can actually transform their lives Not too long ago in the heart of the Amazon rain forest this explorer stumbled upon something that would change his life I saw it and I saw oh well, this is a very unusual situation. It was cacao, the tree that gives us chocolate. But this cacao was unlike anything experts had seen, or tasted. I've never wanted us to have a gun bite. I mean, you saw this tax of cash in our office.

Chocolate sort of forms this vortex. It sucks you in. It's like I can be the queen of wild chocolate. We're all lost. It was madness. It was a game changer. People quit their jobs. They left their lives behind so they could search for more of this stuff.

I wanted to tell their stories, so I followed them deep into the jungle. And it wasn't always pretty. Basically, this like disgruntled guy and his family surrounded the building armed with machetes. And we've heard all sorts of things, and you know, somebody got shot over this. Sometimes I think, oh, all these for a damn bar of chocolate. Listen to obsessions, wild chocolate, on the I Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

or wherever you get your podcast. MUSIC I'm Munga Shatekater, and to be honest, I don't believe in astrology, but from the moment I was born, it's been a part of my life. In India, it's like smoking. You might not smoke, but you're going to get secondhand astrology. And lately, I've been wondering if the universe has been trying to tell me to stop running and pay attention, because maybe there is magic in the stars,

if you're willing to look for it. So I rounded up some friends and we dove in, and let me tell you, it got weird fast. Tantric curses, major league baseball teams, canceled marriages, K-pop! But just when I thought I had a handle on this sweet and curious show about astrology, my whole world can crash

down. Situation doesn't look good. There is risk too far. And my whole view on astrology? It changed. Whether you're a skeptic or a believer, I think your ideas are gonna change too. Listen to Skyline Drive and the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, wherever you get your podcasts. Hi, I'm David Eagleman. I have a new podcast called Inner Cosmos on iHeart. I'm a neuroscientist and an author at Stanford University, and I've spent my career exploring the three-pound universe in our heads. On my new podcast I'm going to explore the relationship between our brains and our experiences by tackling unusual questions so we can better understand our lives and our realities like does time really run in slow motion when you're in a car accident or can we create new senses for humans or

what does dreaming have to do with the rotation of the planet? So join me weekly to uncover how your brain steers your behavior, your perception, and your reality. Listen to Intercosmos with David Eagelman on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you. Thank you. And I just feel like the message I can share from my experience, and I don't want ever for people to feel that I'm preaching or anything like that. I just feel like my experience has helped me to reach, you know, certain success, if you want to call it in both professional and private way

is that there is always time for everything. And I'm learning myself even today how to be patient, how to coordinate certain things in my life, how to create space for the biggest quality time that I can have with my priorities, which are my family, which is my growth. And it's a constant journal. I truly believe in balance, but I don't believe that we can ever reach a stage and or point

where we can say, I'm in balance. You can be in balance, but the next moment you're not in balance because that's life, and everything is moving. And it's happening. So that's why I feel like, and then through tennis, I've learned my, you know, biggest and hardest lessons in life. And I've experienced those, those emotions. And for me, you know, tennis court is still a field where I have a chance to grow really. When I'm not on the tennis court, I find it much easier to accomplish certain things that I want to on a daily basis.

But then tennis court, I use as exactly that platform that challenges me and challenges my ego. So I still have, for example, outbursts on the court, I break a record, I scream, I curse, I know you don't curse. I'm like that, amazing that you took that vow. You gotta teach me how to do that. And when that happens, instantly I feel like,

oh my God, why? What did I do? And I have two children, many children around the world are watching and seeing what you're doing and imitating you in a way. So you're sending that kind of message. So I try always to have that in back of my mind and subconsciously like, okay, try to do what you do best, but do it with dignity, do it with style, do it with always having inner voice telling you there's thousands of children around the world watching you play right now and absorbing like a sponge, every move, everything you say, everything you do.

But I still do it. I still go through these outbursts. I felt disappointed with myself for a while because of that. I really felt like I was betraying myself. I was not managing to do what I intended to do. And then I learned about surrender. And then I learned about there is a time for everything in life. There is a reason why we have to take every step of the way in order to reach the top of in whatever way you feel that top is for you.

And then I understood that, you know, I have to accept, I have to embrace, I have to channel it and understand that I still have to work and I have to work all the way to the last day that I breathe and I'm happy with that. I really feel like I managed to take that positive leap in that direction. You've touched on it a few times then.

I wanna dive into it deeply. You mentioned success, reaching the top. The world sees your success, the world sees your achievements, but in Novak-Jokovic's eyes, in your own eyes, what's been your greatest success, your greatest achievement, so far in your perspective. It's a good question. My greatest achievement is my open mind. I feel that with an open mind,

a type of perspective and approach to life, you help all the natural processes in yourself to flourish and to excel. And you're embracing the natural flow of life where you have to evolve and you have to develop and you have to learn. And I just, if I have to define it that kind of shortly, I would say it's just open mind because I feel the ignorance and the close-mindedness and certain convictions that people have are so strong that you know you go through your whole lifetime without really allowing yourself to open up to the world and learn about all these different cultures and things that can enrich your life and make you feel more

fulfilled and live a more fulfilled life. Be more joyful, have that inner peace and emotional balance and stability that we all strive to. And I just feel with an open mind, you're just helping yourself and you're able to receive kind of filter and then give at the same time because the torus field, everything has to flow. So that's how it flows. But if you don't have an open mind, then obviously everything closes up, whether it's health,

whether it's profession, whatever it is in your life, it just kind of feels. And I was there. I was there. I don't want people to think that I know it all or whatever I just feel. Also, I'm sharing the experiences from my process because I was there as I said. I felt resentment, I felt feeling of revenge,

felt hatred. I felt all of that. We all go through that. We all human beings. We kind of experience those kind of emotions, but I feel with training and repetition and discipline. That's obviously, sport has taught me so well. You can really reach anything that you truly want in desire in your life. And where did that open-mindedness start?

Like where did you start to notice that the closed mind was limiting you and the open mind was expanding you? I think very early, to be honest, ever since I kind of wished to play tennis, when I was four or five years old, and tennis was never a sport in our family. I think it, you know, I kind of help also my parents

to expand outside of their inner way, comfort zone, and go into the sport or field of life that is completely unknown to them in a way. And I think that I started playing tennis when I was four and a half, I think five years old. And before that, I was skiing a lot. And I remember even before he started to run, I was already with my dad, skiing.

He was carrying me and going down the slopes. And so the first port for me was skiing. And until I was, I think, nine years old, I didn't really know whether I want to ski or play tennis. I was football, the soccer a little bit there, but it was mostly about skiing or tennis. And unfortunately, I mean, we've been through all this and my father asked me. I remember that day when he set me down with my mom and he said, I am ready to support anything that you desire to do in your life.

And I'm here for you. You have to tell me if it's sport, okay, and what sport? And I said, okay, give me one minute. I needed to, you know. And big decision, yeah, I mean, and then you get the best part of thinking. And I said, like, I didn't take me a long time I thought I said maybe just a little time to think but then after half an hour I went to him and I said it's tennis and he said okay tennis it is and then I think

As kind of getting into this uncomfortable unknown Zone or area or field of life has allowed us to kind of expand all of us. And also having certain mentors and people that have greatly positively affected me on many levels, I've mentioned my tennis mother as I like to call her. I've met her when I was I I think, five, six years old. And then I started training with her tennis camp.

Some are tennis camp that was coming from Belgrade, from Capitol City to Coponeck, this place in the mountains. And then when I was, I think, six, seven, I also started having some private lessons with her in Belgrade while I was going to school. And she was happy to play with me because she felt like I was very talented. And then she told my parents, she said,

I'd really feel like you should try to give your best to support this child to play tennis because I've never seen a bigger talent from then him from Monica Seller. She was obviously the best tennis player in the world. And one of the best female tennis players of all time. And she was her coach as well. And because Monica was born in Serbia,

and then she went to live in states where she is today. And of course, my parents were like, well, if such an experienced and knowledgeable person of about the tennis says that, then we should try to support our child. So that's what happened. I remember I was watching tennis practices and sessions on the fans that I was climbing.

I was really, really in love with this sport. I was very passionate about it. And she taught me about the holistic approach to life, I think, already back then when I was 7'8. She really taught me how to, you know, think about the grades in the school, the music that I listen to, the mindfulness that I have, the observation, the focus, the kindness, the relationship with people. She was working in a team with my parents. And my parents, you know, I'm really grateful for my parents

because they recognize the role of a mentor very early. So they kind of teamed up with her and then, you know, I was learning a lot from my parents, obviously, and continue to learn and from my tennis mother. So that has helped me to, I feel like, be open-minded and understand, but I obviously went through my phases and

you know, through the process of learning and those dealing with those emotions. Although I felt when I started traveling by myself, because I was traveling with my father until I was I think 16 and then 617, I started having my coach and you know, I didn't get too deep in the conversations with my dad and with my coach. And I didn't get too deep in the conversations with my dad and with my mom. And I felt there are some subjects that I want to talk about, and especially in puberty and teenage years, you're experiencing so many changes.

And I was so much in tennis that I didn't really have time for other, maybe, school activities that they ate my fellow friends and students much in tennis that I didn't really have time for other, maybe school activities that they out my fellow friends and students were going through because I was so much in tennis. And then I started sharing so much with my coach. I think that I remember my dad was like, why don't you share that with me? And I was like, because I don't feel, first of all, I've never shared that, those particular subjects and types of conversations with you.

I don't feel we can resonate on that level. And we tried, but we never worked out. So, but he was understanding that I also have to have, people that are close to me and then influence me on different levels. That's what I feel like it helped me a lot to develop. Well, and one of the things I know is also, and I'd love to get your thoughts on this. I feel like it's tough to get to the top, but it seems to be even tougher to get to the top,

have a slump or have a moment of challenge and then try and get back because you've experienced something. And it's like, I know that you've even credited your wife with her dedication to self-care and your work and what she's trained you or shared with you in journaling. Tell us a bit about the process that you've taken to be at the top, have challenges and then still come back because everyone's been coding obviously having the impossible come back and but you made it possible what was happening mentally, spiritually for you, not just physically but what was happening mentally and spiritually for you? Well first of all to reflect on the impossible word. In the word you have, I am possible, right?

Absolutely. So I truly, I don't believe in something as impossible. I really really everything is possible as we talked about it earlier. My wife has been, you know, my girlfriend for a long time ever since I was 18, she was 19. That's when we started dating and she used to play tennis and that's how we met. And we've known each other for five years

before we started dating through tennis. Then she went to study in Italy in Milan. I came at more or less the same time here in Monaco to follow my coach at the time. I started using Monaco as a base. She came over at Milan, it's close to Monaco, so she came over and it all started. When she finished studies, she's obviously, you know, thinking she had a lot of opportunities for her own career, but she sacrificed that in order to live my career, live my dream, in order to save the relationship in

a way. So I'm very grateful for her and what she has, you know, done for our relationship and for me and I learned I keep on continue to learn from her so much. She introduced me to yoga actually. Back in the days when she was studying, she is a huge reader. She likes to read anything and anything and she likes to write as well and she was being a big on journaling all the time. And I remember when I was quite young from my tennis mother and from my parents, I learned how to kind of write and have specific things that I wanna share on the paper.

I did it, you know, kind of like what I'm grateful for and things like that, which was nice. But then I lost that. I didn't do it for many years. And then she reminded me of that. So I started doing it again. And it felt great because I felt like I could release a lot of things that were tensing me up.

True, true, true, true, right. But also through yoga, she learned about it. She was so stressed during her studies and she spent a whole day obviously studying with books and student life isn't easy so she was looking into ways how she can relax herself, get more energy and she was not drinking coffee or any of these things. So she came into yoga and she was saying it with me so I started doing it with her. The breathing, the pranayama, the sun salutations, and ever since then, we've been doing obviously some form of yoga on a daily basis.

And, you know, she's been a very, very significant, interdial part of my life and my evolution. And what I'm really grateful for is that not only that we truly love each other and we are very transparent and honest, but also that we have help from the universe to actually be in a very similar state of consciousness in a certain phases of our lives so we can help each other learn better and grow faster in certain areas that we choose that are part of those particular periods. So I think she would agree that when we became parents four years ago, that has completely shifted our world upside down.

Up to that moment, we were also spiritual, but still quite basic, comparing to what has happened after that. And we truly believe that our kids are our masters and our teachers. And then they come to this life to bring lessons for us and bring help for us to understand a lot of things about ourselves and the deeper levels and what we have to work on, which is quite contrary to what in a way society thinks, which is like, we are teaching them, which we are of course. But you know, actually, I've been talking with her a lot about that. And now we have a baby girl that is one year old and I was mentioning she's a healer. She really is.

And she brings that kind of energy to this world. And she has, I mean skyrocketed our attention for the moments for the consciousness, the awareness about everything. I mean, even more. And we're like, oh my God, there's another level, there's another level. So we help each other grow.

I'm really grateful that I can share with her literally everything and anything that I'm interested in that I'm going through and she has been always the shoulder to lean on and she has always been there. It's tough moments for me in my career when I was you know going through an injury recently and had to take six months break tennis and then when I came back I was like questioning whether I should keep on playing on that level or not and I was just going through going through hard work inside and and she was there and she helped me to overcome all of that. Of course alongside with help of some life spiritual teachers that I have that I can speak about. Yeah, a little bit. Well, there are two guys in particular, Jose Pepe Maz and Jarko Elic.

Jose Pepe is from Spain and Jarko is from Serbia. And I can see they're them, really, as my spiritual and life teachers, my masters, that I've learned a lot from. And back in, I think, 2010 or eleven, I've met Jarko so about seven years ago and I met him through my wife, actually, because my wife had a friend that knew him and that's how we got into it. He's a raky healer, but he's much more than that

and he helped a lot both my wife and I to again open our mind even more to understand how we can have internal conversations with ourselves. Because I didn't know how to do it. I didn't know how to verbalize my emotions. And that's where my wife was out of me. And that's where we struggled in our relationship because she was trying to dig things out for me and make me share more but I wasn't able to do that because I didn't know how. She's like, speak to me, what do you feel? I'm like, I don't know, I feel something.

I just don't. And so I think Jacques was very helpful in that. Sounds like everyone needs that. Everyone, yeah, I mean, everyone needs that, of course. But I think there's this great saying, when the student is ready, the teacher will come, right? So I felt that the first initial step I needed to do, I needed to decide, in my mind, internally that, okay,

this is exactly what I need for my heart, for my soul, for my growth. This is the priority. I have to learn how to manage myself, my emotions, how to not just to be a better tennis player, but to be a better human being. I'm Eva Longoria. I'm Maite Gomez-Rajón. We're so excited to introduce you to our new podcast,

Hungry for History. On every episode, we're exploring some of our favorite dishes, ingredients, beverages from our Mexican culture. We'll share personal memories and family stories, decode culinary customs, and even provide a recipe or two for you to try at home. Corner flower. Both.

Oh, you can't decide. I can't decide. I love both. You know, I'm a flower tortilla flower. Your team flower? I'm team flower. I need a shirt. Team flower, team core. Join us as we explore surprising and lesser-known corners of Latinx culinary history and traditions. I mean, these are these legends, right?

Apparently, this guy Juan Mendes, he was making these tacos wrapped in these huge thirdillas to keep it warm. And he was transporting them in a burro, hence the name the burrito. Listen to Hungry for History with Ivalangoria and Maite Gomez-Rechón as part of the Micoltura Podcast Network available on the I Heart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. The therapy for Black Girls Podcast is the destination for all things mental health, personal development, and all of the small decisions we can make to become the best possible versions

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I'm journalist and I'm Morton in my podcast, City of the Rails. I plunge into the dark world of America's railroads, searching for my daughter Ruby, who ran off to hop train. I'm just like stuck on this train, not where I'm gonna end up, and I jump. Following my daughter, I found a secret city of unforgettable characters, living outside society, off the grid and on the edge. I was in love with a lifestyle and the freedom this community. No one understands who we truly are. The Rails made me question everything I knew about motherhood, history,

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Or, cityoftherails.com. So then the teacher appeared obviously and then after that, obviously I start to expand my awareness and observation of the world. And then I run into Pepe who is very close person and also a spiritual life teacher to my brother, Marko. And they live in the same place. Actually, Marko, my brother went to live in Spain because of Pepper. And Pepper's whole philosophy of life is love and peace. And he brought that kind of energy into our lives, the perception of love and peace, what

it really means. And at the beginning, I was actually not really supportive, I must say, of my brother, because he started doing that before me, he started going through this whole process of learning with Pepe, and he moved to Spain so he can be closer to him because he felt deep inside that something is very important that he has to address. And I just, I didn't get it at that time. I thought, well, you know, you have to, you know, because he was playing

professional tennis. I was like, you can't really, you know, just love and peace, you know, you have to kind of like go back and train and this have worked on. I said, if you're a love and peace on the court, the other guy will beat you. And this is what it comes down to in sports. And he was like, listen, I, he's like, I understand, but I trust me. I have to you in sports. And he was like, listen, I understand, but trust me, I have to go through this and I just feel that this is my growth. I didn't understand it at the time. But I was attracted to Pepe because I felt that his energy was amazing and you can

never get upset with him. You speak to him. He's like you. He always smiles and everything. Even when we had tough conversations, he always smiles and everything, you know, even when we had tough conversations, he always smiles and sends, because he always prays inside and sends you love. And for that, he had to work and still continues to work, I mean, immensely. And I didn't understand what he kept on emphasizing inner work, inner growth, inner work, inner growth, universal love. I really, inner growth, inner work, inner growth, universal love. I really didn't really get it, you know? And then obviously this whole energy attracted my wife and I and we connected with Pepe and with my brother and at different levels. And today, obviously we understand what it really means because we embraced that work and we have to do it daily.

And I just wanted to shortly reflect on that inner work for the purpose or goal. My goal for the inner work up to not a while ago was tennis. The feeling inside can call it ego, whatever has drawn me to that sensation of I need to do this because that will help me play better tennis. But it didn't resonate something. I was leaving a successful life but not fulfilled life, if you know what I mean. And there was something wrong with that. I just felt, I felt the onces of that truth and the essence and what it really means to do that on a daily basis for yourself and your growth as a human being and not just as a tennis player

or a doctor or whatever. But it wasn't, it was weak comparing to the other side which was since I was seven, dreamed of being number one of the world. That's my ambition, that's my lifetime goal. I have to fulfill it. When I fulfilled it in 2011, I kept on going. I just, I want to be more grand slam trophies. I want to be number one for as long as I can.

And just kept going. And I believe that from my experience, you need goals and objectives, you know, and but you need to balance that with, you know, what is truly the most important work, which is the inner work. Yes. I didn't get it up to, up to not a while ago, to be honest. And that's when I started to get it,

and that's when I started to understand the message from Pepe. He was, whatever you do, you do it with excitement, with joy, with passion. But at the same time, never forget about what you have to do before, during, and after that, which is a much, much bigger work and longer work. And now I do truly understand that. So for anyone who's listening and they're like, no, back, I'm like, you, I don't get it. Yeah. You know, because so many people today I feel like spirituality, energy,

all of these words are flying around the internet. People are talking about it, but there's so many people that don't get it. Explain to us in your own way, in the way you see it, what is inner work and what inner work you do, what you were saying that before that, during that after that has helped you,

not just in tennis. Well, you've talked so and reflected so wonderfully on this and so many of your videos about the habits, about addictions that we have. The whole day passes by. We don't even remember a single moment in the day because we've just been distracted the whole time. So if we are learned and trained to be distracted, that's how our life is going to unfold. We are going to be distracted.

But if we train ourselves to be present and more aware, then obviously we're shit to the attention of the subconscious and all the internal external energies and nature and everything into that. In a simplified way, work on the habits. I have still some habits that need working on. For example, the phone, that is so addictive and you get into an Instagram that I, by the way, love. It's great, fantastic. It's how we connected. It's how we connected. But if you let it become your master, then that's how it's going to be.

And you're going to be distracted. You're going to feel lack of energy. You're going to have to feel lack of inner peace. You're going to feel upset. You're going to have a short breath, all these different things. And that reflects on relationships, that reflects on your performance, your work, or whatever you're doing. And for me, try to think inside, what am I doing right on the tennis court?

How can I translate that off the tennis court. And on tennis court, what I'm doing right is complete 100% focus and presence of mind and body and everything. Discipline, working towards objective, organized, preparing myself. This is a big thing. I feel, you know, if you fail to prepare, you prepare yourself to fail, right? So preparation is a huge thing. I mean, at least in my world for tennis, it has helped me a lot because I don't want to put an umbrella, but let's say 80% to 90% of the match that you want, for example, or any success that you have. Exactly. Exactly. How you do your homework. In my instance, obviously, working on all my strengths and weaknesses, preparing myself physically, mentally,

emotionally, spiritually for the match that is coming up. I have the whole short-term and long-term plan. How can I get from here to there in a shortest time? Those type of things. And then obviously doing your homework on the guy on the opponent that you're playing against, where you're gonna play the stadium, the crowd, the weather, it's really a whole, whole work that you have to do in order for you to get in. And then you win a tennis match, and then it's not only about the

tennis match, it's 89% of the work that you do be prior to that. So that's why I believe, you know, preparation is a big, big thing. Working on the habits, the science says that you need 20 or 20 or two or three days that you can shift from bad habits to a healthy habit. So we need persistency, we need discipline, we need repetition. Bruce Lipton, that I also like to listen to a lot, he's talking about subconscious, right? And how subconscious is controlling probably 95% of our everyday life. So if we can feed our subconscious with the information that is going to allow us to excel and to live life that we want to, then that's what's going to happen because your subconscious doesn't know what's good for you or bad for you, it just knows what you tell them.

And the seeds that you plant. So he was talking about, you know, there are two ways to kind of hack your subconscious, which is hypnosis, which happens from, you know, until you're seven years old and then repetition. So that's why, I mean, my wife and I are very passionate for the preschool education and early childhood development until you're six or seven years old.

That's when the most vast brain growth and that's where, you know, the fundamentals and the foundation of your life is set. And that's where, you know, Bruce was talking about it really beautifully and it made sense. And then after year seven, it's repetition. It's discipline. Okay, I'm switching off all my phones after a certain hour. I'm doing my praying work because I believe in the invisible world, science proves quantum science talks about it, where the most distanced points are actually one in a split second and we all have proven that. And so you just need to really believe it in order to achieve it.

You know, where your attention goes, the energy flows. And I think it all starts with open mind, with a question, and it's always so great to ask yourself questions. Who am I? Why I'm here? What I wanna do, what I wanna become, what I wanna, just all these questions, put it on the paper, write it down, go through it in your mind through that,

whatever your method is, but you just have to address it. If you don't address it, you're going to go about the same things that you went about, and then you're going to get the same outcome that you don't desire. So I feel like that kind of awareness about that just helps learn. And I'm learning from you so much on a daily basis as well,

because I obviously follow your work, and there are so many great messages out there and I feel like this is the time where we can expand our consciousness and get closer to what we are because you know the two most important and all this probably questions on this planet ever since the existence of humans is, you know, who we are and why we are here. Absolutely. So, I think also the truth seeking element and part is also quite important in that.

I mean, I consider myself a truth seeker. I like to try to dig even deeper and deeper and deeper and understand who we are. You know, why are we here? Is this a planet? Is this a realm? What is it? You know, is this a matrix?

Is it not? You know, I think it's important to ask us how these questions and do your research and dig deep into that. Because I think it all comes down to, you know, whether you are your own master or not. So I think if you are your own master, then it allows you to take actions

the way you want them, rather than, you know, I love the gym quick. I also like very much. And he talks about the thermostat and thermometer. So don't be the thermostat, but be the thermometer. Set your temperature. Set you set this temperature of the room. And you set it up the way you wanted it.

And thermostat, if you set it, then you have to adjust. So it's reactive. And I think it's such a great wisdom. Yeah, great advice, man. I loved what you were saying earlier. That's great advice. And I hope everyone's listening is taking notes. But what you said earlier, I loved.

You said that for a long time, you believed ego is the enemy. Yes. And then now you've started to understand that actually the ego has to be befriended. Yes. And I thought I couldn't agree with you was, I couldn't agree with you more. I couldn't agree with you more. Sometimes I believe the ego is like a perfect mirror

to yourself in the self that you don't want. But at least it starts teaching you. The ego can teach you so much if you're aware of it. So I wanna hear your perception on how you've been switching between egos, the enemy, to actually befriending the ego. Well, there's, there's, you've got every reason to have a big ego. Like you've got every reason, and you're not. You're a very, this is, you've got every reason to have a big ego. You've got every reason, and you're not.

You're a very humble person, but you've got every reason that you have it. And I do have it. And this is the point. I didn't understand it at the time, and we talked about it a little bit as you reflected. I do have a big ego, but I have to embrace it and learn how to befriend it and deal with it in a ways that going to work work and team up with my ego rather than I'm going to be an enemy

of my ego because then again I'm reacting. Then ego can you know persuade you and do different things and mask certain things is so smart and witty and then you have to react and then you have to just kind of like try to handle and juggle so many things instead of, hey, let's team up. You're inside of me. I'm you, you're me. Okay, let's figure this out. How can we work together?

And you have to please it. And at the same time, you have to control it. Even though I don't really like the word control, I still feel like if you create your controlled environment it's gonna be better off for you in your life. Yeah absolutely. No and I think that's a beautiful. Yeah. This is the what is it? You've got this no this is the the test and this by the way this is the sound for what exactly for that I was listening to a 99 For the oh wow

Oh my god, does that trigger it back? Whoa, what is it for now? It's it's just a test. Oh, it's a test and this is like the they call it Aerial danger. Yeah, right right. I've only seen on TV. Yeah, it's crazy. Wow. The sound, the frequencies. Yeah, yeah, sound is so powerful. Oh, wow.

We need another hour to talk about that. Totally. I'm big into sacred geometry. Same. Same, same, same. When I lived as a monk, everything was sound designed. So the sound you wake up to, the sound you sleep

to, sound was involved in everything. Because even if you're in a coma or you're about to die, the last active senses are sound. So even if you can't see your loved ones, you can hear them. So what I finish off with every interview is called my final five. So the fast five, so these are fast five questions that you have to answer. So the first question I was gonna answer is, what's the first thing that you do every morning? First thing that I do every morning is prayer.

Beautiful. Second question, what are you pray for? First, I express my gratitude for my body, for myself, for the opportunity to continue my evolution as a multi-dimensional being in this realm. I'm grateful for my family, I'm grateful for being able to have my senses and to have big bed and to have a most beautiful sunrise every morning. It's amazing.

Fed, how do you make sure that your energy is where you want it to be, spiritually and internally? Continuing to work on the things that we talked about, so aside of the physical work and tennis, and duties as a father and a husband, I need to get in daily something and my self-care work, daily something and my self-care work, whether it's only a meditation or it's a two minute breathing prayer, whatever it is. Sometimes it's only that because you don't have time, but it's important to just kind of keep doing it and be disciplined with it.

What's the best advice you've ever received? Be open-minded. I love that theme. That's the theme of this. Be open-minded. I think it's just like a theme for sure. It's when you're open-minded, then you're ready to receive everything that we are surrounded with in such a beautiful world and we're so blessed that we live in this world and that

we go through the process of evolution. And I think when you come close to the realization of who you are, I think, and you continue to seek for that truth, it brings you closer to the source from where you arrived and just makes you so present and makes you so calm and it makes you so joyful and grateful for yourself, for people around you, for everything that you have, that you do, that surrounds you, that fulfills you, I feel that that's the essence of our life. Amazing. And the fifth question, fifth and final question is, if your racket was a magic wand and you could get the whole world to understand one thing. What would you want everyone to understand? that our consciousness

expands infinitely Beautiful straight to the point. What do you mean by that? What do you want them to understand? And I'm gonna give you the opportunity to go on with it. Oh my gosh. We don't have enough time That that our conscious expense infinitely means, at least in my own perception, is that we are more than we think or feel with our five senses than we really are. And when I came to this realization, it just opened the door to a whole different universe and I mentioned to me and I feel that my evolution and my growth in every aspect of who I am

and my everybody has just quadrupled for light years I had, I just feel calm at the same time but so excited for everything that life has to offer that I can learn. Thank you, Noah, we so have to do a part two. Please, don't leave that. I'm so grateful. Thank you for your time and energy. You know, you've got so many things on.

I love you guys. Amazing life. I love you guys. Thank you so much. Infinite love too. Okay, thank you. Yeah, please feel free to go. I know you need to.

No, no, no. Thank you. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so excited.

I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so excited.

I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I'm so excited. I hope you're going to share this all across social media. Let people know that you're subscribed to on purpose. Let me know. Post it. Tell me what a difference it's making in your life. I would love to see your thoughts. I can't wait for this incredibly conscious community we're creating of purposeful people. You're now a part of the tribe, a part of the squad. Thank you for being here. I can't wait to share the next episode with you. Regardless of the progress you've made in life, I believe we could all benefit from wisdom

on handling common problems, making life seem more manageable, now more than ever. I'm Eric Zimmer, host of the One-E-Feed Podcast, where I interview thought-provoking guests who offer practical wisdom that you can use to create the life you want. 25 years ago, I was homeless and addicted to heroin. I've made my way through addiction recovery, learned to navigate my clinical depression, to create the life you want. 25 years ago, I was homeless and addicted to heroin. I've made my way through addiction recovery, learned to navigate my clinical depression, and figured out how to build a fulfilling life.

The one you feed has over 30 million downloads and was named one of the best podcasts by Apple Podcasts. Oprah Magazine named this is one of 22 podcasts to help you live your best life. You always have the chance to begin again and feed the best of yourself. The trap is the person often thinks they'll act once they feel better. It's actually the other way around. I have had over 500 conversations with world-renowned experts and yet I'm still striving

to be better. Join me on this journey. Listen to the one you feed on the iHeart Radio app Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. The therapy for Black Girls podcast is your space to explore mental health, personal development, and all of the small decisions we can make to become the best possible versions of ourselves. I'm your host, Dr. Joy Harden Bradford, a licensed psychologist in Atlanta, Georgia, and I can't wait for you to join the conversation every Wednesday. Listen to the therapy for Black Girls podcast

on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Take good care. I'm Jay Shetty, and on my podcast on purpose, I've had the honor to sit down with some of the most incredible hearts and minds on the planet. Oprah, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Hart, Louis Hamilton, and many, many more.

On this podcast, you get to hear the raw, real-life stories behind their journeys, and the tools they used, the books they read, and the people that made a difference in their lives so that they can make a difference in hours. Listen to on purpose with Jay Shetty on the iHeart Radio app Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts. Join the journey soon. Herb us with Jay Shetty on the iHart Radio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

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