Find Your Masochist

How Champions Transform Adversity Into Evidence

Pete Sampras is one of tennis’s all-time greats, stood on the court down in a match that should have buried him. Most players in that position search for willpower, grit, some way to push harder.

Sampras did something different.

He stopped fighting the moment and started mining his past. “You reflect on your past experiences, being able to get through it,” he said later.

The match turned around.

This is what separates elite performers from everyone else. It’s not their ability to endure pain, but their skill at transforming what pain means.

The mental anchor