Stop Comparing Houses & Phones

Rafael Nadal will play a quarterfinal match in the Australian Open today as he continues his quest for the all-time Grand Slam singles record.

Last year, Nadal provided us with some incredibly wise words about the mindset that has enabled him to reach this point. It’s one that took him years to adopt.

“You can’t be always unhappy because your neighbors have a bigger house than you or a bigger boat or have a better phone,” he told reporters. “You have to live your personal life, no? Personally, that’s the things that I did during all my career. Just try to follow my road, try my best every single day.”

Months before those comments, Nadal told the Spanish newspaper La Voz de Galicia, “Even if Federer or (Novak) Djokovic finishes with more Grand Slams than me, it won’t affect my happiness 10 years from now.”

How often do we get caught up in comparing ourselves to our competition, rubbernecking on our self-discovery journeys at the mile markers of their perceived progress?

The point, Nadal realizes, is not whether he eclipses Federer, what surfaces he’s won on or whom he’s defeated along the way.

It’s that he is an esteemed and humble champion who has provided sports fans with indelible memories for the better part of 15 years.

The trivial debates about who the “GOAT” is are made for social media but will likely occupy little real estate in his mind for the rest of time.

Nadal’s mentality might serve us well. Let’s stop concerning ourselves so much with the speed of others’ serves and the top spin on their backhands and focus more on our personal skill development.

Our competition isn’t the player who’s standing across the net from us or the one who’s on the next court. Our competition is simply who we were yesterday.

When we finally come to terms with this, we might start to see some championship trophies in our lives more frequently.