The Purity of Obsession - by Grant Gregory - Embers

Last week, Ian surprised me over dinner with some news: I’ve been promoted to Partner. I’m incredibly excited and grateful, and as I’ve reflected, I decided the best way to share the news was to talk about tennis. One of my favorite interviews is from 2015. The Financial Times interviewed Novak Djokovic about his recent success, and whether he thought it would continue. Djokovic gave a pretty simple answer: “I can carry on playing at this level because I like hitting the tennis ball.” The interviewer was surprised. “Are there really players who don’t like hitting the ball?” Djokovic laughed. “Oh yes. There are people out there who don’t have the right motivation. You don’t need to talk to them. I can see it. But I don’t judge.” A lot of people don’t really like hitting the ball. They like the endorsements, the clubhouses, the tournaments, the status, the bright lights, and the fame. They don’t like sitting in scorching 90 degree weather, hitting tennis ball after tennis ball for hours

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