Venus Williams: THIS Is How You TRAIN YOUR MIND For SUCCESS, CONFIDENCE, & FULFILLMENT

You just have to keep

train

ing

your

mind

and I think sometimes people forget that part that

train

ing

your

mind

is so important if you want to be mentally strong. Train to be mentally strong. A tennis icon. He has won 73 titles, four Olympic and seven major gold medals. blows in your career that has spanned two decades please everyone welcome Venus Williams you also have to think about the decisions you would make if you weren't afraid, you know if I wasn't afraid what shot would you actually take? I try what I would give up on a lot of times it's not even about trying really what would you leave behind just unapologetically embracing who you are and what you look like

this

is me

this

is what you get this is my brand just knowing who you are and not having to apologize for it when you find what you're passionate about it just clicks well it's important to connect with what you love I think a lot of people struggle to build a good identity for themselves do you ever think about identity?

Or do you just link it to your values, your self-

confidence

and your belief system, or do you think about identity in a different way? That's an interesting question, no one has ever asked me that, but I think the identity is Hello everyone and welcome back to The School of Greatness Today's episode is really special because we are honored to have a true champion, the one and only Venus Williams, is here to share her experience as a woman in sports and the vital importance of developing body

confidence

. And did you know it? that a staggering 45% of girls drop out of sports by the age of 14 due to low body confidence, but fear not because paloma, in partnership with Nike, is on a mission to change that narrative with its innovative Body Confiable initiative.

Sport, so join us as we dive deep into this transformative conversation and visit dove.com Confident Sports to learn more about how you can join the movement, let's stay confident and now without further ado, let's jump into this episode with Venus Williams, welcome everyone to the School of Greatness. I'm very excited about our guest today. We have the inspiring and iconic Venus Williams in the house. It's good to see you, Venus, how are you? Hello, I'm great, how are you? I'm very good, very excited that you are here. I want to read a short biography about you because it is very impressive to hear the results you have achieved in your life and to stand behind the results.

You know it every time people receive great praise and results. I always know it. There is an incredible human being and soul behind the results, so I want to talk about both, but I want people to know a little about you if they are not aware of the incredible

success

you have created. former world number one in both singles and doubles, won seven Grand Slam singles titles, five at Wimbledon and two at the US Open and an Olympic gold medalist, and is widely regarded as one of the greatest Tena players of all time and many more achievements than that you are just scratching the surface but you are also an amazing human being, you care about humanity and you have a big heart and a beautiful soul so I wanted to connect with you on how you have been able to translate your mindset, your ability to care deeply about the things you love and the people you love and how you've been able to translate your efforts in the world into your profession as well, so welcome to the school of greatness.

I'm so excited you're here, thank you, it's good to be here now. I'm curious. You know, something I love about you is that I have witnessed you. It's us connecting for the first time, but the things that I've witnessed about you in your career that I love to see is your incredible self-confidence and you know I've watched your career for many years and I've watched your consistency in believing in yourself. and I firmly believe that self-confidence is one of the best skills. that we can develop to achieve our goals and dreams and I'm curious to know if you always believed in yourself or was there a period of time when you lacked confidence, didn't think you were good or didn't think you were worthy of believing or loving yourself You said were there times where I felt like there were times like when you were growing up where you didn't feel like you had confidence in yourself because it always seems like you have it, but you do?

Did you ever struggle with it, yeah, I hate to be one of those annoying people who didn't struggle with it, you know, but I didn't, Al. I was also very oblivious as a kid, like I had a real childhood like I did. . When I was a child I didn't think about how I looked. um, you know, I didn't have the best outfits or the best hair or any of that stuff, so if I had really looked at it, I probably would have been very myself. conscious but I think I was so unconscious that I didn't even know how to think about those things, really yes, I had a great childhood in the sense that we went and played tennis, we went to school, we went to church and my The whole world was my family , my parents, my mom and my dad, so everything they told us was golden.

It's like believing in yourself, okay, believe in yourself, be confident, okay, be confident, you're going to be great, okay, I'm going to be. Great and there was obviously a lot of work behind it, but it was almost like drinking the Kool-Aid, so there was no room for any other kind of outside influence to get involved or get in the way. So I was lucky in that sense. Interesting, what do you think? Why do you think so many people struggle with self-confidence today? Are social networks external influences? Do people just don't think they're good enough? How come you were able to drink the Kool-Aid and stay in that environment and not let outside forces creep in?

Yeah, I think that's important and I think there's a difference between having self-confidence at your core and having situational moments where you don't feel good about it. There are hundreds more times I walked on the court and it just didn't feel right. You know, I don't know if I can do this right, so that's different than ultimately knowing deep down that I have what it takes to do it, so those are two different things, so I would say yes, there have been many times where the ones where I was like, "You know, my God," but in the end I always felt like I was worthy and that I deserved it. and um and that's purely my background it was purely my parents who gave us that from the beginning like I haven't heard anything else since I can remember so I was very fortunate in that sense and I think as an adult I've definitely faced some moments where I've felt like I don't know if I belong here and you know, that was, yeah, that felt like.

What situations are you referring to? I guess they really call it imposter syndrome. Yes, I have had different moments. I'm working with an AI startup with interior design. I'm thinking I should be here, I mean, have a background in interior design and then I had to fundraise for the first time. It really was a nightmare for me and oh my god the anxiety and the problems that came up were horrible and that was the moment I understood imposter syndrome so I spent my whole life feeling like you already met the King of court. and then I get there and I have to raise money.

I think I don't want to be here. I'm very afraid of what's happening, so I think it was a great experience for me and I think I saw it for what it was. and I knew I had to move on, but it was extraordinarily awkward, it was horrible, what was so awkward was doing something you'd never done before, like stepping out of your comfort zone and asking to raise money for something that maybe you're new to. is that it was exactly U my parents once again came back to them my mom says never ask for anything so I just have to ask like you know we are raising money we need you to give us this oh no I have to ask for money this is out of my hands DNA.

I do not request anything. I'm used to being able to do everything myself. Also just a speech like in AI, like he didn't know anything about the AI ​​he had. to know what I'm doing here, in general, I think on the second call, the person I was pitching with fell out, so they asked me, yeah, what are the next steps on the timeline and I'm alone and you have to saying something that you know and that kind of thing happens and you're not prepared at all and it's like dealing with it, but I absolutely think my experience in sports helped me deal with that kind of treatment.

With the unit it's not easy, but sometimes you don't know what's going to happen when you step on the court, but you have to deal with it, so I think that helped, but I know it was a difficult situation. Do I ever want to do it? fundraising again absolutely not um I hope I don't have to do it not a place I would like to be but it was it was good to be very humble yeah wow what do you think was the biggest skill you developed in your training on the court and how athlete, you were able to translate that into these moments of raising money for a business.

Well, I mean, it's hard to choose one correctly. I am a workhorse. I don't mind working day and night. work all day work all night and start over repeat I think the lack of fear to put it on the line Blood Sweat tears leave your heart out there walk in a stretch or not even walk be carried on a stretcher so I know that kind of things, don't be afraid of hard work. I think a lot of people are afraid of that level of intensity, but honestly, that's what it takes to be

success

ful for people who are successful.

Many times you see people when they reach the finish line. Line up the trophy right, they played a beautiful game or created an amazing business, now you see them and they are AB billiant, you had never heard of them before, you didn't see them in the 10 or 15 years they put it up, you didn't. You see their failures beforehand, no one sees you, you know the injuries you have on the court when you just can't do well and the frustration and the back-and-forth and the losses, so all those things really teach you, uh, all the lessons. What do I need in life um and failure also failures you have to get back up and you still have to believe in yourself as much as possible and if you don't pretend at least that sometimes just pretending is enough sometimes You don't know how you're going to get there and I think it's okay to not know, but knowing that there's point A to point B and you have to get to point B, it's okay to not know exactly, but you already know.

Do you know that you are swimming in water? You are climbing the mountain. Whatever you face, you have to do it on your terms. Wow, have you ever been afraid of failure or had confidence that you really, sure, sure, everyone? It's um, but you can't, you can't let that stop you, my mom always said that fear is a demon and you also have to think about the decisions you would make if you weren't afraid, you know, like if I wasn't afraid. Scared, what shot would I really make? Do you know what I would try? What would I also give up if I weren't often afraid to even try?

Actually, what would you leave behind? Interesting many times. Hold on to the things that are just holding us back, um and also, if you're not afraid, then you can look at yourself. I think sports teach you to be self-aware and I have a real thing for not being self-aware and being around. People who aren't self-aware annoy me to no end, you know? So if you're not self-aware, if you're not telling yourself the truth, you're not going to win, and that's the thing about winning and being honest with yourself. What does that talk about holding on to things?

What is it that you held on to in your life for the longest period of time that once you let go of it allowed you to move forward in a greater way as an athlete or a human being or you know? Business, what was that thing? Yes, this is going to sound weird, but I am a person who is always involved in the arts and when you buy art from me, I buy or look at art that I love because it makes me happy and I find it beautiful, there is no category. I don't just buy this or that, and over the years when you look back, you think I should have gotten that piece.

I thought about it or should I have invested in this artist and it's about buying work that you love and can live with it properly so I was walking around art fairs and everywhere you looked there was someone else that I just didn't understand and now it blew up and I think finally, once I let it go, Let it go I felt so much peace, you know, like that piece of, okay, um, that was hard and I know that's a strange response, so let go, let go, oh, I should Having invested in this, I should have taken this action. and by punishing yourself you let that part of you go that's why I had to let it go and now feel free so that's okay, that's okay I know you weren't expecting that answer, but not whatever is in your heart and in your mind, what you do?

I'm sorry for what you think was the emotion that you've had, that you held on to for too long in your life and that when you let it go, it allowed you to be a better human being, a better athlete, a better person that you know. family about emotions really um no, I mean an emotion or Bel or beliefs or beliefs I don't know I don't know I don't hold on to things I think that's one of my strengths that I can do let go of that art thing. um, but things happen the way they happen.

I think I would hold on to things if I continued making the same mistakes over and over.again but I'm human I make mistakes sometimes I make a decision that could have been better but I learn from it immediately I accept responsibility and I move on and I believe that's all you can do well so that I can. You can't hold on to things properly unless you have a time machine and can go back, but otherwise there's no point, what would you say? You know your parents, obviously, I think a lot of people know that your parents had a big impact.

In your life you talk about them a lot, what would you say was the most important lesson that each of your parents taught you growing up and that you still retain today and implement in your life today? Yeah, you know what, that's hard because it's there. There were so many lessons that you have to understand that everything was a lesson, even watching a cartoon was a lesson like there was nothing that wasn't a lesson, so I'm very grateful for that and as you know, I had time to spend on it. With my nieces I feel like I have totally failed because I have made them feel like I haven't learned anything yet, that I have to give my parents energy for this, but I think that one of the greatest gifts that I have received my parents gave me was spirituality, that is very important to have something to believe in, it is very important to have hope, the world is a beautiful place but it is also a difficult place and if you have no beliefs or values ​​you will do anything and then you will get anything if you have no hope it will be difficult getting through this world where so much stuff happens and it's not even for you but for other people that you hear that that's so discouraging, so all of that is very ingrained and I think it helps you let go of things, it helps you play better. in your game, it helps you realize that I'm going to give everything for this and if I feel like it's right, I have something bigger and better behind me. up and I think it allows you to be happy, so for me that is the greatest gift they gave me.

She's like my mom, although I'm my family. The transformation is complete. We are exactly the same and I am proud of that. I love being like her, but we have our weaknesses, we definitely have weaknesses, what is your weakness that you think you could improve? um, zero patience, that's me. I can't always read the room as well as I like. My emotional intelligence is. It's as tall as I'd like U to be and that's not something I can fix. You're born the way you are and I just tell people I'm an empath, but I don't always realize it, just tell me what I am.

I'll be there, I just know, so you have to let me in on some things and I think once I realized that, because during Co I had a friend that stayed with me and the friend came and ate all the food. I drank all the drinks I didn't buy food so I'm like buy food buy the Dr. buy food and yeah everything you know because we thought it was going to be a few weeks and it went on for months right it was a fun experience but I had to learning how impatient I was and also the standard I have for myself is very high, but because of the standard my parents had like they didn't even allow us to walk slow, my dad said slow walker, slow thinker, you can't walk. slow, so everything was fast, fast, so I learned to do things so fast, so fast, so efficient, that then you know that someone else is in your house and you see that they are moving so slow that you think this could be do in a minute like what are you doing and you know my house is someone else's so I didn't do it?

I never complained about it, but it was like buying some groceries, like you can't eat all the food, you know, so I learned a lot about myself and myself. I realized that I needed to work on my EQ and then I realized that some people have more and some people don't, so my family always helps me understand things and situations. They are like my crutch. You feel so? You're just too generous and no, you don't think, oh, is this person just taking advantage or maybe they weren't thinking about contributing or not, not even that, but at the time I was at a party and I was talking to some friends. and then one of my friends came over and when he left everyone said what was wrong with him he looked terribly sad and I never saw him so I said wait let me go check on him so those are things I'll never see and it's not because I don't want to, it just goes through my head um, so that kind of stuff that I've seen, I can't get any better, that's why I tell people that I care, it's like I have this, you know, you know This is that I don't It works as well as others, so tell me everything you know.

I'm sure curious to know your way of thinking. You know it again with someone like you who has achieved so much at the highest level in the world. Can you analyze a little how you think before entering a big moment in your life, in your sport or in business? You're building, is there a process you think about when you're going in? the scope of whatever you're working on, is there a mantra, a process, do you visualize something, release something, can you just explain a little bit about that process before we get back to our powerful conversation with the legendary Venus Williams?

I want to take a moment to thank our sponsor Dove for their incredible body confidence sports initiative in partnership with Nike. Now I'm still thinking about this statistic I shared earlier in this interview that almost half of girls quit sports before the age of 14 due to low body confidence. I also want to emphasize that the bumps, scrapes or bruises they may suffer are not what stops girls from playing sports, it is low body confidence and 45% is not a statistic we can ignore. It is my great honor to support Dove in their mission to change that narrative and ensure that all girls have the opportunity to stay in the game and feel confident in themselves and I am grateful that Venus Williams is here today to help spread the word this message about the importance of body confidence in sports and shares her inspiring journey, but listening to this episode is just the first step to taking action.

You can be part of this transformative movement by visiting dove.com. Safe sports together, let's keep your confidence at the right time. Delve into the incredible story of Venus, her triumphs, her challenges, and her insights into happiness at work and the crucial role of effort over results. Trust me, you don't want to miss the rest of this conversation, so let's get back to this episode with the one and only. Venus Williams I think the process changes depending on where you are in life. I think you have these moments as an athlete or in business or in life where you're on top of the world.

You can't do anything wrong. Everything is golden. So you like it. Okay, it's cool, you're in a flow, you're in a flow, right, and then you have other moments where it's not cool, so you have to be more aware of that process, be super self-aware and really extract what it is that you're feeling and figure out what part is real and what part isn't because we can feel good and you have to distract yourself like what's just a feeling and what's the problem and uh I do it by writing in a journal, I start writing what I feel and then when I start writing down all the things I feel, I can recognize that this is actually the only thing that's real, the rest is just a bunch of other things that just float around in my head and I can get rid of the nonsense and then focus on the real thing that bothers me.

I think also a lot of being the best you can is just preparation, you can't be great without preparation. and you can't feel good about what you're doing unless you've done the work, so the greats are doing the work they're doing at work day in and day out if you're in finance, you're staying up all night reading what Whether it takes to do that to be on top of you in the industry thinking literally just sit and think and meditate on what you like to achieve and it's the same in sport too, you sit and meditate on what you would like to achieve so Being great is intentional and then when you're in a bad place, getting out of it is also intentional, but it's just about realizing where you are and applying what you need to be successful no matter where you are and I.

Think that when you're in a bad place you just have to realize that a lot of it is mental too. You can do it. I try to tell myself that right now I'm anticipating what could happen, that could be bad, but anticipation is. Only it's not even real right, what if something great happened? What if something amazing could happen? What if you could make that happen? and it's like changing the way you think about things is so powerful and it's not easy and you have to constantly work at it, but if you try hard, your mind will change, it's like anything else, if you go to the gym and do those biceps for six weeks, you will see some improvement, so if you flex your mind in a different way instead of saying "I can." t for six weeks, if you say I can, for six weeks your mind takes a completely different path and it is so powerful and so true and it is not easy and you have to do it continuously once you do it just once, you are not left alone. you have to keep training your mind and I think sometimes people forget that part that training your mind is so important if you want to be mentally strong, train to be mentally strong oo.

I love it, how do you train to stay mentally strong? Personally, yes. I'm sure the first thing is the preparation, right, uhhuh, doing the preparation, that's Ground Zero, doing the work, putting in the reps, yeah, yeah, doing the work, whatever it is, you have to put in the effort, so If you don't, you're never going to be great, you're never going to be mentally strong or whatever it is you'd like to achieve. Once you've put in the effort, you realize what you're good at and what you're not. I mean me personally. I think there are probably a lot of smarter people who will get that 1600 on the SAT.

I probably won't get the 1600, but my strength is you know I'm extremely logical and you know I notice patterns um. I'm very quick on those sources, so I have to set myself up in a way that locates my strengths, not everyone will have the same strengths, not everyone will be good at everything, but once you've done your work and you see your strengths, you have to find a way to play with that and then of course always work on your weaknesses over time and those, at some point, may also emerge until you're like this well-rounded player that you know, Ready Player One, so it's, yeah, It's like, let's play this game to win, if we're going to play, let's win or else there's no need to play at all.

I think a lot of people want to win at whatever game they're playing in life, in their career, in their business or in their sport, they want to be more successful, they want to win and it seems like more than ever. Society, at least in America, it seems that everyone or many people want to become more famous, richer and more successful, and the more people I interview and ask about this, who has fame, wealth and success, they talk about you, you know the pressures that entails. Can you share a little about what it was like? Did you feel like you were mentally and emotionally prepared when you became a global icon? in your sport and started to gain popularity Fame success money Did you feel like you were mentally and emotionally prepared or was it a challenge or was it a lot of pressure at first?

I think he was aware of the pressure. I started very young. my first graduation game was a lot, although youth and inexperience are in some ways a protection, you just don't understand it, you don't know it, yes, but it can also go the other way and I think. There were some matches where I felt the pressure to perform maybe even what I was supposed to, that's how exaggerated, but at the end of the day I failed sometimes and then that failure was a lesson and I learned from it, and that's how You know that even though I failed, it was still a step forward, yes, it was not a step down because I learned something and became more determined.

So I think a lot of what people want today is based on what other people think. I have and social networks. I think there is a lot of pressure for young people to succeed right away. Nobody succeeds that young. I was successful when I was young, but I started playing tennis at the age of four and spent a decade before turning professional. So yeah, I was young, but there were, you know, millions of hours of work that happened before that happened, nothing happens that fast and really the process is the greatest joy I find right when you can't figure something out or you do. figure it out once you've figured it out and you've worked and you've found the right process and you can repeat that process over and over again, the sense of pride and accomplishment that you get not from success but the work you put in to get there is where the happiness Wow and I think there may be a generation now that doesn't understand that there is as much pride in your work as if what you do is part of your happiness.

I don't want to get around that that's part of achieving Who you are, achieving things gives you confidence and happiness, so if you're empty or because you haven't done it, you skip that process, so it's something to look at, wow, I mean, it's interesting. you say this you say that you were a little young and maybe innocent and you were not aware of certain things but and maybe that's why it didn't affect them or create stress for themoverwhelming, but there are many of you who know child stars or young actors or musicians who have a lot of fame, success and money quickly and then they go through years of depression or drug addiction and you know it and you fall apart, so there was something you had and that a lot of people your age never find out, um, yeah, do you think a lot of that was just what you knew the community had with your parents? and just the process that you were in and the values ​​that you developed or was it something else two things just having a great support system my family because when you're winning everyone texts you um there are people that I call the ending pushers , they're like, oh, if you make it to the final, I'll go and I think you won't come to the final at all, you'll come to the first round, like the first rounds have to be played, you know, there's the first in a second. and there are moments for the final it's like no, you won't come to the final, you show up at the beginning and then you can stay exactly at the end so that everyone is there for you when you win, when you win, everyone sends you. he texts you, you lose a game, there aren't that many people there and those people were my family, those people were my sisters who believed in me all the time and said you'll get the next one when you feel down. and low and you feel like you could have done better those moments were there for me and I knew that no matter what happened, I had something else to fall back on so a strong support system is very important um and knowing that.

The effort you give is much more important than the result. You could sleep at night if you left everything outside. You absolutely know that those are the values ​​that are super important, so that way you won't feel like you do it. I know that kind of confusion makes you lose control, so I had that and, like I said before, the strong spiritual background and my dad, when we walked on the court, he would always say, "have fun," he would say, sometimes he would say. Look at the ball too, which funnily enough is extremely important even and professionals don't look at the ball because it's like looking at where you're hitting because you want to make a good shot you have to look at the ball but sometimes you say look at the ball but always you say have fun and then I had that support you know I could possibly have more fun you win but that was the only expectation and I knew they wanted more for me but I know I didn't have to leave the court and as you know I hear screams or I've seen players where they should have done this, yeah, yeah, spring and you know, it's crazy, nothing like that, it's just a hug and that's it.

What we need in life is that love, you know, and support, yeah, I mean, I remember running suicides and running for miles after losing football games and, you know, staying on the basketball court after losing while people are still It's in the sand and our coach tells us to do it. running suicides um after we run out have you ever felt like you were being punished after a loss? No, nothing was worse than the punishment I felt internally. You know my expectations of myself and I think that's a good thing and a bad thing. you have to temper it well, sometimes your expectations may be that you can be so hard on yourself that you never pat yourself on the back enough, but some people are not hard enough on themselves and for them to never achieve it, you have to find the middle ground of being tough but also recognizing the things that you achieve, yeah, and not holding on to it for days or weeks, or you know, a loss or something, yeah, it's easier said than done, like we hold on to our losses whether we realize it or not and you just have to think about it being a new day as an absolutely new possibility and that's not easy at all, but it sounds like you had a great support system around you and speaking of support, You know your sister Serena.

It has been a great impact on your life. You can tell me? Can you tell me about maybe a challenging moment you had during a performance, a match, a tournament where you were struggling and she stepped in and supported you with your thinking? A reminder, can you share a The story that one time we were playing like a Wimbledon doubles final and S was playing the Wimbledon final and it's like a stomach ache and I thought it was going to happen and it was going to happen. I continued taking medication, so we warmed up. before for doubles before their match I couldn't even eat my stomach hurt so much I was in their match like I didn't even realize it was a match point because I was like out of my mind and I was thinking what was going to happen , it's going to happen, it's going to happen, so finally you know we had 2 hours to prepare for the game after her singles and I'm just thinking this is still going to happen hours later and she was smart.

I do not know why. I didn't realize this, she called the doctor, made sure I had the right medication that I needed unfortunately for our opponents and, you know, it would have been better if there was like 50% of the team there and I never could have done it. I don't know why I couldn't understand it. I didn't even know what was wrong. I just thought it would happen normally. She did it if I had just taken the normal medication that I took and she fixed it for me and that was it. huge, we got another title and I finally got to eat something so I would have some energy for the match, so yeah, that kind of thing and you know, it's a great example, but other things are also small, just a little text. or you know how I play this person, like sending extensive notes, that kind of thing, will they give you those notes and that kind of feedback, yeah, like, for example, how you played her, how you beat her, let me know you know that kind of things? of things, yeah that's great, it must be nice to have that kind of support and that within you you also know the thought process on how to win, yeah, it's an interesting experience because all I know is playing tennis with my sister, It sounds strange to me not to do it.

Do that and I know that almost every athlete's experience is not playing tennis or sports with their sister and I can't imagine people having to go through that alone. You and I know exactly what she feels on the court when I look at her. playing because I've been there, I know how she feels and I think we feel that way about each other. Wow, you think you know her more than she knows you? Oh wow, that's a good question. She has much more. emotional intelligence that I like huge amounts so she might know more about me than I do about her she's good at those things she's good at those things she has that ability she's curious about the way you think about identity because I think Many people struggle with building a good identity for themselves.

Do you ever think about identity or do you just link it to your values, your self-confidence and your belief system, or do you think about identity in a different way? That's an interesting question that no one has. You once asked me that, but I think identity is many things: being proud of who you are and your heritage. Knowing who you are is very important. Knowing your history can be as simple as knowing your family for me as an African American. There was a time when it wasn't easy to be African American, maybe it wasn't easy to be proud of who you were.

So different types of people have different experiences that could make being proud of it more challenging or less challenging. who you are or depending on where you are, you might get made fun of for knowing who you are right, so first of all, just unapologetically accept who you are, what you look like, this is me, this is what you get, This is my brand, sometimes you know that. The joke is like you knew what brand you were going to get. When you came into this, you know it and you still decided to come in knowing who you are and not having to apologize for it and I think that's very important: knowing what you like and what you love, I think if you don't know who you are, go out and experiment, try new things, expose yourself to new things, maybe you are not in the right calling for your job, maybe it will be easier to know your identity if you don't know who you are.

You are doing something you love. I continually think about trying new things and having new experiences, meeting new people that you can learn from. I think it's also important, it helps you get closer to who you are. I mean, personally I will always identify as a tennis player. Even when I'm on a staff, God willing, I'll be old enough to walk with a king, I'll still be hidden, we identify as athletes, you know, so that's who I am at my core and as much as I would say, oh. I am more than an athlete. I'm a human being.

That's who I am because I found my passion. I think finding your identity is also finding your passion. When you find what you are passionate about, it just clicks. That's important to connect with what you love, that's really cool. You know, one of the reasons we're talking today is because you've partnered with Dove to raise awareness for the Body Confident fitness program, which I think is really cool. an online training program, our first, developed in partnership with Nike to build body confidence in girls aged 11-17, which I think is really cool and one of the things I was asking you about before it was about the identity of the younger generation and the lack of self-confidence and self-confidence that I feel the younger generation might have today or the confusion about how to build confidence.

Can you share it? I think this speaks to building a secure identity. Can you share your passion for actually getting started? to shift the conversation from looks to ability and your own personal journey given the ideas in this issue, you know there's a movie called Mean Girls. I don't know if you've seen it. I haven't seen it, but yes. the commercials yes the girl gets mean and at the end she is in this correct mathematical context and said it doesn't matter if I like to make fun of this girl because how she looks or what she does won't make her no Answer this question more like I have to find something in myself to answer this question correctly so I can gain this math advantage, whatever it is, so it's so important that it doesn't matter what you look like, it matters what's inside of you.

You can go out and live the life that you want to live and find out what that life is and that having other people's approval or none of those things really matter to you, you know that doesn't help you get out of bed, you know that you know that. those things are really important and Dove. I am very happy to partner with Dove because the body confidence sports program is very important for girls aged 11-17 and research has shown that around 45% of girls worldwide left sports to I was 14 years old and that is due to low confidence in my body and when I think about what would happen if that happened to me, I turned professional at 14 years old, what if I had quit sports at 14 years old because I didn't like it?

Did I feel good about myself? This is literally my life. I was able to play sports and change my life and through that and that was never my plan. I just wanted to win Wimbledon. Change other people's lives simply by doing something positive for yourself. You never know the impact you are going to have. It affects not only yourself but the world. I had no idea what was going to happen and I just wanted to lift the trophy, so it's so important and when I look at that, how could it have happened to me that it doesn't happen to others?

Girls, not everyone becomes a professional, not everyone becomes an athlete, but what you learn in sports is unparalleled. What you learn in sports cannot be taught in a classroom or in a book. I think one time we laughed, we didn't laugh, but we were thinking: Is this serious? like there are different books and we thought, oh, this certain school is writing a book and a series on how to be resilient, we thought, yeah, go out and push yourself physically, you'll learn resilience quickly, you start pushing yourself like lowering your mile time, you'll learn resilience quickly, you don't have to read a book to learn it, you will figure it out because you will have to stay resilient to beat yourself and beat that clock, and you don't even need a racket that likes to experience that, so it is very important that girls to have that opportunity in sports and it is also very important to have that impact on Co es and the training program that Dove has to make sure that the coaches bring the girls in that right direction by giving them the right feedback so that they can feel good with themselves and their bodies and continue practicing sports.

I am so excited to be on this show because it is literally my life. It's really cool that Dove supports this. And I'm curious why you think so many young women and so many girls struggle with body confidence and what, and more importantly, I guess, why do they care so much about what other people think about their body versus what you think? ? It happened to you you weren't really thinking about it you just said I want to win it doesn't really matter what I look like I guess as long as I win that's what matters how are you not affected by body confidence challenges so that's a lot of young women have today you know, I was asking my niece and you know, I said: oh, what do you do at recess? and she says: I practice fashion sports, you know, fashion school, I like this, yes, but you are not practicing sports,You know?

Like Aren't you playing Forest Square? You are running? Are you jumping? And she's like, Well, you know it's hard to play with kids, so there's different challenges, she's like six, you know, there's different challenges there and also women are judged a lot more by how we look, right, oh , she wasn't good, oh, she didn't have a good body, but you don't. I don't always hear that, oh, he wasn't attractive, he didn't have a good body and women are judged from the beginning until they grow up, you know, and it's hard and there's a lot of pressure, there's a lot of pressure to look like you're supposed to. look, whatever it looks like today and women bear the brunt of that and I understand the impact of the negativity that can occur in sports.

I remember I was in this tournament and the journalist asked me if I won. weight and I took it as CH, okay, if you want to ask me that question, let's dive into the hand. I said: G weight? Where exactly did I win it and how much? And he says no, no, no, sorry, I take it back. I said, No, I want you to answer the question: Where did I gain weight? Where do you see it? I've gained maybe five pounds, like five pounds on a 61-year-old body, oh, that's muscle, come on, yeah, you know, five pounds. like my dog ​​is 10 pounds, okay you see, but on a 61 frame, like how tough can you be?, so I personally had to go through the most ridiculous questions that will never be answered.

Asking a guy you know if you gained weight is like there's a lot of pressure, so this type of program is developed specifically to prevent that and even trainers who might mean well might say, "You need to lose weight to get there." you can compete harder or you need to gain more muscle and maybe a girl is uncomfortable with having more muscles, so how do you word things the right way to keep girls in sports? So, this program is developed specifically for coaches, that is scientifically proven to build body confidence in girls of that age, so they can not only continue playing sports but also enjoy them.

Associate sports with joy. Don't associate sports with something sad and depressing because you don't stick with anything that is depressing. Not if you feel like it. you're not good enough or you don't look good enough or you feel like you're not, you know, celebrated for your gifts and your talent, this is really cool. I'm curious what you think the number one thing is. What can parents or coaches say to someone who maybe doesn't seem perfect like the perfect athlete or whatever at his age, what can they say or how can they encourage him in the right way so that he feels more confident in himself and wants to? do it? continue with the sport instead of feeling like I give up and leave, I'm GNA, I worry about my appearance all day, it's about what your body can do for you, so I think using these kind of terms of yours.

You need to eat to fuel your body, so make sure you eat plenty of vegetables and enough protein. Really talk about that final point. Invite them to talk about anything that might make them uncomfortable. It is important to never comment on someone's body. appearance, you know how you were born with your genetics or whatever you may be going through at that age, puberty and you know whatever, those are difficult times, yeah, I think inviting them to talk about how they feel, letting them just express that and then let them They know that your body is beautifully made and that your body is serving you to practice this wonderful sport and I think listening is also very important because sometimes someone can sense a shape that they are holding on to and that maybe you need to listen . um I'm just commenting on body appearance which was always a no no you know you need to lose weight or you need to you don't look muscular you know that kind of stuff like my type of frame I just will never look like I have a lot muscle even though I always joke that my calves are like, you know, putters, you know, it's like it was never going to happen to me, that's my body type and as an athlete I always wanted bigger quads and it never was. was going to happen, so I had to deal with whatever I had and realize that I was still strong even though it might not exactly look that way.

I heard this from many friends of mine and I don't know if this is true or not, but this is what I heard from some friends that many women when they go out on a date or with friends are really trying to impress the other girlfriends. the way they look and their appearance, I don't know if that's true, but that's what I've heard from some women. Do you think young women in their teens are more concerned about their girlfriends' opinions of them or the type of partner? friends they have at school or in sports and where is the pressure?

Where does the pressure come from? More about women. You know, girls. Did you mention this movie? Mean Girls. It's more like these girls are bad or really worried about what? a guy is going to say about them I'm not sure I think all of the above is true, you don't want to be the one who has the wrong outfit or doesn't look like whoever is the most popular and It's possible that that group of popular girls and boys They never talk to you. I think it definitely comes from both extremes and then at the end of the day you take all that input and then you take it on yourself and then you judge yourself so harshly. and then that's the worst thing, judging yourself correctly and that's when you have to realize or young girls have to realize that you can't judge yourself by someone else in someone else's life like yeah, I think He had a lot of success.

I have won Grand Slams. My sister won three times as much. What if I judge myself by her success? I would never feel good about myself. And I am her success, she is my success. being happy for what someone else has and realizing that you have your own gifts and they may not have them, and just celebrating yourself every time, putting on the blinders, celebrating yourself, not a lot of people don't care what other people think. of them, but it sounds like you figured out how to do this from an early age and were consistent throughout your life and career.

I think one of the hardest things to do is not care what other people think of you and not let those opinions you talked about make you feel bad. Believe that you are not enough, what advice would you give to a mother or father who has a daughter who perhaps does not believe in herself and is receiving so much input from her peers, from society and from social networks that she does not believe? Pretty enough, they are not good enough, they are not worthy enough to feel love and accept who they are. What advice would you give to parents who have young daughters today?

I know, sometimes it comes from parents. I'll be, well, you're my father, you have to love yourself, but it's still important to say it, it's still important to say that you're amazing, you're smart, you're fantastic, if some, if you don't say it, who else? right, so you still have to say that even if he becomes a broken record, that's so important even from the coach's point of view. I always did better when I had someone on the court which I was. I've hit a million forehands. I still need to hear that my forehand looks good, you know, I still need someone to say "good job" today, so it's very important to keep giving that positive feedback and just remember that people are worried about their own lives, in the end. of the day." they're not worried about your life they're worried about their life they didn't wake up they brushed their teeth in the morning they say I wonder what Susie is doing I wonder why I wonder why she doesn't think she's pretty no none of that They are worried about what they are trying to do and once you realize that the dialogue you have in your head is your own dialogue and that everyone else is doing their thing, the quicker you will figure out how to focus on yourself and seem that your parents positively reinforced you every day, right?

They weren't like you have to do better. They were always positive. Yes, while I was growing up. Dad told my sister and I that we would be number one and two in the world and all he always told us was okay, so it didn't happen like that, we understood, it almost has to be a perfect storm, right in the center of a storm. Somehow it works, it doesn't always work and there was a lot of work, endless work, the only thing we did was play tennis, but then you have to do it the right way and then you must not get injured like anything could.

It happened on the right path, but the important thing was that we believed we could get there and then we went on the court, not only had we put in the work, but we also had the right mental application, you know, and then he would warn us. also like if you don't bend your knees you're not going to get there like okay I'll bend my knees you know so it wasn't all like Rosy Rosy Rosy he was hard on us yeah but at the end of the day the message was can you do this you have what it takes you absolutely can be the best in the world and you have to listen that's beautiful I'm curious to know we talked about the challenges and pressures of achieving success you know maybe some fame or notoriety that a lot of people struggle with and many times, when people achieve their dreams or their goals at the top of their industry or their sport, they don't stay there forever, no one stays at the top forever in their field. true, there is a transition, you've been on top but then you've fallen off the top, but then you're back on top, but then you know you've gone up and down, there have been waves of momentum for you to get to the top and then a step back and then back to the top, how do you and I feel like a lot of people struggle once they get to the top, whatever they do, and they start to fall a little bit?

It's very difficult for them. come back but you've done it again and again and I'm not saying you've fallen, but how else are you in the number one spot at the top of your game when you've had a setback? maybe a minor injury or something, how do you build the drive and energy to get back to the top when most people can never do it? I think realizing that I could have a great start, I could win a lot of matches or I could finish well. another way I might have to fail a little bit along the way and not take that failure with me or into the next game.

I think I still do sometimes. Do you know about corn? You're remembering the last three games you lost. Why am I doing this to myself? But I keep fighting. I think there are also some things that include embracing the battle, like enjoying the battle, like this is going to be a fight. I'm going to fight my opponent. I'm going to fight my opponent. own thoughts I'm going to fight injuries, whatever they are. I will fight against the bad market conditions. Your thing is to enjoy the battle and then part of enjoying the battle is just knowing that it's not going to be easy. and not being afraid of it, like when we know it's not going to be easy, it's like there's a certain amount of fear, and you're like, oh, it's going to be horrible, but almost embracing that pain is also like it's a process.

It's going to hurt and just like acknowledging say yes it's a little painful instead of oh it's a little painful you know it's going to hurt but we'll get through it and it's also interesting we remember and tell stories about the challenges we accomplished. no one remembers the easy games no one remembers the easy times of the matches the stories we tell and the ones that stay are the ones that with the distance and the ones that matter the most because they took more and thus being able to those War Stories, that is it worth it to be 80 years old and be able to tell that story, tell that story, what is the war story that you are most proud of, that you had to face or overcome, that maybe it is super public and that everyone knows or maybe no one knows know it but you know it was like something an internal battle an external battle something that you overcame I'm I don't know I'm like a pitbull I'll run through a fence to my own detriment it's not smart um, one time I was playing in a game and I was coming off hip surgery. which I never announced, in fact, this is probably the first time I've said it and um, wow, I played this match and I guess I came back soon and It's like I was playing the match and I did something to my hip and I screamed on the court and I couldn't run or move, but I continued playing the game.

This is the first set. I lost the first set. I still play. the next two and sometimes I'm choking out screams and that's how it was in a great SL was the first round of the Australian Open. Um, it was to say that it was Monday. I needed to play on Wednesday, so I took the day off. I played on Wednesday night. I took Wednesday off on Tuesday and didn't even play until it was time to warm up for the game and I didn't really move the way I like. Okay, I'll get over this. I'm thinking it's just mental.

I keep going. On the court I get to seven points and I'm just trying not to scream and I have to leave after the seventh point. The public makes me drunk. I continue on my merry way. I never announce what happened to me, but I tore it like a muscle. called the soaz in your stomach and enters your leg. I broke three inches in this match, oh man, so I keep running and I keep playing and I'm like, oh, it's mental, I finally get theMRI the next day and I'm like oh well that's why it hurt wow I only have three tears in my hip, so crazy.

I will run and play and I have had to learn over the years. I don't even trust myself anymore because if I have to make a bad decision. I'll keep playing, I'll play until I'm dead and buried, you know, not six feet under, like the center of the Earth, so I like, I literally need people to tell me to stay away, I don't have to play, um, and that's it. It's hard for someone to say that, it's hard for someone to say like to someone else, like you can't play, so that's my choice, so I know yeah, it's definitely a wolf and R, wow, but a Sometimes we need other people to step in and save us. our own harm that we could do to ourselves, we do, yeah, and that's when you have a real friend, yeah, they could at least say, hey, you gotta stop and if they don't, if you don't listen, that's up to you, but um, bad.

I have a couple final questions for you, but I just want to say that I'm so grateful that we're connecting and yes, a lot of F. I'm so excited for you. about everything you've created on your journey and I just want to acknowledge you before we move on to the last questions. I want to recognize your consistency and how you present yourself as an athlete, as a human being, as a sister. daughter, a friend, all these different things and your consistency in evolving as a human being towards business and fashion, all the different things that you like.

I think it's really cool that your identity is once again that of an athlete, but you're evolving it beyond sports. and Athletics as well and you continue to grow and learn as a human being based on the conversation I'm hearing here, so I want to recognize you for everything you've created, everything you're going to create and more. The most important thing is the human being that you are inside and the peace that you have about yourself and the belief that you have. It's really inspiring to see before he asks the final questions to the couple. I want people to check you out and follow you Venus Williams on Instagram and social media. media Twitter Facebook everything they can follow you everywhere there's a specific place to send people to follow you and you think they should go to Instagram or Tik tok it's okay you know find me okay cool awesome it's really cool too that you are part of the Dove body confidence sports program and I think you know that young women need these types of tools, especially when there is a lot of confusion or societal pressures that might exist right now.

I think young kids need these. tools too, but I think it's really cool that you're doing this for young girls. Where can people go and learn about the Dove Body Confidence Sports Program? Is there somewhere they should check online that we should send people to? dove.com trust sports dove.com trust sports that's where we're going okay yeah exactly uh but I'm excited about that and how can people really get involved in that is something that they sign up for is something that's online there's a plan of studies and how are you? You are a coach on this, are you adding your opinion too?

Yeah, so what I'm doing is developing self-awareness. I don't think anyone thinks about it every day like oh, 45% of girls are dropping out. Outside of sports, what do I do? Nobody, nobody knows. So, awareness is very important. We know. That was like a time last year when girls weren't finding it harder to get involved so I was surprised to hear that I don't want that to happen so it's important for me to get involved and then if you go. On the website, you can find ways to participate in the program. Awesome, there are different workbooks, there are different ways to participate, different guides that you can provide to your own family or another girl that you think might benefit.

From there, if you continue forward you will have the opportunity to see it. I love Dove.com. Trust. Sports. So check it out. I love it. It is an inspiring program and I think it will help many. Sounds like parents. and his girls in sports too to have more confidence. These are the last two questions I have for you Venus again, thank you for being here. The first is a hypothetical question that I ask all the guests I have had at the event. show for the last I don't know almost 11 years and I call this question the three truths, so let's set the stage, imagine that you can live as long as you want to live on this Earth, you can live as many years as possible. since you want to be here and you can achieve all the dreams from this moment until the last day on Earth, but for any reason, on your last day on Earth you must take all your content with you, so all the videos about you interview any Whatever you posted online on social media, in this hypothetical scenario we no longer have access to your content or videos or anything like that, but on this last day you will be able to leave three lessons for the world, three lessons that you leave behind and this is everything we would have to remember about your content.

I call these the three truths on the top of your head, what would those three truths be for you? Well I would say just be positive and love your life, have fun, is number one. just have fun and look at things half a glass full um number two um it's hard to choose just two but bet on yourself just always bet on believing in yourself it's not always easy but just bet on yourself um number three is just giving more than takes, just be happy to give and give whatever you can't say just be silly about it but you still want to teach the man to fish but just try to be about that gift and yeah that would be what I would do those are beautiful, you uh.

One last question for you, what is your definition of greatness? My definition of greatness. I think it's so individual. I think it's giving it your all, giving everything you have and when you do that, whether it's great or not, the effort was great. Greatness is about effort. you give and when you make that effort you put your hands in the air and that's it, so I think it's an individual right and also what's the point of being cool if you're not happy, so have fun while doing it if you are. you don't have fun you figure out how to have fun but you don't want to look back and be I think we can all look back or you hear a song and say I remember this time in my life when I was sad or I remember this time in my life when I was happy your life is your band Sonora you want to look back and say you know I failed a lot things didn't go well but I had a good time you know you should have a good time that's greatness Venus thank you very much powerful information inspiration I appreciate it thank you very much for being here I appreciate you so much I had a lot of fun thank you for joining us today what an incredible conversation with the inspiring Venus Williams and as In closing, let's remember that we all play a role in creating a more inclusive and empowering landscape in athletics with initiatives like pigeons, the body confidence sport and partnering with Nike, we can make a real difference in the lives of young athletes around the world, so let's keep the momentum going.

Visit dob.com confident sport Sports for more information on how to join the movement. Many thanks again to Venus Williams for sharing her wisdom and her experience with us. Your lessons inspired me a lot and of course I want to thank you for continually striving for greatness in your own life and until next time, stay inspired and continue to have a positive impact on the world, let's keep your trust from the beginning. I was discovering it as if I were a teenager. This is new. For me, the sport started in high school, so I just tried one mistake and then eventually, you know, obviously, I had an amazing coach who helped guide me and guide me, but I had to make mistakes before I started really scoring.