"You Have to CHALLENGE YOURSELF!" - Maria Sharapova (@MariaSharapova) - Top 10 Rules

Everyone is always going to find something in your success or in your story or upbringing that will try to knock you down.

When a friend of mine says something negative and I was like, don't put that in the universe. Like, don't put that out there.

When I get to the courts and, you know, I have my bag and I'm wearing my hat and my hoodie, this is my office. Like, that's my workplace. And I am like, I'm laser focused.

Need motivation? Watch a top 10 with Believe Nation! What's up, it's Evan. My one word is believe, and I believe in you. I believe you have an amazing gift inside you that I want to see explode out into the world. So let's get your motivation to a 10 and get you believing in you. Grab a snack and chew on today's lessons from a woman whose parents had to flee Russia because they were concerned about the side effects and fallout of the Chernobyl nuclear accident, to becoming the world's number one female tennis player, 5 different times. She's Maria Sharapova, and here's my take on her top 10 rules of success. Enjoy. All right, let's kick things off with rule number 1: always aim to win.

I don't know how to differentiate an exhibition to a real match. Like, I just know one way. I think that's the way that I play, and I'm focused, and I'm pumping my fists, and I'm excited after a good point, and I'm emotional. And, um, you know, I, I think exhibitions are also a way to show your personality and be, you know, funny and fun and enjoy the crowd. And sometimes when I go to that direction, I like— I don't exactly know what to do.

Exactly.

I was like, whoa, I'm so out of my element. So I know that, you know, I know when, when someone pays me to go on a court, they want to see the Maria that they see when I play Wimbledon. And that's what I want to deliver. Um, and so that's how I treat everything that I do. It's like if I practice and I'm, I'm training, or if I have a meeting and I'm with people that I've met for the first time, like that, you know, that, that first meeting, that first impression takes you to so many directions. Um, that, that's very important.

Rule number 2: Live your truth.

You can't really form other people's opinions of you. And, you know, I became successful at a very young age, and I, like, from the first day after winning Wimbledon, you know, you would think like a teenager wins Wimbledon, but not everyone was positive about it. Everyone wanted to know the story and, you know, blaming my parents for having their child to go through this crazy journey and working hard and not having a normal childhood. Like, everyone is always going to find something in your success or in your story or upbringing that will try to knock you down, like literally, whether it's their purpose, whether it's a news outlet, whatever it might be. You never know the intention. But yeah, I don't want to form people's opinion. I just want to be and live true to who I am every day, and then that's the only thing that I can do. You can't really control what other people think of you or how they end up remembering you.

Rule number 3: Always keep expanding.

I think I've done a really good job in my career of balancing my career and my professionalism on the court and doing what I have to do there. And then when you get off it, expanding into other things, keeping your mind creative, working. You know, I never had a typical education, so I feel like I learned through so many things, whether it's business or advertising, through maybe educational things that I would have learned in school or internships I could have taken. I've actually learned through working with brands and being in meetings and in rooms with people that are extremely talented in their departments and knowledgeable at what they do. And that's part of the reason I wanted to start something on my own, because I felt like I did have that experience from learning from them.

Rule number 4: Visualize.

I definitely see this, this— everyone seems to have this aspect of rushing, like rushing to get to the next step and rushing to make a certain amount of money. And, um, when I, when I think of goals, I don't necessarily think of specifics. I just think of more feelings of how I would feel when I get to that. What is my success and how does that feel like? Um, instead of saying, okay, I wanna, I wanna win this amount of titles and I wanna win this amount of Grand Slams, or I wanna earn this amount of money. Um, I think that always, I think more of the feeling, how am I gonna feel when I win match point? I visualize it. I embrace that feeling and I carry it with me.

Like you visualize it all the time or in the moment?

I think moments. And, and I think it always comes when you least expect it. Sometimes you can be on a on a run, sometimes those long plane rides where, you know, sunset and it's just you and you've been traveling and you're going home and you have no one around you, just yourself on the flight and just a bunch, hundreds of strangers next to you. And you have this moment where you start thinking of why you're doing this, why are you lonely, why are you in this position, and you think of what you've already done to get there and where you would like to see yourself go. So it Those moments always come at a different— I don't sit down and I think, okay, right now I'm going to visualize the feeling that I might have when I win a tournament or— Yeah, but I definitely, I think it's important to, when you say things or, you know, when a friend of mine says something negative and I was like, don't put that in the universe. Like, don't put that out there. I do believe in that. There's some sense of truth in that because it also comes with, then you carry it with that attitude. You know, when someone says something negative, you usually see their attitude change and Mm-hmm.

Um, shows up in your body and your energy. Yeah.

And I, I mean, I for sure do that as well, and I have my moments, and, but the faster you acknowledge it and realize it, the faster you can move on.

Rule number 5, be laser focused.

When I get to the courts, I have my bag and I'm wearing my hat and my hoodie. This is my office. Like, that's my workplace. And I am like, I'm laser focused. And I've had that. I mean, I think it's that mentality that whatever, I just have that tunnel vision and that's how I go. And when I leave the courts, I got friends, family, jokes, fun. Like, when I get to my office, I close the door and that's me.

That's you.

Yeah.

Oh, Maria Sharapova!

Rule number 6, my personal favorite: challenge yourself.

That'll do it. What a performance! That was very special, as was the resistance and the fight. That was shown by Venus Williams, but she was outplayed. That's one of the heaviest defeats meted out for Venus Williams in Grand Slam tennis. Sharapova is back to her very, very best.

You've won all the titles. I mean, you've done the Grand Slams and the US Open and all of that. When you look at now, um, going ahead Is it an Olympic gold that you would want? Or as a tennis player, what more is there to do?

That would be special. Yeah, an Olympic gold would be special, but—

Did I hit the nail on the head or not?

Yeah, you did, but I think you still— I still go into every Grand Slam and I still, you know, inside of me, deep down, I have to feel like I still haven't won it because you still have to have that hunger when you go out on the court. Because if you go out on the court and you feel like, I've done this, I've done that, I do it every single day, that's not fun. You have to challenge yourself. And I go out there and I— You have to work just as hard, if not harder. I mean, the tennis has become much more physical, much more mental than it's ever been, and you have to keep striving for being better. I personally never had a proper education, so no matter how much money I made on the tennis court, I didn't want that to stop. I didn't want my thinking to stop. When you're on the court, it's like, not only is it physical and you're putting in so much physical work, but so much of it is mental. And that's the challenge that I've had since I was a 4-year-old girl, the mental side of the game, and I wanted to find challenges in other different areas. And business, I thought, was one of them because I've always been interested in seeing how things come alive and how they do and what works and what doesn't. We'll grow in number.

Few but come to see the horizon.

Amazing sports from Chiappolla! Rule number 7: Develop discipline.

I do think that with— and it's not just in sport, but with other things— I do believe that the more you repeat certain things, whether it is writing, working on your, you know, whether it's cursive letters or whatever it is, like when you work on something and you keep doing it over and over, it's inevitable that it will get better. And by that, you're creating this feeling of repetition, which leads to discipline. Like, you know you can do it over and over again. And that's one of my first— one of my first coaches, Robert Lansdorp, who I speak about in the book, like, that was his philosophy, is you— I would take a lesson from him, and his philosophy was just hitting and grinding, and it wasn't about patterns or anything, which I could get from somebody else. But what he gave me is that feeling that I could hit the ball from any part of the court and feel like I could do it with closed eyes and make it and know exactly where it's going. And for me, it started at a young age. My mom would make me memorize this Russian literature that I did not appreciate at 5 years old. It was very difficult, and I didn't know what it meant. But I would do it and I would memorize it, and then I would feel that I accomplished something. I don't know why, I don't know, but the repetition led me to this discipline, and I think that helps with mindset.

Unbelievable tennis!

Unbelievable!

Rule number 8 is be unstoppable.

You start the book and you go immediately to the doping.

The suspension.

The suspension, right?

Yeah. I mean, I had to. I wanted to be open about it as I'd been from the very beginning. It was, from an athlete's perspective, it was one of the toughest things that I had to go through. And I feel like sharing that feeling that I had and the vulnerability that I had to carry myself with. And for someone that's so strong and like mentally mentally tough and have always— I mean, at 6'2", like, you know, passionate about what she does. It felt really small, um, for one of the first few times in my life where I would just— I didn't want to write. I didn't want to continue writing the book. It took a long time to put those words onto paper, and I felt that that was an important— it's part of my journey. It's part of the reason why my book is called Unstoppable, because I've had this mentality from a very young age that no matter what is thrown at you, there, there's going to be roadblocks, and you have to overcome them, and you can.

Build a great team.

I think you have to love what you do. You have to have, I mean, you have to have a plan, you have to have good people around you. It's not, it's also about a great team, it's teamwork. I mean, I have a very close-knit of people that I've had for many years as part of my team and manager and a group that every day wakes up and thinks how to build and work and inspire from each other and keep it fresh and fun.

Heartbreak, some kind of free same for me, don't know what I need.

And rule number 10 before 3 very special bonus clips is have fun.

All right, good distance.

All right, you can go first on this one.

Thank you.

Yeah, I am a nice girl.

I'm ready. Oh, okay, okay, I'm warming up, I'm warming up. Okay, let's go. Keep rolling, keep rolling, baby. Come on, get in the hole! You cannot do better than that.

I might.

I don't think so. Let's see it. I think the hole is that way. See the flag? Let's do it.

Concentrate, everybody.

I don't think you can do better. Whoa!

Whoa!

Woo! Thank you so much!

You made it!

Yeah, take a picture of that.

This is— you'll enjoy this one. Will I? All right, you think it's possible?

Are you sure about this one?

I'm ready.

We go again. Wait, give me your best shot. New balls, please. Get some, my chump. And please don't do it anymore.

God.

Oh boy, even Serena's got to applaud that.

Now I've got 3 very special bonus clips from Maria on having big goals, having role models, and being driven by your rivals that I think you're going to enjoy. But before that, question of the day, back to rule number 6, which was challenge yourself. What is the biggest challenge that you are giving yourself right now in your business? Places or in your life? Leave in the comments below. I'm really curious to find out. Thank you guys so much for watching. I believe in you. I hope you continue to believe in yourself and whatever your one word is. Much love. I'll see you soon, and enjoy the bonus clips.

Who is your idol growing up and why?

My idol, um, as a tennis player or anyone?

Oh, um, I think on the On the court, it was Monica Seles. I loved her attitude and her passion for the game and the strength that she had on the court.

I always admired Audrey Hepburn. I loved the images of Audrey Hepburn and Marilyn Monroe, yeah, and what they stood for and their personalities.

Do you think that you're the most successful in endorsements and business because the other athletes have chosen not to do it? Or because you've got a talent in that area?

I never like to think that I'm successful because then you don't want to go for more. I've achieved a lot in my career, but to sit here and say that I'm the best at this or I'm a great tennis player, I don't like to think like that because it kind of puts you in a dead spot. I want to have— I have bigger goals. I want to be greater. And even if I don't reach it, I still— I want to get up there.

We almost started— I mean, I personally started this rivalry from a young age witnessing and worshipping Serena and Venus practicing at this tennis Tennis Academy in Florida as a 13-year-old girl with hundreds of kids next to me, and she was already a Grand Slam champion with her sister. And I, you know, the single thought that I had was I wanted to beat her. And a few years later, I find myself— it was literally as if someone took me and put me into a television screen— of facing Serena Williams in a final. And I'm someone that honestly did not belong there. I mean, I had nothing. I was not ready. I was not as tall as I as I'd gotten to be, I was far from being as strong or physically capable of competing in 2 weeks, but somehow I was there and I was facing her. And she was intimidating. She was strong. Her presence was there. Her confidence, the confidence that she's played with for so many years. And, you know, so much of it is talked about. And I know that a lot of the headlines, a lot of the excerpts that were chosen from the book have been about Serena, and rightfully so, because so much of it has been talked for years on end. But deep down, there's an incredible amount of respect that I have for her. And one of the things I speak about in the book, it's almost like we should be friends because we understand what it's like every single day. And not just by playing tennis, it's not forehands and backhands, but we know everything that goes with the sport, the pressures, the responsibilities, the sponsors, the professionalism, the press conference, everything that we face. It's almost like we have so many like common factors and yet we have to be rivals in order to beat each other. You know, we must have that drive against each other. And having her across the net only makes you a better player because her level is on another planet.

Raise your standard. Apple, at the core, its core value is that we believe that people with passion can change the world for the better. Not one drop of my self-worth depends on your acceptance of me. I don't ever give up. I'd have to be dead or completely incapacitated.

Hey, Believe Nation! If you want to see my all-time favorite top 10 rules of success, I have a very special secret video for you. These are the individual clips that I have personally learned the most from and applied to my life and my business. Check the link in the description for details.