Roger Federer's commencement speech at Dartmouth was stellar. Federer's speech focused on three lessons inspired by his legendary tennis career. 1. Effortless is a myth. 2. It's only a point. 3. Life is bigger than the court. 🧵

"Effortless is a myth. I mean it, I say that as someone who has heard that word a lot, effortless. People would say my play was effortless. Most of the time, they meant it as a compliment, but it used to frustrate me when they would say, 'He barely broke a sweat,' or, 'Is he even trying?' The truth is, I had to work very hard to make it look easy." Federer shared how early in his career, he lacked the discipline required for long matches. This was so evident that even his opponents openly commented on it. This inspired him to work harder and realize that "winning effortlessly is the ultimate achievement" and a testament to your hard work.

Federer shared how you need to be able to win when you aren't at your best. Federer embraces a loose definition of talent. Your discipline, patience, ability to trust yourself, and love of the process can be talents too. "Then there are days when you just feel broken; your back hurts, your knee hurts, had that a lot. Maybe you're a little sick or scared, but you still find a way to win. And those are the victories we can be most proud of, because they prove that you can win, not just when you're at your best, but especially when you aren't." "From this day forward, some people are going to assume that because you graduated from Dartmouth, it all is going to come easy for you. And you know what? Let them believe that as long as you don't."

Federer began his second lesson: "It's only a point." "Tennis is brutal. There's no getting around the fact that every tournament ends the same way. One player gets a trophy, every other player gets back on a plane, stares out of the window, and thinks how the hell that I miss that shot? Imagine if today only one of you got a degree." From here, Federer opens up about losing to Rafael Nadal at Wimbledon in 2008 and the mindset that led to this defeat.

Federer explains why "It's only a point." "In tennis, perfection is impossible. In the 1,526 signals matches I played in my career, I won almost 80% of those matches. Now, I have a question for you. What percentage of points do you think I won in those matches? Only 54%. In other words, even top ranked tennis players win barely more than half of the points they play. When you lose every second point on average, you learn not to dwell on every shot. You teach yourself to think, 'Okay, I double faulted. It's only a point.' 'Okay, I came to the net and I got passed again, it's only a point.' Even a great shot, an overhead backhand smash that ends up on ESPN's Top 10 playlist, that, too, is just a point."

Federer starts his third lesson: "Life is bigger than the court." He starts by talking about starting his non-profit, the Roger Federer Foundation, and what a wild ride that has been. "I started a foundation to empower children through education. Early childhood education is something we take for granted in a place like Switzerland, but in Sub-Saharan Africa, 75% of children do not have access to preschool. Think about that, 75%. Like all children, they need a good start if they're going to fulfill their potential. And so far, we've helped nearly 3 million children to get a quality education and help to train more than 55,000 teachers." "I can't believe we've just celebrated 20 years of this work, especially because I started the foundation before I thought I was ready. I was 22 at the time. Like many of you are today, I was not ready for anything other than tennis, but sometimes you've got to take a chance and then figure it out."

Federer shared all the different ways one can give back to the community. "Philanthropy can mean a lot of things. It can mean starting a non-profit or donating money, but it can also mean contributing your ideas, your time, your energy to a mission that is larger than yourself. All of you have so much to give, and I hope you will find your own unique ways to make a difference, because life really is much bigger than the court."

Federer shared his three lessons once again before giving the Dartmouth graduates an actual tennis lesson in a really cute moment. Federer gets choked up at the end but ends with a great message: "Whatever game you choose, give it your best. Go for your shots, play free, try everything, and most of all, be kind to one another and have fun out there. Congratulations, again, class of 2024."

This is exactly the kind of speech a commencement speaker should be giving. Roger Federer a great athlete who knows the graduating students are probably worried about their future. And so Federer wrote a speech to give these students hope and inspiration.

Loved it listened to it all

Brilliant speech👏🏻👏🏻 Just saw it now.