The 1 Thing Venus Williams Says to Herself When Facing Down a Challenge

Confronting opponents, trials, and tests has been a constant in Venus Williams’s life on and off the tennis court. It hasn’t been easy: a 30-year professional tennis career and an autoimmune disease diagnosis in 2011 mean she’s seen her fair share of ups and downs.
How she’s gotten through is something the players scrambling to make it through to the next round at the 2024 US Open, which kicked off August 26, might be wondering right about now.
Williams’s north star is making sure she is enjoying what she’s doing, even in the most trying times. The process, she says, is often the reward itself. However, in a moment of struggle, sometimes that perspective doesn’t quite resonate. Which is where some self-talk comes in.
“I have to get through this moment,” Williams says to herself. “I decide not to think about how I’m going to get through it, but I just know I will.”
In other words, she reminds herself that she’ll come out on the other side of whatever challenge she has to go through. This is actually a mental strategy known as a “no-fail mindset.” Williams doesn’t always know how she’ll get from point A to point B, but she knows she will.
“For me, that is just having that belief in yourself that you will get through that or conquer that or whatever it is you want to do,” Williams says. “You get caught up in worrying about how you’re going to do it, [but that] doesn’t matter. You’ll get there.”
Even if the journey isn’t a straight line and has some detours or pit stops, you’ll reach your destination eventually.
“Sometimes, part of the fun is being a little bit off balance. It’s exciting when you’ve got a lot coming at you. You get energy from that.” —Venus Williams
“You might have to make up a step along the way, or take a road less traveled, or fail a little bit and try again. But knowing that you’re going to get there, that’s the best way,” Williams says.
In fact, the matches where she found herself in those situations are the ones she’s found the most memorable and rewarding—victory is not a given, and mucking through how to get from start to finish is what actually made the trip sweeter.
“You live for that,” Williams says. “[I] have this attitude that, I love this, this is what I want. This is fun having this challenge. We don’t ask for fewer challenges, we ask for more skills.”
To the end of having more skills, Williams is publishing a book, Strive: 8 Steps to Find Your Awesome, which comes out on September 10, containing her framework for wellbeing. She has eight tenets she personally employs to live a mentally and physically well life. And the tenets don’t always mean what you think they might. For example, “balance” doesn’t mean that all aspects of your being have to be in harmony all the time.
“Balance changes over time for me,” Williams says. “It’s about recognizing where you are and what’s appropriate in your life at that time.”
One week, balance might mean equal parts rest and training, socializing and downtime. Other weeks, it might mean days that are all about the push or all about the rest. You can aim for balance with a longer-term view than just how your day or week is going. And you can also give yourself permission and grace when life feels a little off kilter—if it’s in the service of something you’re striving for.
“Sometimes, part of the fun is being a little bit off balance,” Williams says. “It’s exciting when you’ve got a lot coming at you. You get energy from that.”
Whether your teeter totter is straight or lopsided, remind yourself that you can find the balance you’re looking for. If you’re determined, one way or another, you’ll get there.