From Derek Sivers’s notes on The Power of Full Engagement:
Ivan Lendl was far from the most physically gifted tennis player of his era, but for five years he was the number-one-ranked player in the world. His edge was in the routines that he built. He followed similar routines in every dimension of his life.
A routine = a bundle of habits. Flossing is a habit. Good dental care is a routine.
Lendl also practiced a series of daily mental-focus exercises to improve his concentration -and regularly introduced new ones to assure that they remained challenging. At tournaments, he gave clear instructions to friends and family not to burden him with issues that might distract him from his mission. Whatever he did, he was either fully engaged or strategically disengaged.
A useful reminder that what you don’t do (eg, don’t enable distractions or invite interruption) is very important and often overlooked.
On the court, during matches, he relied on another set of rituals to keep himself centered and focused, including visualizing entire points before playing them and following the same multiple-step ritual each time he stepped up to the line to serve. It is perfectly logical to assume that Lendl excelled in part because he had extraordinary will and discipline. That probably isn’t so. […] What Lendl understood brilliantly and instinctively was the power of positive rituals – precise, consciously acquired behaviors that become automatic in our lives, fueled by a deep sense of purpose.
Visualization seems to be a common practice among elite athletes (eg, Michael Phelps). I’d like to try. Singing might be easier than writing since it’s more structured and based on technique.
Overall, powerful stuff. I never watched Lendl play but his consistency and grit were legendary. Good habits = good routines = high performance.