Novak Djokovic REVEALS His Secret Mindset Shift That ENDS Self-Doubt...

1. 0:00 – 3:24

   Intro

   1. NDNovak Djokovic0:00

      Not having success is not an option. I have to succeed. [dramatic music] It's basically a matter of existence, of survival of my family

   2. JSJay Shetty0:08

      The world's number one male tennis player. He's won 24 Grand Slams. In a glittering career. Novak Djokovic. You've been through so many injuries, losses.

   3. NDNovak Djokovic0:17

      A- a- always tell himself

   4. JSJay Shetty0:19

      What has Novak Djokovic done? What goes through your mind when you lose?

   5. NDNovak Djokovic0:24

      I just wanna be left alone

   6. JSJay Shetty0:26

      What has it taken to become Novak Djokovic?

   7. NDNovak Djokovic0:30

      It's consistent practice. It's prayer work, mindfulness, meditation, conscious breathing. It requires more responsibility from you on a daily basis to prepare yourself for the biggest battle

   8. JSJay Shetty0:41

      When did you first become aware of that feeling of not being enough?

   9. NDNovak Djokovic0:45

      I kind of get emotional about it because it's still deep inside of me

   10. JSJay Shetty0:49

       Do you feel like in your career you've achieved everything you set out to as a tennis player?

   11. NDNovak Djokovic0:54

       When you reach your 30, you start counting your days to your retirement. I'm 38 this year. How far can I go? How long can I push my own limits? [dramatic music] The number one health and wellness podcast. Jay Shetty.

   12. JSJay Shetty1:08

       Jay Shetty.

   13. SPSpeaker1:09

       The one, the only Jay Shetty.

   14. NDNovak Djokovic1:11

       [laughs]

   15. JSJay Shetty1:14

       Hey, everyone. Welcome back to On Purpose, the number one health and wellness podcast in the world. Thanks to each and every one of you who come back every week to listen, learn, and grow. Now, this is an incredible statistic that I'm sharing for the first time. Thanks to you, we are now creating 500 million views every month. Not every year, every month, and I'm so grateful that you're part of this community. Today, I get to welcome back a guest who has been a big part of making that possible for me. I'm grateful to him, I'm indebted to him, because he believed in the mission of On Purpose even before many people did, or any people did. Before this podcast was even out, he allowed me the gracious kindness to go and interview him and release as the second episode of all time. Welcoming back to On Purpose, I'm so excited to have my friend, the incredible human, Novak Djokovic. Novak.

   16. NDNovak Djokovic2:15

       [laughs] Thank you, Jay.

   17. JSJay Shetty2:16

       You are-

   18. NDNovak Djokovic2:17

       Wow. [laughs]

   19. JSJay Shetty2:18

       I mean, do you know what? I'm so grateful to have you back, and my heart is so full because you were one of those rare people that had seen one of my first ever videos. We'd reached out, we'd connected, we were talking a lot at the time. You were going through a really fascinating place in your career. You were recovering from an injury.

   20. NDNovak Djokovic2:38

       Right.

   21. JSJay Shetty2:38

       It was a different mindset. You were just on the cusp of becoming the greatest of all time, and you took a chance on me in so many ways, and I'm, I'm eternally indebted and grateful to you for that, so thank you for coming on then and coming back now.

   22. NDNovak Djokovic2:54

       Jay, thank you. It's a great pleasure to see you again and to be able to talk to you. Thank you for kind words in, in introduction and a- as well. Reflecting on our first conversation in 2019, I don't think I took a chance because we talked about it just before we started officially recording. You know, when you are connected with yourself and with your emotions and when you feel someone deeply and look in someone's eyes and you understand instantly with your instinct, with your intuition whether this person

2. 3:24 – 6:40

   What It Really Takes to Achieve Success

   1. NDNovak Djokovic3:25

      thinks good or thinks bad or has the right intention, has the heart at the right place. So I could see that from the first moment with you, and that's where I felt the connection. And even though we haven't seen each other for a few years, you know, I'm just so glad that we're able to connect now, and you led me through the list of all the guests that you had in the last almost 300 episodes in the last five years, and I, I couldn't be happier for you and for your wife and for your entire team. Amazing.

   2. JSJay Shetty3:52

      Ah, thank you, man. And it's, uh, you gave me my first Wimbledon experience.

   3. NDNovak Djokovic3:56

      Right.

   4. JSJay Shetty3:56

      I got to see you play on Center Court, which was pretty-

   5. NDNovak Djokovic3:59

      How was that?

   6. JSJay Shetty3:59

      It was amazing. I mean, are you kidding me? It was like ... And you crushed, you won obviously. Uh, but it was just such a brilliant experience to see you play after getting to understand your psychology, and I think that's what I've respected about you over time, that you've really worked hard on your internal game as much as your external game. And I think you're one of those few rare athletes that have raised the consciousness by working on your own consciousness. So today I wanna dive deep into that. And, and I wanna dive right in. I wanted to start by asking you, like, what has it taken to become Novak Djokovic? Like, what has it actually taken to become you internally?

   7. NDNovak Djokovic4:41

      You know, you, you mentioned that I took a lot of the time and attention to dedicate myself to the internal work and, you know, I've been blessed and really lucky in, in a certain way to be surrounded with certain people at the very early stages of my career and my life that have directed me into this direction of self-care, of holistic approach, of multidisciplinary approach to the preparation, to the prevention, to the recovery, both physical, mental, emotional. And at that time, because I was so young, I didn't understand that and, and it didn't need to be explained to me in depth at that point. I trusted, you know, my tennis mother, as I like to call her. She passed away 13 years ago, but she was the one that really introduced this holistic concept to me. You know, we were ... I was going, you know, obviously to school, and then I was only nine years old, and nine, 10, and I was training with her maybe two or three times a week individually, tennis, and then I would have group sessions. And my parents were, you know, were trusting her enough to allow her to participate directly into my upbringing, basically. So she also educated me off the tennis court as well. So she took me very often, uh, at least two times per week, to her house, where we would look at the tapes of all the greats, both male and f- female tennis playersThat's where my impersonation started. You know, people, you know, still to this day ask me, you know, "When are you gonna do the imitations, impersonations?" And, you know, I haven't done it. I've done it early in my career, and it was fun, it was viral, and people liked it, and then I received a little bit of an evil looks in the locker room, and I kind of felt like, you know, maybe I'm stepping over the line, so I- that's why I stopped. But that's where it started, and I was like, uh, I was really trying to adapt all of the great things that I could see, and I have a kind of a

3. 6:40 – 10:59

   How Tennis Taught Me to Evolve Off the Court

   1. NDNovak Djokovic6:40

      photogenic memory, and I'm a very, a visual person. And that was something that was ki- kind of expected, that is kind of common as well, what you do with kids, you know, or, or with young athletes, right? You watch videotapes, you try to analyze, you try to talk. But then she had me listen to classical music, and she said, "It's very important that you do that almost on a daily basis. Listen to classical music while you are writing your journal, while you are, you know, preparing for bed, or any time of the day, but particularly those times." And, you know, I liked it. I didn't understand the purpose of it, but, you know, I liked it. And so we would look at the tapes, and we'd listen to this music, and then we would read poetry. And then we would do a visualization practice. At that time, she-- it was not presented to me as such, but she would just say in a very simple way that would be understood by a, a boy, a 10-year-old boy, "Just close your eyes and think about how you want to play tennis and think about when you're in your happiest." And so it started at the very early age, and I'm so eternally grateful to her for instilling this in me and teaching me, you know, how to see life basically and understand that tennis is not-- As an individual sport, of course, it's also different because you don't have anyone to replace you if something goes bad, you know, during the match. You have to figure out a way. So I think it requires more responsibility from you on a daily basis to prepare yourself for a biggest battle internally and also externally, of course, with your opponent and with everything that is happening around. But, you know, so it, it taught me to really understand that tennis is not only about hitting a, a tennis ball over the net and counting score and dreaming about these achievements of winning Wimbledon as our, our Holy Grail of tennis, but it's, it's more than that. And, and I can use tennis as a platform to evolve into a better human being. At that point, I didn't understand that, but then as I was growing older and becoming more mature, I, I started to understand the importance of doing all of these practices, and I started to expand in each of these topics that, that I was going through with her. And then, you know, I started going into yoga. I started going into the movement, into Christianity, Orthodox Christian. I'm very proud of my religion, but at the same time, I am very open to, you know, embrace anything that can teach me, you know, from other religions and from the spirituality as a whole. So I'm very curious by nature, so I was really always looking for new ways to improve myself and improve my life on this planet, you know? And I was very lucky to bas- basically have that space also from my parents. It's a kind of a self-discovery through the self-care, through... Tennis really consumed most of my life. Um, I mean, still does, not to that extent, of course. I mean, I have two kids, I have family and other businesses and other things that interest me, so I'm, you know, I'm balancing right now between tennis and the other stuff, and I'm kind of making that transition slowly. You know, I still play professional tennis, and I still experience my worst self on the court and my best self. And so going back to the-- your comment at the beginning where you said, you know, you're one of the, the athletes that really have immersed himself into the spirituality, into understanding the holistic approach and so forth and, and the mental health, I would say yes, but I'm still surprising and shocking myself on how much I actually need to still work on that, and I still, quote-unquote, "don't know enough about that world." And it was really hard for me to accept that. You know, I thought, you know, since 10, I basically started working on that and, and growing the foundation, but it has evolved and has transformed so much for me in terms of how I see myself, how I see the world. And I thought, you know, maybe when I was at, at the peak of my career and, you know, I felt like I'm unbeatable, and I f- I feel like I could do anything, you know, kind of walking on the water.

4. 10:59 – 13:54

   Even the Greatest Can Feel Inadequate

   1. NDNovak Djokovic10:59

      We all experience that in, in, in our own lives in certain way, and it's a great feeling. But then the ego takes you places where it's, it's hard to come back from, and maybe you shouldn't come back from that. Maybe you, you're trying to find a balance, find the optimal measure that really works for you. But it, it took me time to really accept the fact that what I have learned, what I have mastered, and what I'm doing on a daily basis for the last 20 years or more is not necessarily a guarantee that I'll always find a way and that will always work for me in this particular time of my life and circumstances that I'm facing. So that's a huge revelation for me because... And I'm still trying to get a grasp on it and, and understand all of these factors that are in play that are challenging me on a daily basis. And when I talk from this perspective, it's a beautiful journey that I'm trying to embrace. But when you are immersed in the dark moment, it's, it's kind of hard to, to really get out of that.

   2. JSJay Shetty12:01

      Yeah, no, I, I love what you're saying because, uh, in the Gita, the ancient text of India, it's spoken on a battlefield, and the idea is that you're always on a battlefield, and as you said, on the battlefield, you see the best of yourself and the worst of yourself. And often people said that to me when I moved to LA. Everyone's like, "Why do you wanna be in LA? There's so much materialism. There's so much-"

   3. NDNovak Djokovic12:23

      you know, illusion here. And I said, "Well, actually, I feel like I'm on the battlefield here."

   4. SPSpeaker12:27

      Hmm.

   5. NDNovak Djokovic12:27

      So I see the best of myself and I see the worst of myself.

   6. SPSpeaker12:30

      Right.

   7. NDNovak Djokovic12:30

      And the worst of myself reminds me to keep going and to keep working on myself, and the best of myself allows me to share my message with the biggest megaphone in the world. And so it's that dichotomy of actually when you're looking for spiritual growth, you want to be in a place that reminds you of your weaknesses as much as your strength. Because if you are only reminded of your strength, you just have your ego, and if you are only reminded of your weaknesses, well, then you would be depressed or disheartened. I can instantly see the mistake when I actually say it's my coach's fault or it's my physio's fault or my fitness coach's fault or it's whoever's fault for me losing a match or me playing this way. So always remind myself, hey, take the responsibility in your hands. Take the means in your hands. You are in control of your life. I really would love my, my children to, to be able to be okay with being bored because that's the time when you're actually most creative or that's the time when you can manage your thoughts and everything that you have been suppressing by distracting yourself with phone, with whatever it is. You cannot convince me that there's a single person in this planet, even a monk in Tibet that is meditating 24/7 or an Orthodox Christian priest in a holy island in Greece that is 24/7 praying that is not experiencing

5. 13:54 – 17:35

   Wellness For Tennis Players

   1. NDNovak Djokovic13:55

      some negative thoughts. You've probably been hearing about AI everywhere, and we all need to be mindful of the tools we trust in this new chapter of technology. Claude is the if you know, you know AI assistant that just feels different. While other AIs often sound like robots, Claude has been created with special research that informs its character, meaning that Claude just gets it when it comes to empathy and emotional intelligence. That's why millions of people are turning to Claude for parenting tips, dating advice, mindful habits like journaling, budgeting, and so much more. Claude has been thoughtfully crafted by Anthropic and its team of researchers whose mission is to design the most capable and secure systems that place people at the center. You can try Claude for free at any time, and for a special offer on premium capabilities with Claude Pro, head to claude.ai/purpose. That's C-L-A-U-D-E.AI/purpose. Do you feel like in your career you've achieved everything you set out to as a tennis player? Uh, yes, and more than that. And at the same time, I still wanna do more, and I know that that comes in a big part from a good place, meaning from a place of purpose, inspiration, motivation, love for the sport, passion for the sport, passion to make people happy when they watch me. If I'm doing that and I, I have a feeling that I am by still actively being on the tennis tour and having my tennis career, active tennis career, I'm still spreading that light by playing tennis and inspiring younger generations. That's something that, that comes from a good heart- a good place. But what comes from maybe a l- uh, say not necessarily a bad place, but less of a good place, I have identified that as well, is my feeling of not being enough. And that goes back to my very, very beginning of my life and my relationship particularly with my father, and not being, not doing enough, not being good enough, uh, et cetera, et cetera. So, so now that I'm talking about it, I, I kind of get emotional about it because it's still deep inside of me and it's kind of the battle that I, that I also go through often. 'Cause a lot of people, like even closest people in my life ask me, you know, "What more do you want?" You know, "You have achieved everything. [laughs] What do you want? What, why, why do you keep going?" And I tell them the, the good part that I told you, that I still really strongly feel it's inside of me and I, and I feel like as long as I have the capacity or, or ability to compete for the biggest titles in our- in my sport, I wanna keep going. And also partly the part that I didn't mention that inspires me to keep going is to test my limits mentally and physically. 'Cause when I was starting to break through into professional tennis, I remember when you reach your 30, you start counting your days to your retirement. Like after 30, you, you know, that's it pretty much. Even though there were some exceptions like Jimmy Connors, the legend of our game, he played, I think semifinals or finals of, of US Open when he was 40 and w- you know, still, still, you know, dominating the tour. So there were very, but very few exceptions. Nowadays it's different. Why? Because I think the care for the body has improved so much. I mean, now not only top 10 or 15 guys or girls on the

6. 17:35 – 20:34

   Setting New Goals After Reaching Peak Success

   1. NDNovak Djokovic17:35

      tour have like multiple people in their squad to take care of them, you have top 50 people that are taking care of them. It's due to the improvement, of course, of the conditions for the players and, you know, we earn more across the board, so it gives you, it allows you to hire more people that would take care of your body. And I think that it's also a, a, a kind of a, a curiosity from my side. How, how far can I go, you know? I'm, I'm 38 this year, you know, how long can I push my own limits? And I don't feel like I do have limits, and I feel like the limits are normally constructs in our mind. I've seen the episode you did with, uh, Bryan Johnson-

   2. SPSpeaker18:15

      Yeah

   3. NDNovak Djokovic18:16

      ... the other day and then he talked about, you know, he's by a lot of people's opinion very extreme, but you know, he dedicated his own entire life toGetting the data and understanding what are the best conditions for the longest living life that he can have for himself, which I think it's something that is admirable and, you know, I give him huge credit for that. And it-- I understand because as a professional athlete, you know, the care for your body and your mind and the devotion to the daily habits is so tough because when you wanna change a certain habit, science says it takes at least 21 days, right? For the brain to start growing, you know, new neurons that are reprogramming. But if you don't have the right environment, that's going to be very, very challenging. So that was also one of the things that I wanted to reflect on in your question is the environment is the one that can be very stimulative to you.

   4. JSJay Shetty19:18

      Mm.

   5. NDNovak Djokovic19:18

      It can be really supportive, or it can be pulling you down. So it's super important, even though we, we always encourage ourselves to be independent in terms of what we do, what we eat, how we sleep, how, you know, how we lead our lives, and what we do, and how we can live the best version of our lives possible. But at the same time, we are social beings.

   6. JSJay Shetty19:41

      Mm-hmm.

   7. NDNovak Djokovic19:41

      We are very tribal beings, and even if it's the smallest community, we still wanna belong to that community. We still want this community to support us, even if it's one person or two. But it's super important in the end of the day because, you know, making tough choices, these are tough choices 'cause society, when you go out there, you know, super majority of the places where you go to eat or people that you see, it's a kind of a vicious cycle, and they lead their life in a certain way that maybe doesn't coincide or correspond to your choices that you wanna make, the new choices or maybe the new changes. So it's really hard, you know what I mean? Living in a, in a big city and deciding you wanna go through transformational journey on a daily basis-

   8. JSJay Shetty20:23

      Yeah

   9. NDNovak Djokovic20:23

      ... where being exposed to, to something that is contrary to what you're trying to achieve. I feel like it's, it's reinventing yourself constantly. You know, for me, I've had this kind of upbringing,

7. 20:34 – 28:51

   How Survival Shapes a Successful Mindset

   1. NDNovak Djokovic20:34

      had the great foundation, and you know, I've achieved incredible things. I was dreaming of becoming number one in the world and becoming a Wimbledon champion, and that was my dream. I achieved that dream within two days. I won Wimbledon, and at the same, same day became number one in the world in 2011 in front of my family, in front of president of Serbia who was there. I mean, it was with the welcoming of hundreds of thousands of people on the way back. It's just, you know, once in a lifetime type of experience. And when you do something for the first time, obviously that big, it's just like you're, [chuckles] you're flying to the moon. I mean, you're not-- You, you-- It's a kind of an out-of-body experience. But then I, I felt like I had to set new goals, and 'cause I was, you know, at the, at the time, 2011, I was 23 years old, 24. So okay, what do I do next? You know, I feel like I'm at, you know, peak of my powers, and I wanna-- So, so then I wanna win multiple Slams, then I wanna win all Slams at once, then I wanna win gold medal for my country, then I wanna make history, and so forth, so forth. So I think goal-oriented mind, particularly in sports, but I, I also in business or anything really, I think is super important because the clarity in, from my experience, is something that is essential to have also peace of mind and to have a calm heart that you know what you're doing and that you set your goals, your short-term goals, your long-term goals, and you know exactly the strategy that you need to implement to achieve them. And you surround yourself with the people who are supporting you, but also people who are telling you what you don't wanna hear. You know, giving you constructive criticism or maybe giving you non-constructive criticism, and then putting you very down, but that's also part of the journey. It's also learning how to get up-

   2. JSJay Shetty22:22

      Mm-hmm

   3. NDNovak Djokovic22:23

      ... like a phoenix and rise and, and, and try to develop a thick skin, so to say. So it's, it's a constant process, really. I, I don't see myself fully satisfied, if, if that's maybe a shorter answer, because I have that part of me which is like, "Uh, you know, I, I think I can still do more." But I'm-- The other side of me is like, "Of course, I'm fully sa- I'm happy, and I'm proud, and in a way I can't wait one day for me to reflect on everything." But while I'm still in my active career, I don't have time. Tennis has the longest season of all sports. January, starts January, ends almost end of November. And of course, I earn my right in a way to be selective with tournaments where I play, so that's what I'm doing. I'm not playing as much. I'm focusing on the big ones, and I'm trying to incorporate all these other things inside of my career and basically expand the platform and use my voice for other things than just the tennis court. And, uh, I'm, you know, super blessed to be in the position that I am, but as I said, it's a constant journey and process.

   4. JSJay Shetty23:31

      Yeah. I really appreciate you being honest about your experience with your father because I think that pretty much anyone who goes off to do something successful externally, all of us and everyone was channeling some sort of internal inadequacy or an internal feeling of not being enough, as you said. And I wanted to ask, when did you first become aware of that, that you had that feeling of not being enough?

   5. NDNovak Djokovic24:01

      Right.

   6. JSJay Shetty24:02

      And how have you helped that evolve in a, in the healthiest way possible? What has been that journey of almost having to live with it because it's there but not letting it be your guiding light?

   7. NDNovak Djokovic24:13

      Well, you're right. It, it, it makes sense because I think if you use it as the right fuel, it can actually serve as a great motivating factor, right? It can, it can push you, it can, you know, stimulate you to extract the, the most amount of necessary energyUh, on a daily basis to achieve your goals and to basically live your dream. I think for me it started really as something that was inevitable, as a part of the environment that I was in. I touched upon that a little bit in our conversation five, six years ago, my upbringing with several wars and sanctions and embargo and poverty and everything. So, you know, from a very young age, I was basically forced to mature very quickly because I'm a, I'm a oldest of the three brothers. I have two younger brothers. So as an oldest son to my father, I was basically kind of in a position where I had to be informed very early on, particularly the age of 11, 12, when, when we had that bombing and the war and sanctions, that state that we are in as a family or as people of, of my country, the situation, the circumstances, my father had to bring it forward to me in a very clear and mature way. So, you know, one of the most impactful moments of my upbringing and my childhood is when he brought 10 Deutschmarks, and I've said this story many times, which is equivalent to $10, and he said, "This is all we got for our family of five, is living in a super small apartment." That's where it hit me. It was like, okay, now I have to take the means in my hands as a 12-year-old boy in whatever way I can. At least what I can do is support my mother maybe from some of the, the burden that she has during the day of taking care of my younger brothers, and that's where it also hit me that not having success is not an option. Like, I have to succeed. It's basically a matter of existence, a survival of my family. So I think it started there, and then over the years it has obviously transformed or evolved into different kind of form, but I think that and also my relationship with my father, oftentimes because of maybe lack of patience of my father or of people around, because everyone saw that I have a talent. I was coming from Serbia that had no tennis tradition, no tennis culture. We are a, a nation of a team sports. Uh, we are definitely a, a sporting nation. We love sports, but team sports. And at that point, during '90s, it was about survival. People were watching sports, but there was not much support for the sports. It was particularly not tennis. A very expensive sport at the time. I chose the most difficult sport for my parents in most difficult time for our nation and for my family. So oftentimes I wouldn't travel because we didn't have money, and then, you know, obviously, as you can imagine, Tennis Federation didn't have, you know, money to support me. So my father had to go and beg, and then he was also borrowing money from, unfortunately, even some criminals at the time, during '90s, and then they would... You know, they would tell him, it's funny story right now, but at the time it wasn't funny, particularly for him. But, you know, he would go and he said, first time I was going to go to United States to play, I was 15 years old. I was gonna play, like, big junior events here, like Prince Cup and Orange Bowl. They are the biggest ones under 16 and under 18. And also more importantly, I was, I was going with my father hopefully to get the sponsorship or, you know, get recruited by one of the big agencies, IMGs or, or, or whatever. So he went to ask for money because we didn't have, so he went to ask for $5,000. And so [laughs] these criminal people that you could borrow money from because banks obviously would not give it to you, and then they said... You know, he asked them, you know, "Are you, how much are you in rush?" And he's like, "Listen, I'm asking this money from you because of my son. He's playing tennis. We're going to America. You know, I'll return this money within whatever they agreed on, one or two months, whatever it is, three months." He says interest rate was 15%, but because you're in rush, it's 25. So my father was like, "Okay, you know, I'll take it, 'cause I have no other option." So, and

8. 28:51 – 33:20

   The Power of Surrender and Letting Go

   1. NDNovak Djokovic28:51

      I can only imagine the stress that he was going through in trying to return this money, where people were really car chasing him, shootings in our capital town, stuff that my father went through, you know, to, to really not only survive himself, but to actually allow all of us to live and protect us, and to allow me to live my dream and to play the most expensive sport at the time for my country, is something that I'm eternally indebted. I cannot-

   2. JSJay Shetty29:19

      Mm

   3. NDNovak Djokovic29:19

      ... there is no money or there's nothing that can return the favor, so to say. So of course my father is always my, my hero for that and my champion. But, you know, feeling of not enough because of that stress and what things that he was going through, and then it was hard because he was giving me also hard time if I wouldn't play well, and it's like... And then I, I understood, but at the same time I was afraid. I knew what I have to do, but, you know, it's, it's hard for me to deliver it when you need... It's like, okay, you need to win no matter what type of situation. He wasn't telling me that-

   4. JSJay Shetty29:53

      Yeah

   5. NDNovak Djokovic29:53

      ... but that's how it felt.

   6. JSJay Shetty29:54

      You feel it, yeah.

   7. NDNovak Djokovic29:55

      And it felt like that for years. So that's why I say that the success that I have achieved is not only due to my father or my parents or myself, it's also the divine higher force. I strongly believe that there was an intervention, and there still is. There's higher forces in power that were helping me in some of the most difficult moments, and my family as well. I am a man of faith and I really truly believe in God and a higher spiritual force that intervenes in the most difficult moments if you open your heart, if you pray, and if you believe in it. So I felt it on my own skin.Jay, to be honest, I really don't know how I won certain matches. I cannot explain it. Even with my team, after I would finish a, a Grand Slam final a- against Roger Federer, uh, in 2019 Wimbledon when he was a far better player, I saved some match points, and I came off the court, all stats were going his way, I won the match. And I just said, you know, and I wasn't f- playing well, I wasn't feeling well on the court, and I was just, like, struggling and scrambling and trying to stay out there, stay alive. And I won in the end in one of the most epic finals in history of tennis. And then, you know, I told to my parents and my family and my, my team and said, and my wife, I said, "I don't know how I won this match. I have no idea." At the same time, I do know deep inside that there, there's that connection happening and that, that there's also that help. So th- there's a mix of things. It's really hard to explain. Sometimes there's this divine power that really, if you allow it, if you believe it, that really helps you come out of, out of a trouble and, and achieve things.

   8. JSJay Shetty31:47

      What has been your point of connection or practice with that higher power that keeps you connected? What's been that for you? There's so many different traditions-

   9. NDNovak Djokovic31:57

      Right

   10. JSJay Shetty31:57

       ... have different methods. What's been the method for you that you find, especially in those moments, that you're able to tap in? Because I find that if you're able to tap in in really difficult times, it means you're doing something in good times.

   11. NDNovak Djokovic32:10

       Right.

   12. JSJay Shetty32:10

       Because it doesn't just suddenly turn on when you need it. So what, what has been your particular practice, method, uh, system, or theory that's kept you connected?

   13. NDNovak Djokovic32:19

       You hit the nail with that one. It's a consistent practice. So it's prayer work, mindfulness, meditation, conscious breathing, visualization, presence. Basically m- many other things as well that, that just ... NLP or, you know, there's a lot of different techniques that I have been practicing and trialing always with myself before I would recommend it to someone else. And over the years, I've developed my own formula that changes dependent on the feeling, dependent on whether I'm on the court, whether I'm at home, what, what, what practice, whatever it is that I'm doing. But I try to do it when, you know, nobody's watching. And sometimes I verbalize things, sometimes I don't. Sometimes I write things down, sometimes I just internalize. It just depends. But I think most importantly in the end is that you're doing something.

   14. JSJay Shetty33:16

       Mm.

   15. NDNovak Djokovic33:17

       I'm actually reading this book, uh, one of the books that I'm reading

9. 33:20 – 38:06

   Emotions Are Necessary

   1. NDNovak Djokovic33:20

      currently is, you know, The Power of Surrendering and Letting Go.

   2. JSJay Shetty33:24

      Mm-hmm.

   3. NDNovak Djokovic33:25

      It is an amazing book for me at, at the moment because, because of my upbringing and because of my character and because of my life story, hard for me to let go. It's hard for me to surrender unless it's through the higher power. But I'm still working on how to surrender and let go of certain things in relationship with close ones, or my relationship with tennis, or, you know, if I lose a match or a tournament, if I go through a crisis period and know how to not hold something that, that pulls me down or have regret or ... You know, it's, it's a constant work. But I, I, I feel like if you devote the time on a daily basis, whatever works for you. You had some of the most amazing, uh, guests on your show that talked about ... From neuroscientists to doctors, nutritionists, and talked about the healthy habits. So I, I don't wanna be talking as them as, as I'm not an expert. But in my fields or so to say in my own life and experience, I feel like I'm an expert because I have tried and developed so many different things over the last 30 years. And, and I know what works and what doesn't in a way. But going back to the very beginning of our conversation, it's not, again, a guarantee that it will keep on working for the rest of my life. But I know what will is my dedicated time in a day to this practice.

   4. JSJay Shetty34:48

      Mm.

   5. NDNovak Djokovic34:49

      Mental practice, physical practice, of course activity. Practice that I'm doing in the gym, outside on tennis court, or when I'm not training, I still do stuff. Still do some yoga practice. I still do stretching, I still do breathing. I still ... I love the qigong and the Chinese traditional medicine or Chinese tradition practices. I think they're super good and important that you can do even in your chair. There's always ... There's ways and it's incredible nowadays in internet and, I mean, it, it is access to incredible things. All it takes is a willpower to do it and a desire to say, "Okay, I'm consciously making this decision to change my life for better, and I'm gonna start with small steps." Super important. It's hard. You have so much judgment in this society, in this world, right? It's, it's really hard for people. As, as we talked about the environment. As much as effort you're putting in and then you come with your friends or, or whatever, with your family members or s- and then they start to judge you because you're starting to act weird because you're not normal. You're not conforming to the norms of the society, whatever they are. Because it's quite relative, you know, we're all different. But, you know, the norms of society are not really healthy ones, otherwise we wouldn't be where we are as a world ecosystem as a whole, you know, as people and what we are doing to our planet, et cetera. There's a lot of, uh, awakening happening, and it's great to see that change, but it's not easy for people, and I understand that. And it's okay not to feel okay. We heard that many times as well. And sometimes, as I said, accepting and embracing for me and letting go of the fact that I cannot find a solution to something that happens in my brain, in my mind is also fine.

   6. JSJay Shetty36:31

      Mm-hmm.

   7. NDNovak Djokovic36:32

      Of being in a dark place for as long as it requires is also a humane thingIt's also part of our life. I can see there's also a narrative that I don't really necessarily like or support in our, let's say, wellness, mindfulness space, wellbeing space, where it's presented by certain people in such way that you can only think positive thoughts.

   8. JSJay Shetty36:58

      Mm.

   9. NDNovak Djokovic36:58

      And there's no room for negative thoughts.

   10. JSJay Shetty37:01

       Mm.

   11. NDNovak Djokovic37:01

       That, you know, every picture or video they post online is smiling, it's great life and so forth. I mean, th- that's not possible.

   12. JSJay Shetty37:09

       Mm-hmm. [laughs]

   13. NDNovak Djokovic37:09

       Right? I mean, you cannot convince me that there's a single person in this planet, even a monk in Tibet that is meditating 24/7, or an Orthodox Christian priest in a holy island in Greece that is 24/7 praying, you know, peace isolated in the cave, that is not experiencing some negative thoughts.

   14. JSJay Shetty37:32

       Mm-hmm.

   15. NDNovak Djokovic37:33

       And I always go back to what one, uh, one of my friends told me that I... He's also, um, mental coach, and I worked with him for years. And h- one of his teachers is Zen Buddhism teachers, and he goes to the temple in France often to his teacher, and he asked him in one of the first times that he was there, uh, doing retreats and spending time at the temple, he says, "How are you so calm?" You know? "H- how is it that nothing really rattles you or unsettles you? Like, you're always so serene.

10. 38:06 – 48:18

    Becoming the Legend You Once Admired

    1. NDNovak Djokovic38:07

       Uh, you don't have any negative thoughts." And he said, the answer from the teacher is that, he says, "It's not true." He says, "I probably have more negative thoughts and more challenging thoughts and emotions than you have. The difference between you and me is my training and my ability to not stay in that state and in that emotion for a long time."

    2. JSJay Shetty38:32

       Mm-hmm.

    3. NDNovak Djokovic38:33

       "So I stay in it for seconds, and you stay in it for who knows?"

    4. JSJay Shetty38:38

       Yeah.

    5. NDNovak Djokovic38:38

       Right?

    6. JSJay Shetty38:39

       Yeah.

    7. NDNovak Djokovic38:39

       So I, I, I think there's true wisdom in that.

    8. JSJay Shetty38:42

       Yes.

    9. NDNovak Djokovic38:42

       And it's all about practice. Everything. I mean, brain is a muscle like any other. Even consciousness that comes naturally to us. I mean, we are conscious spiritual beings. We are souls on this planet, in this body. But in order for us to connect with our true self, we need to go through these layers, the constructs of the society that has developed us, in a way, has shaped us, and that requires practice on a daily basis. And that's not easy. Look, it's, it's not easy not switching on your phone or your TV the first thing in the morning, or, but doing something that is maybe not as healthy, but being devoted to that practice or, you know, during the day, having that little one, two, five, 10, 20-minute rest time and comprehension time. It's not easy to do that, especially for people that didn't develop that kind of habit. It doesn't come naturally. I mean, my [laughs] even though I don't like giving advices, we-

    10. JSJay Shetty39:38

        [laughs]

    11. NDNovak Djokovic39:38

        ... talked about it, but I like to share something that works as a suggestion, something that works extremely well for me. And then, and this is crazy that even in the 21st century, we are even talking about this as a hack. It should be, like, an everyday thing, that it's a natural, most natural thing, is to spend time in nature.

    12. JSJay Shetty39:57

        Mm.

    13. NDNovak Djokovic39:57

        Listen to the birds chirping, listen to the wind, feel the wind, feel the... I mean, if you're by seaside or oceanside, walk by the water or any water, or a pond or lake, or just be without a phone and in nature. Let the nature do its job and heal you. And there's so much more power to that than we actually think.

    14. JSJay Shetty40:20

        Mm-hmm.

    15. NDNovak Djokovic40:21

        And, and I felt like in the mo- in the darkest moments when I really don't wanna do any of these techniques [laughs] or any of the time indoors, I, I just go out, and I just, I just go out and preferably walk uphill.

    16. JSJay Shetty40:34

        Mm-hmm.

    17. NDNovak Djokovic40:35

        Because I feel like when you walk uphill, your heart rate raises, obviously, and because of that effort, you're even more present.

    18. JSJay Shetty40:42

        Mm-hmm.

    19. NDNovak Djokovic40:43

        So even less time for your thoughts to consume you, so you're, like, fully present. And then when you get to a certain point, high at the top, you feel good about yourself because you've done something. You're in the nature. You're dedicated time to yourself. So I feel like that's super powerful, and it's oftentimes very underestimated.

    20. JSJay Shetty41:03

        The reason why I love hearing about your practice is just because I think, I think an athlete's mind is one of the most unique places on Earth because when you're dealing with extremes every day-

    21. NDNovak Djokovic41:14

        Right

    22. JSJay Shetty41:14

        ... and every week, and both extremes of being number one and then losing a game, and, you know, everything that goes on, the toolkit you have is one of the most versatile toolkits. And, and that's why I asked that question, was just to understand what you do. I was gonna ask you, like, I feel like one of the most challenging things, and you probably remember this, when you are the new kid on the block and you're playing all the legends, and today you're the legend and you're playing the new kids on the block, and it must be such a fascinating experience to go through. And when you talk about the power of letting go and the power of surrender-

    23. NDNovak Djokovic41:47

        Right

    24. JSJay Shetty41:48

        ... I wanted you to talk to us about that. Like, what did it feel like when you were the new kid on the block, and you were playing your legends that you looked up to, and now you're the legend, you're the GOAT, you're the number one playing the new kids on the block? Like, what does that mentally look like?

    25. NDNovak Djokovic42:02

        It's a completely different feeling, obviously, and different perspective. I mean, when you're a teenager coming up and then, you know, you, you're in a dreamland when you are just sharing a locker room with the legends of the game or the guys that you look up to. The, your biggest rivals, they are becoming your biggest rivals later on, but at that point, they're your heroes. They're like, "My gosh, I mean, these guys, I've seen them [laughs] on the TV, and now I'm-

    26. JSJay Shetty42:29

        Who was that for you-

    27. NDNovak Djokovic42:29

        ... I'm here"

    28. JSJay Shetty42:29

        ... at that time?

    29. NDNovak Djokovic42:30

        I mean, look, my, my, uh, idol growing up was Pete Sampras. And even though Pete, Pete's game and my game are quite different, I don't know, I loved his demeanor, I loved his ability to cope with the pressure, and how he was coming up with the best tennis when it mattered the most.And that was a kind of a sign of a greatest champion. I mean, he was holding a record for most Slams and, and, and weeks number one, et cetera, for a long time, until Roger came, and Rafa, of course, and then of course paved the way, and then, you know, looking up to them as well. Even Nadal is only a year older than me, but he made a breakthrough earlier than I did. So already for a couple of years he was on the tour when I started coming in, and he was already number two in the world, multiple Slam winner, and et cetera. So of course it was, uh, kind of a surreal experience for me, and I tried to enjoy it and embrace it, but at the same time I felt like, "Okay, it's great to share the court with these guys, but I wanna beat them." [laughs] You know, "I wanna get the biggest titles. I wanna be number one. I wanna dominate." So I think that the first kind of that wave that I was riding on helped me to win my first Slam when I was 19 in, uh, uh, Australia, Australian Open in 2008. And then I, I won couple of big tournaments and so forth. I reached the number two in the world, but, you know, I still wasn't number one. And then I, I had a three-year period I didn't win a Slam. I was winning some big tournaments, but I couldn't win a Slam. These two guys were beating me in every big match, Federer and Nadal. I changed rackets, you know, team members. I, I did everything I can to kind of find the, the right formula, and I was struggling physically as well. I wasn't ... You know, that's where I actually, I had my transformative journey nutrition-wise, where I took out the gluten, and dairy products, and refined sugar. And I, up to that point, I was eating all of th- these things thinking, "Well, I'm, I'm eating relatively healthy." I mean, relatively healthy, I thought, you know, that's what I know. But then, you know, when I started working with this, with this doctor and he, he pointed out, "You know, you have strong gluten intolerance. Messes up with your gut. Gotta take that out. You gotta take out the dairy product because that creates a lot of inflammation in your body. You might be able to eat it later on, but not now. And refined sugar, absolutely no." So that was a huge change, but I committed to it, and then I felt that affected me. It affect my mental clarity. My recovery was much better. My decision-making on the court was better, et cetera. So that helped a lot. And of course mentally as well, I was working on certain programs that I had from, you know, that were kind of not really very positive and not, not really serving the purpose on the court of winning a match. So that year, 2010, 2011, is when I experience a huge boost of energy and transformation, and that change, an unbeaten run of 40-plus matches, and had three Slams, and became number one, and had one of the best season of my life, and that's where I, everything started going in the, in the upwards direction for me. And learning also from these guys in the matches that we've played against each other was something that was extremely important for me at the time. I was, of course, trying to consume as much as I can this energy of the center court and everything, and it was overwhelming at times. But I was also very thorough in my analysis of the matches afterwards, even though I don't necessarily [laughs] like to watch matches that I lost.

    30. JSJay Shetty46:13

        [laughs]
11. 48:18 – 51:10

    Living with Appreciation, Compassion, and Respect

    1. NDNovak Djokovic48:18

       that are kinda come in and dominate the tour. I'm experiencing something I have never experienced before, but that's, that's also fine, you know? I'm trying to embrace this journey and ... But also, I think what is very important to me personally and, and what I have expressed directly to all of my basically rivals currently today, the young guys who are going to be the carriers of the tennis for the next decade, is that I'm here for them toshare my experience, even though it's difficult because we're facing each other, but I still feel that in a way that's also my role, it's also my responsibility, and it's also a great opportunity for me to do that because I re- it really fills my heart with joy that I'm able to convey my experiences, my knowledge, whatever that I can from my journey to a new generations because naturally, the tennis should get better.

    2. JSJay Shetty49:19

       Mm-hmm.

    3. NDNovak Djokovic49:19

       And we all want tennis to get better, to be better, and I want somebody to break my record in the future, or all of the records. Why not? I mean, this is how it should be. If I can contribute in, in a, in a way where I can say, "Hey, aside of the, the barriers that we created in a rivalry, if you need help with, I don't know, public relations, if it's, you know, marketing, if it's dealing with, uh, the outside world as well, that is very difficult. Dealing with anxiety, we all have that. You know, we all know how it is to feel alone. You let yourself down, or you let other people down." Mental challenges in a high-level professional sport are 100% present with everyone. It's just a matter of how you deal with it, who you have in your support system that can help you. So I feel like it, it was great when I was able, as a kid, to ask some of the, the, the guys who were playing at the top level, you know, some of the questions that were interesting me and that just hearing from them two or three sentences of how they think that they were dealing with it and how that affected them was huge to me. Even if you heard it from someone else, but just hearing it from them, it just has this resonant power and impact, and it did help me a lot. I didn't have it from my top rivals at the time, [chuckles] but I had it from some guys like Ivan Ljubicic, for example, who was y- you know, fellow Croatian tennis player, and he was at number three or four in the world at that point, and then I was, uh, breaking through as a teenager, and we shared the same tennis coach. He influenced me in a positive way to, like, change the racket or string pattern or strings and all, all of these small details that you might not think that are maybe relevant or... But you hear them, you hear it from them, and then you're like, "Okay, now I'm ready to make the decision because I trust what he tells me."

12. 51:10 – 56:57

    How to Handle Failure with Grace

    1. NDNovak Djokovic51:10

       'Cause, you know, he's a testament to what he's preaching, basically.

    2. JSJay Shetty51:14

       Yeah. Yeah. It's so interesting because I love that you offered that. I was talking to Carmelo Anthony recently, the basketball player-

    3. NDNovak Djokovic51:20

       Yes

    4. JSJay Shetty51:20

       ... from the Knicks and, you know, very successful Hall of Famer, and he was telling me that in basketball he doesn't find the young players being that open-

    5. NDNovak Djokovic51:31

       Right

    6. JSJay Shetty51:31

       ... to coaching and guidance from the senior players. How do you find it in tennis? Is it more open? Is there... Did you get people coming back and saying, "Novak, I have loads of questions for you"?

    7. NDNovak Djokovic51:39

       Yeah. I, I would agree with that, uh, with Carmelo because also in tennis, because it's an individual sport as well, it makes it even more isolated solitude sport where you are focused on your team, and you create your own environment and community, and you're, like, excluding everything else, which is understandable, you know, to some point. Contrary to, let's say, basketball, we, we do share a locker room, so we [chuckles] are sitting next to each other or warming up next to each other-

    8. JSJay Shetty52:08

       Right

    9. NDNovak Djokovic52:08

       ... playing finals for the biggest tournament, which is crazy to think about it, you know. Whereas, you know, obviously the, the basketball or football, soccer, you know, these guys, they don't see each other until they actually on the court. We, uh, you know, look at each other, send each other looks. Our team members send each other looks in the locker room and stuff, and so the battle starts already there. So from that point of view, it's kind of hard to expect that they would come and say, "Hey, look,"

    10. JSJay Shetty52:33

        [laughs]

    11. NDNovak Djokovic52:33

        ... you know, "Give me some [laughs] advice. How I, how can I beat you?"

    12. JSJay Shetty52:37

        [laughs]

    13. NDNovak Djokovic52:37

        But, uh, but that's why I'm saying, like, there's many more other things that-

    14. JSJay Shetty52:41

        Mm

    15. NDNovak Djokovic52:41

        ... can be very helpful-

    16. JSJay Shetty52:42

        Yes, yes

    17. NDNovak Djokovic52:42

        ... like, out- outside of the court. And yes, there are some young players that are, how can I say, open, more flexible, more curious, and I think it's n- maybe not so much about that, but it's, it's about how shy you are or how courageous you are to really, you know, break that boundary and not be afraid of coming to me-

    18. JSJay Shetty53:05

        Mm-hmm

    19. NDNovak Djokovic53:05

        ... or to someone that you look up to and say, "Hey, can I ask you a question?" You know? Uh, more often I would get questions through their team members to my team members to me.

    20. JSJay Shetty53:16

        Yeah.

    21. NDNovak Djokovic53:16

        And so, and then I would approach them and say, "Hey, you can, you know, you can talk to me. There's no problem." "Yeah, but, you know, I don't wanna bother you," and stuff like this. So yeah, I th- I think it's very nice if you have that exchange, even if it's a, a short one, because the level of appreciation and respect, which I think is ultimately the most important thing in sports, you know?

    22. JSJay Shetty53:36

        Mm.

    23. NDNovak Djokovic53:36

        Yes, we all wanna win. Yes, we all wanna be the best. Yes, we all wanna make records in history, but appreciating what your fellow athlete goes through, compassionate, being compassionate and empathizing with him or her, and respecting the process is something that is more eternal-

    24. JSJay Shetty53:58

        Yeah

    25. NDNovak Djokovic53:58

        ... in your heart, in your soul, and in i- in the eyes of all the other people than any achievement or any success.

    26. JSJay Shetty54:05

        Yeah.

    27. NDNovak Djokovic54:05

        I mean, that's at least how I see it.

    28. JSJay Shetty54:07

        I love that. I, I couldn't agree with you more because I always try to remind people that the only person who can truly relate to you is that person. Like, your competitors-

    29. NDNovak Djokovic54:16

        Exactly

    30. JSJay Shetty54:17

        ... are the only people who can actually relate-
13. 56:57 – 1:00:31

    It's Okay to Be Bored

    1. NDNovak Djokovic56:57

       Let's go." I don't see how that exposes your weakness, because I think that's in a, in the center of everything. It's like-

    2. JSJay Shetty57:05

       Mm

    3. NDNovak Djokovic57:06

       ... don't show your weakness. Don't show your vulnerability. Be strong. Be tough. Whatever. Of course, we have to be tough, be strong, be whatever, be fierce in terms of, like, wanting to win and finding way to win, but that doesn't mean that we can be also human beings, that, "Hey", if, if I did something to you in a contact sport like basketball, if it's a foul or something like that, "Hey", you just give him a hand one second and says, "Whatever. Let's go. Let's keep it going." That doesn't mean that you will not battle in the next minute again.

    4. JSJay Shetty57:35

       Yeah.

    5. NDNovak Djokovic57:36

       So that's the part which I don't really understand fully or don't support it, but that's why, like, I feel like coming together and really showing that respect even if it's, you know, before the game and after the game, it really resonates with people. It does send overall a good message, and I think it improves the sport and brings people more together. Now to, to your question about losing a match, right? That was the-

    6. JSJay Shetty58:02

       Yeah. Like, at this stage of your career I feel like you've obviously s-

    7. NDNovak Djokovic58:06

       Right

    8. JSJay Shetty58:06

       ... we've talked about it. You're satisfied. You've succeeded. You've come back from, like, being down on points. Like-

    9. NDNovak Djokovic58:12

       Yeah

    10. JSJay Shetty58:12

        ... and, and I'm trying to get into your mindset of just where it's at today and, and how it's evolved over time.

    11. NDNovak Djokovic58:17

        Yeah.

    12. JSJay Shetty58:17

        Like, what does it feel now when you lose, have an early exit? Like, what does that feel like now compared to before?

    13. NDNovak Djokovic58:24

        As hard as [laughs] as hard as it was before.

    14. JSJay Shetty58:26

        Oh, really?

    15. NDNovak Djokovic58:26

        Yeah. Sometimes there is no rule. Sometimes it takes me an hour, sometimes half a day, sometimes a day, sometimes a week to go over the loss. I mean, it just really depends. But right after the match, you know, I would, uh, if I have to reflect shortly about a match with my team, but I just wanna be left alone. Yeah, I just have to go through my process. I don't like the, the chitchat, the small talk of trying to lift my spirits up right after the match. I just like, "Just give me some time. I need to isolate myself, go in my room, go outside, walk," whatever it is. You know, just blow some steam out. And then when I do that, then I'm ready to, you know, talk, socialize, and stuff like this. I don't know whether that's something that is good or not in general terms, uh, but that's just me. I feel like it's really hard for me to digest that I lost the match. As I said, sometimes takes longer, sometimes shorter to get out of it, but I do need definitely, like, few hours to not see anybody. Like, I, I hug my kids. If I see my kids, you know, my kids sometimes in, within those few hours they get me and they're like-

    16. JSJay Shetty59:42

        [laughs]

    17. NDNovak Djokovic59:43

        ... "Daddy, we have to do this. You have to take me there," and stuff. So kids have that permission to come into my space, but, eh, you know, anybody else I just need some, some time. And I-

    18. JSJay Shetty59:53

        Mm

    19. NDNovak Djokovic59:53

        ... I, I just feel like it's sometimes is necessary to have that. And in solitude is not necessarily bad, and I feel like we all need to learn how to embrace being in, in solitude, and being by, and enjoy being by ourselves. Doesn't mean that we have to go to total extreme, but it has to be balanced and optimal, but we need to h- create that time for ourselves because also being bored is good. You know, being bored, it, this is something very interesting, you know, that I also see with my, with my kids, like, particularly with my son. Keeps on telling me, he's 10, and he's like, "Daddy ..." Like, he just

14. 1:00:31 – 1:02:05

    Not All Distractions Are Bad

    1. NDNovak Djokovic1:00:31

       recently told me a few days ago, we were at out- at my parent's, uh, place, countryside by the lake, and we were alone, and he was ... We were playing different, we were playing ping pong. We were doing some, uh, kayaking in the lake. So, and we played some football, soccer. So we had a quite active few hours of, first few hours of the day. And then I was doing something else, I don't know what I was doing, and then he come up, comes up to me and is like, "Daddy, I'm bored." And then I s- had him sit down with me, and then I saidBut son, it's okay to be bored sometimes. First of all, you had a great active morning and you did a lot of things. And second of all, y- you know, when you're bored, it doesn't mean that you have to instantly take a book or a screen or anything else. You need to also learn how to be with your thoughts. And if you're not comfortable being bored indoors, go outdoors. Sit on a chair and, uh, have, have some drink and just look at the sky. And I, and I think that's much easier said than done.

    2. JSJay Shetty1:01:38

       [laughs]

    3. NDNovak Djokovic1:01:39

       And I, and I, I really would love my, my children to, to be able to be okay with being bored because that's the time when you're actually most creative, or that's the time when you can manage your thoughts and everything that you have been suppressing by distracting yourself with phone, with w- whatever it is. They don't have, my kids don't have phones. They're 10 and seven. And, and that's another s- conversation, but you know, it's, it's a struggle,

15. 1:02:05 – 1:04:01

    Protecting Your Mindset from Social Media

    1. NDNovak Djokovic1:02:05

       but it's important. You know, I think it's super important, particularly for them at this young age, to understand and develop a connection with nature, with outdoors, with activity, with all these things. And then it's inevitable, uh, you know, s- soon it will come a moment where they'll have the, the screens and well, they'll blend into the society's norms and... But at least I'll be comfortable as a parent that I done what I can to instill some of the foundational things in them that they will appreciate, maybe not now, but later on in life. I think also, you know, when I lose a match, I wanna be distracted by some- I wanna have my phone, I wanna watch something, read something. I wanna, I wanna distract myself, and that's one of the bad habits that I have. So it's, it's a battle for me, and, uh, normally how I win this battle is just go outside. And I either don't take my phone, I'll leave it, or if I take it, I'll just w- if I'm in the city, I'll just listen to something, listen to Jay Shetty's podcast On Purpose, or I would do something, you know, just ... Or, or normally I would listen to music.

    2. JSJay Shetty1:03:11

       Mm.

    3. NDNovak Djokovic1:03:12

       You know, relaxing just to kind of calm myself. I would prefer not listening to anything and just being immersed in whatever is outdoors and trying to, trying to find a park, trying to find anything natural, you know, and I think that helps a lot, but I do need my time.

    4. JSJay Shetty1:03:28

       Yeah. That, that's reaffirming for me because if I'm having a tough time, I've always found that being alone, I have to first make sense of how I feel about something before I hear everyone else's-

    5. NDNovak Djokovic1:03:41

       Right

    6. JSJay Shetty1:03:41

       ... feelings.

    7. NDNovak Djokovic1:03:42

       Right.

    8. JSJay Shetty1:03:42

       Because otherwise someone's feeling won't satisfy me.

    9. NDNovak Djokovic1:03:45

       Right.

    10. JSJay Shetty1:03:45

        So even if someone said, and I, I assume that's what you're saying, if someone came up to me and goes, "Oh, but Jay, but everything's gonna be all right," it's like if I don't feel that, and if I don't believe that, it doesn't matter how many times someone says that to me.

    11. NDNovak Djokovic1:03:56

        And you, and, and of course the intention is good-

    12. JSJay Shetty1:03:58

        Of course

    13. NDNovak Djokovic1:03:59

        ... of that person.

    14. JSJay Shetty1:03:59

        Yeah, yeah.

    15. NDNovak Djokovic1:04:00

        But it's hard for you

16. 1:04:01 – 1:08:29

    The Pressure on Men to Hide Vulnerability

    1. NDNovak Djokovic1:04:01

       to see that at a given moment.

    2. JSJay Shetty1:04:02

       Correct.

    3. NDNovak Djokovic1:04:03

       So I, I agree with that, and I think to, to the point of distractions, I don't think that necessarily distractions are s- 100% super negative.

    4. JSJay Shetty1:04:12

       Mm.

    5. NDNovak Djokovic1:04:13

       And I'll explain. I, I, I think that for a lot of people, they need a moment, however that moment lasts, to ... It, it looks like they're distracting themselves, like i- when I do it. But it, what I, what I do is just bringing myself back-

    6. JSJay Shetty1:04:31

       Yeah

    7. NDNovak Djokovic1:04:31

       ... to that center, whatever that is, okay? And then I'm ready to do some other practice of breathing or whatever it is, or I can socialize, I can s- start speaking with people-

    8. JSJay Shetty1:04:43

       Yes

    9. NDNovak Djokovic1:04:43

       ... and do other things. So I don't feel it's necessarily bad unless you don't have any control of it, unless it just carries you into hours and hours of playing games or being on social media, of being ... If it's that, then it's not good.

    10. JSJay Shetty1:04:57

        Yeah.

    11. NDNovak Djokovic1:04:57

        Then it's not good. Because then you're disrupting your own rhythm.

    12. JSJay Shetty1:05:01

        Well, what you're doing is you're disrupting the pattern.

    13. NDNovak Djokovic1:05:04

        Right.

    14. JSJay Shetty1:05:04

        So instead of being there and then you're just playing the game again in your head and being down on yourself and being negative and-

    15. NDNovak Djokovic1:05:11

        Right

    16. JSJay Shetty1:05:11

        ... and so you're disrupting that pattern with the distraction.

    17. NDNovak Djokovic1:05:14

        Right.

    18. JSJay Shetty1:05:14

        And then that's a good thing because then you don't get into the spiral and it's not like you're checking what people said on the comments-

    19. NDNovak Djokovic1:05:20

        Exactly

    20. JSJay Shetty1:05:20

        ... about the game.

    21. NDNovak Djokovic1:05:21

        Right.

    22. JSJay Shetty1:05:22

        Right? You're dis-

    23. NDNovak Djokovic1:05:22

        Right

    24. JSJay Shetty1:05:22

        ... you're disconnecting from the game.

    25. NDNovak Djokovic1:05:24

        No, I'm, I'm disconnecting.

    26. JSJay Shetty1:05:25

        Yeah.

    27. NDNovak Djokovic1:05:25

        Well, the thing is that if you're on social media, which-

    28. JSJay Shetty1:05:27

        You're gonna see it

    29. NDNovak Djokovic1:05:28

        ... I, I do have a tendency to go to social media as well, like right after, even though I don't want to, but part of me wants to. It's also where I find some short clips of what happened in a match-

    30. JSJay Shetty1:05:39

        Yeah
17. 1:08:29 – 1:12:58

    Finding Unity Through Sports

    1. NDNovak Djokovic1:08:29

       And I have had the same view for quite a long time, I must say, and I changed that about 10 years ago. With my upbringing, I, I ... There was no room for emotions. There was just, like, serious, "I have to do my job, and I have to be successful. No room for error," et cetera. But it also, you know, comes from, I think, my home where I didn't have that relationship where I, when I would cry, I would be, [inhales] you know, with my father especially, that I would feel safe. I would not feel that. And, and so I had to not cry and be tough, and then I have to ... Uh, it, I kind of enclose myself, you know? And, and to the point where I wasn't able to express myself emotionally. I didn't ... The time when I started dating my girlfriend at the time, my wife, you know, sh- uh, uh, [laughs] it was hard for me to, to, to kind of express what I feel even though I, I'm a very talkative person. I'm very, you know, I like to communicate, and I feel like I, I'm very approachable in that, in that sense. But for a long time, that was, that was a kind of a narrative, particularly in, you know, men's sports as we talked about it. So I, I do like that about Cristiano as well because in the end of the day, you know, he's giving his heart out on the pitch for his team, for the fans, and that ultimately needs to be respected because the guy at his age, 40, after everything he has achieved, still going, still wants to win in a league that is far weaker than the best leagues in Europe. You know, but he still has this champion's mentality, and he'll always have it as long as he's playing. So, uh, yeah, absolutely a credit to him for that, and, and I do resonate with, with that. And I've cried many times after my losses in the locker room but also on the court, particularly after Olympics, like, losses at Olympic Games for my country or Davis Cup when I play for my country. That's, like, [laughs] even stronger intensity of emotions that you go through because you're not playing for yourself only in that way. I mean, when I play all the tournaments, I always represent my country, but here in this official team competitions or Olympics, it's even more emphasized the importance of your country, of wearing those colors, you know, on your sleeve or in your heart. So when you lose, you're like [sighs] you know, you're so down, and, and the whole world collapsed. I'm very happy that I w- I was able to win the gold medal for my country last year in Paris Olympics 'cause that was a long time dream of mine, and the Olympic Games are just so special. You know, every four years, I know LA is the next one obviously.

    2. JSJay Shetty1:11:09

       Yeah, yeah.

    3. NDNovak Djokovic1:11:10

       My wish is to be able to play LA. I mean, hopefully I'll be still, still playing to, to be able to participate.

    4. JSJay Shetty1:11:16

       Yeah, I hope so too. It'll be fun for me-

    5. NDNovak Djokovic1:11:17

       Yeah. [laughs] For sure

    6. JSJay Shetty1:11:18

       ... to just watch you locally for once.

    7. NDNovak Djokovic1:11:20

       For sure.

    8. JSJay Shetty1:11:20

       And we got the Soccer World Cup coming to America too.

    9. NDNovak Djokovic1:11:23

       Exactly.

    10. JSJay Shetty1:11:23

        So-

    11. NDNovak Djokovic1:11:23

        Yeah. Big things

    12. JSJay Shetty1:11:24

        ... it's an exciting time. But no, it's ... I love hearing that as well, just, like, when you're playing for yourself, you let yourself down, you let the fans down, but when you're playing for your country, you let the country down, and, you know, no one wants to let their country down. No one wants to-

    13. NDNovak Djokovic1:11:37

        Right

    14. JSJay Shetty1:11:38

        ... you know, everyone wants to represent well. And I think sometimes at a national level, athletes get it really tough when you lose for your country.

    15. NDNovak Djokovic1:11:46

        Yes.

    16. JSJay Shetty1:11:47

        It's, it's one of the hardest feelings 'cause, yeah, it's a different emotion. And I think we forget as fans and followers, you forget the human-

    17. NDNovak Djokovic1:11:57

        Yeah

    18. JSJay Shetty1:11:57

        ... experience.

    19. NDNovak Djokovic1:11:58

        Aspect.

    20. JSJay Shetty1:11:58

        Yeah.

    21. NDNovak Djokovic1:11:58

        Yeah.

    22. JSJay Shetty1:11:58

        Of like-

    23. NDNovak Djokovic1:11:59

        No, for sure. I mean, look, we are very blessed as athletes on the highest level to be able to play the sport that we fell in love with because if not all, but super majority of professional athletes play those sports on the highest level, uh, because when they were kids, they wanted to play tennis, basketball, football, whatever. They fell in love, and it's a love and passion for the game that got you going. So it's important to state that because, you know, we are for sure fortunate ones. But at the same time, we feel that through sport we are able to connect with people, and people are able to connect with the virtues that sport and the values that sport represents that help them in their everyday life.

    24. JSJay Shetty1:12:48

        Mm-hmm.

    25. NDNovak Djokovic1:12:48

        I think they, that's not something that is, has been talked about a lot.

    26. JSJay Shetty1:12:52

        Yeah, I agree.

    27. NDNovak Djokovic1:12:52

        Uh, on how, why is it that our sports are so popular? Why is it that people relate

18. 1:12:58 – 1:16:00

    The Greatest Life Lessons from Sports

    1. NDNovak Djokovic1:12:58

       to athletes? It's because of this grit, because of this battle. We all go through internal battle on a daily basis, and in sports we can of course admire the, the features of, um, an athlete-And the skills and the talent and the abilities, but at the same time, we also identify ourselves with those athletes

    2. JSJay Shetty1:13:20

       Mm-hmm

    3. NDNovak Djokovic1:13:20

       We, we feel like, wow, you know, th- this game or a match, it's in a way a condensed daily life or a condensed life into an hour or two or three where you, you start at the beginning, you're even, then you end up, you know, winning or losing. But in the process or journey of the match and the game, you're going through ups and downs, you're going... And particularly in individual sports, you're going, you mentioned Lewis Hamilton, another great legend. You're going through that battle of, you know, trying to win that inner battle where you go through your doubts, your worries, your fears. So all of these f- elements are part of everyday life of everyday person. And that's why I feel like people relate to sports. And they also, they s- they, when they go to see sport live particularly, but also when they watch it on TV, I feel they're able because they, they are so connected to the community of that club or that athlete or whatever it is, they feel like all of their problems stop-

    4. JSJay Shetty1:14:27

       Mm

    5. NDNovak Djokovic1:14:27

       ... at least for those hour, two, three hours that they are watching.

    6. JSJay Shetty1:14:31

       Mm-hmm.

    7. NDNovak Djokovic1:14:32

       And they feel like they can also, when they're watching ... I mean, that- that's my observation and experience with tennis fans, for example, or, or I mean, of course I watch basketball and football live as well, or the other fans of the other sports, is that that's where they feel like they can free themselves of the emotions and the burdens that are kind of wearing them down. And, and so- [laughs] sometimes it, it really goes to a, an extreme-

    8. JSJay Shetty1:14:58

       Yeah

    9. NDNovak Djokovic1:14:58

       ... level where people start really... or swearing and fighting and throwing stuff at the, at the athletes and behaving really bad, like hooligans, and that's obviously a part that I don't support. But I can see that there's a lot of people that are like, phew. That's why, that's why, like, after a game, they either feel drained or they feel energized.

    10. JSJay Shetty1:15:17

        Mm.

    11. NDNovak Djokovic1:15:17

        They either feel like they've kind of, like, collected that energy from the stadium, or they feel like, phew, they're completely like a deflated balloon because they've, you know, been through crazy intensity of the emotions and they relate, they follow every point and every second of the game. And then they, in the end, of course, if their [laughs] team loses, it's, it's a big-

    12. JSJay Shetty1:15:42

        Yeah

    13. NDNovak Djokovic1:15:42

        ... difference than when they win. But it's just that identification that happens that I feel like is super strong and why sports are so important for the society and why people regard it as very, something very popular and important for them.

    14. JSJay Shetty1:15:55

        And I'm really glad you're having that conversation because I think it can have, even as a kid,

19. 1:16:00 – 1:23:17

    Overcoming the Worst Injury of His Career

    1. JSJay Shetty1:16:00

       like I grew up playing sport, never, you know, good enough to play any semi-professional or even professional level, but sport created discipline in my life. Even as someone who wasn't-

    2. NDNovak Djokovic1:16:10

       Right

    3. JSJay Shetty1:16:10

       ... you know, that prolific at sport, it created discipline, created teamwork if you were playing a team sport.

    4. NDNovak Djokovic1:16:15

       Right.

    5. JSJay Shetty1:16:15

       Created timeliness, created commitment-

    6. NDNovak Djokovic1:16:18

       Yes

    7. JSJay Shetty1:16:18

       ... created showing up. There were so many healthy, valuable, masculine-

    8. NDNovak Djokovic1:16:21

       Right

    9. JSJay Shetty1:16:22

       ... traits as well that were so important, and of course for women as well. And it's interesting what you say about it going the toxic side because I think it was the last Euros or the World Cup and there was this statistic about how domestic violence in England goes up if England lose.

    10. NDNovak Djokovic1:16:40

        Mm.

    11. JSJay Shetty1:16:40

        But it goes up even more if England win.

    12. NDNovak Djokovic1:16:43

        Oh, wow.

    13. JSJay Shetty1:16:44

        Because people drink more when they win.

    14. NDNovak Djokovic1:16:45

        Right. Right.

    15. JSJay Shetty1:16:46

        So and that's just so shocking that you see that connection too. And that's why I think it's even more important to get these positive messages through sport out-

    16. NDNovak Djokovic1:16:55

        Exactly

    17. JSJay Shetty1:16:55

        ... so that we don't have that kind of a statistic because... And that's specifically to do with football and soccer.

    18. NDNovak Djokovic1:17:01

        Yes, of course.

    19. JSJay Shetty1:17:02

        Um, but-

    20. NDNovak Djokovic1:17:02

        No, it is super important-

    21. JSJay Shetty1:17:04

        Yeah

    22. NDNovak Djokovic1:17:04

        ... I think. But in, in football it's far more extreme than in tennis in terms of the-

    23. JSJay Shetty1:17:08

        Tennis fans are a bit more-

    24. NDNovak Djokovic1:17:09

        ... ultra, ultra fans and, and-

    25. JSJay Shetty1:17:10

        Yeah

    26. NDNovak Djokovic1:17:10

        ... you know, the kind of like, uh, following and, and, uh, being such a ultra devoted fan. I mean, they literally live for that the entire year, which I think it's beautiful when you see choreographies of some fans in the basketball games or football games and, and it's just, it's, it's art. It's beautiful, you know? And then this energy when thousands and tens of thousands of people start singing together for their club, I mean, it's, it's incredible feeling. That's why we all love being present to experience that because ultimately human beings love to experience things-

    27. JSJay Shetty1:17:48

        Yeah

    28. NDNovak Djokovic1:17:48

        ... because that, that fuels our life. And, and, and sports allow us to do that. They allow us to e- experience some incredible enthusiastic, uh, exhilarating type of, uh, uplifting energy, joy. But it also [laughs] the sadness or, or anxiousness and stuff. And, and so, uh, all of these emotions that you go through is just an incredible school of life in some way. But you're right, you know, it also teaches, professional sports teach a great dis- great deal of discipline and also the never giving up spirit that I think it's, it's, it's important for people.

    29. JSJay Shetty1:18:29

        Yeah.

    30. NDNovak Djokovic1:18:29

        Uh, 'cause today in the society because a lot of people look to, to conform, to be comfortable, to, you know, there's always, you know, something that I can do differently. They don't finish things. So it's important to kind of remind yourself to be devoted and, and not give up and believe that you can, you know, achieve something that you set yourself up to. And, uh, so yeah, sports, sports definitely send those values and you're right, it's important to always emphasize that.
20. 1:23:17 – 1:29:43

    Why Injury Is Every Athlete’s Greatest Enemy

    1. NDNovak Djokovic1:23:17

       stuff like this, but, you know, we had some miraculous recoveries from some athletes, la, la, la." And my, my physio was, was sitting on the, on the rooftop of our hotel, and all team was there, and he said, "I know you. Do not even think for a second you'll play Wimbledon. Like, that's out of the question."

    2. JSJay Shetty1:23:34

       Wow.

    3. NDNovak Djokovic1:23:35

       And I didn't say anything. All the team members agreed. I didn't say anything. A- actually, one thing I say, I said, "I understand what you're saying, but please, you know, for my own mental sanity, because it's Wimbledon, because it's my always been a dream tournament, the most important tournament, let's just see how it goes in the next two weeks." 'Cause I have three weeks to the tournament and I can pull out three, four, five days before the tournament, so I have, like, two, two and a half weeks to play around. At that point I was with crutches. [laughs]

    4. JSJay Shetty1:24:07

       Oh, my gosh.

    5. NDNovak Djokovic1:24:07

       So long s- so, so long story short, I've dedicated so much time in a day to recover, and it was like a task for me to prove even the closest people in, in my team and family wrong that I can recover, and it was really a mission. And I recovered and I played finals, and I, I lost last year finals in Wimbledon, and then I, a week after that came to the Paris back again and played Olympics and won the gold medal. So it was the best period of my, [laughs] of my, uh, 2024 season is when I actually had a s- surgery, a post-surgery. 'Cause something clicked in my head where he triggered me, my physio, and said, "Do not even think." And then for me, uh, what I heard is, "Okay."

    6. JSJay Shetty1:24:50

       [laughs]

    7. NDNovak Djokovic1:24:50

       "Thank you for giving me the task, because now I have a challenge on my hands."

    8. JSJay Shetty1:24:55

       Yeah.

    9. NDNovak Djokovic1:24:55

       All I needed is that. And actually that's what I need now, I feel like, in this phase of my career when I'm trying to motivate myself and keep going and stuff. I need a challenge. I think athletes in the highest level after so long, they, they need to feel they're challenged. They need to feel that they are playing a game. Even though it's our job and every- but we need to feel like we- somebody's gonna say something, you wanna prove them wrong. Michael Jordan in his Last Dance was talking about it. He's likeEven if I didn't have anybody in the crowds talking crap to me, but I still picked someone and selected him as an enemy, and just because I needed to create that enemy inside of my head to get me going. So I actually relate [laughs] to that-

    10. JSJay Shetty1:25:39

        [laughs]

    11. NDNovak Djokovic1:25:39

        ... even though I don't necessarily always look for enemies in my every match in the crowd. But I had quite an experience with tennis crowds over the years in my career. Oftentimes when I would play with Nadal and Federer, most of the times I would have most of the stadium against me, so it would be challenging, but that's also part of why my mental toughness is as it is, in a kind of a hostile environments played most of my matches and big matches, and I kinda had to find a way to win a match and to use that energy as my fuel and not have it wear me down.

    12. JSJay Shetty1:26:14

        What does that take to do that? Because it sounds like that scrutiny is worse than an injury. What's worse, that kind of-

    13. NDNovak Djokovic1:26:22

        Yeah

    14. JSJay Shetty1:26:22

        ... hostile environment, hostility or injury?

    15. NDNovak Djokovic1:26:25

        Look, injury is the biggest enemy-

    16. JSJay Shetty1:26:27

        Yeah

    17. NDNovak Djokovic1:26:27

        ... or an opponent of-

    18. JSJay Shetty1:26:28

        Of an athlete

    19. NDNovak Djokovic1:26:29

        ... of an athlete. You can't do your job, you can't play your sport if you're injured. Which proves the point of self-care even more of how important it is and how significantly you have to address that and approach that in your daily life, as an individual athlete particularly. But at the same time, a hostile environment is, is not ideal. I mean, you always wanna be playing where you're celebrated, cheered for. Of course, you know, it lifts you up in the tough moments when you're down. It just ... But I learned in the [laughs] somehow in the hostile environment to thrive, and I've seen that, you know, with ... Like Kobe did it as well, right? LeBron, you know, other athletes as well in, in their respective sports talked about it. In, in football, they experience it a lot.

    20. JSJay Shetty1:27:19

        People can relate to that. Like, I think people always feel-

    21. NDNovak Djokovic1:27:22

        Yeah

    22. JSJay Shetty1:27:23

        ... even the average person constantly feels like their work's a hostile environment or-

    23. NDNovak Djokovic1:27:27

        Yeah

    24. JSJay Shetty1:27:27

        ... wherever. Like, what allowed you to use it as fuel consistently over that time to the point where people were cheering when you finally win?

    25. NDNovak Djokovic1:27:35

        Well, there are a few things. First, I mentioned that already, is using that as a fuel to prove somebody wrong.

    26. JSJay Shetty1:27:43

        Mm-hmm.

    27. NDNovak Djokovic1:27:44

        A- and that requires work mentally to be able to transform or transmute that energy or that cheering that is against you to convince yourself it's for you.

    28. JSJay Shetty1:27:57

        Mm.

    29. NDNovak Djokovic1:27:58

        So I was t- I was saying this-

    30. JSJay Shetty1:27:59

        Wow
21. 1:29:43 – 1:44:52

    What’s Next for Novak?

    1. NDNovak Djokovic1:29:43

       are we then able to live w- how we wanna live where we are actually on a autopilot most of the time. And that explains the multitasking. That explains why we can text and drive and drink and speak and do five things at the same time, is because of the subconscious. But subconscious is basically reacting to what you are instilling or, uh, uploading in that program.

    2. JSJay Shetty1:30:11

       Mm-hmm.

    3. NDNovak Djokovic1:30:12

       So I feel like when I was introduced to that, uh, subconscious mind science, I was ... You know, I felt like I've changed myself and my own perspective on things and how I approach life and performance and relationship, and I could see that. And I, I still make mistakes, and I still do plenty of mistakes, not on the tennis court or o- outside in relationship and everything. I'm more conscious and more aware where it's coming from and why I did it. And then I'm gonna keep on doing mistakes, but I'll try to reduce those. And I feel like being in control is something that we all want to be in. Like, we wanna control our thoughts. We wanna control our lives, our partners, and we wanna ... But it's not possible, and it shouldn't be the case. Like, you can only control what you can, which is your own process internally. And then how that comes across when I speak to you right now and what you think in your mind and how you hear my words is, I can't control that.

    4. JSJay Shetty1:31:13

       Mm.

    5. NDNovak Djokovic1:31:14

       You know? I can only hope that I am emitting the right kind of energy and vibe to you and that we are creating something nice. That's where I feel like we all get trapped a lot, is like, "No, I'm going to prove you the point of what I was saying, and I'm gonna tell you why you are causing this in me," and so forth, so putting always the blame to someone else. And I mean, I can feel that with tennis, is that I can instantlysee the mistake when I actually say it's my coach's fault or it's my physio's fault or my fitness coach's fault or it's whoever's fault for me losing a match or me playing this way. So always remind myself, "Hey, take the responsibility in your hands. Take the means in your hands. You are in control of your life." Maybe not fully, because there's always this destiny or divine, uh, purpose of us being here, and the karma from past lives and et cetera. That's-

    6. JSJay Shetty1:32:10

       Yeah

    7. NDNovak Djokovic1:32:10

       ... another conversation. But what you can control, focus on that. The other things is just, you know, it's in God's hands, and it's in the hands of other people, and how that all interacts. But I believe that when you're training yourself to think good thoughts, and it comes back to you.

    8. JSJay Shetty1:32:25

       Mm.

    9. NDNovak Djokovic1:32:25

       It's the, the law of attraction and the law of giving and taking, and it comes back. You know, you become what you think, right? And so there's, there's true power in that.

    10. JSJay Shetty1:32:35

        Novak, you've been so kind and generous with your time. I've got a few more questions for you. You know, I think you've talked so much about health, self-care, discipline. I know that you have your new supplement out that I can't wait to try as well, your hydration.

    11. NDNovak Djokovic1:32:49

        Right.

    12. JSJay Shetty1:32:50

        It's called Sila, which I love the meaning-

    13. NDNovak Djokovic1:32:51

        Yeah

    14. JSJay Shetty1:32:52

        ... of, if you can share what that means. But I love that you're finding a way to productize your mindset, like I actually am, because I think people like myself who wanna know what is that 0.0001% mindset, and what are you discovering and taking-

    15. NDNovak Djokovic1:33:09

        Right

    16. JSJay Shetty1:33:09

        ... and you were just sharing it with me earlier. I was just thinking, I'm so excited about that to try it out for myself, because I try and treat myself like an athlete, even if I'm not playing in the games you are. Because to me, I'm trying to operate at that mindset-

    17. NDNovak Djokovic1:33:22

        Right

    18. JSJay Shetty1:33:22

        ... that level physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and, and I love that. So I guess where did that come from? Was that this idea of, you know, as you're thinking about tennis and thinking about beyond tennis, like where did that come from?

    19. NDNovak Djokovic1:33:35

        I was always trying to think beyond tennis, you know, particularly-

    20. JSJay Shetty1:33:38

        Always

    21. NDNovak Djokovic1:33:38

        ... well, particularly in the last, I would say, 12 to 15 years of my, my career-

    22. JSJay Shetty1:33:46

        Wow

    23. NDNovak Djokovic1:33:46

        ... my life. I mean, I, because I was hearing early on from some other, not just tennis players, uh, established tennis players who were retired and, and shared their experience of post-career with me, but also other athletes and how, you know, the struggles they had mentally, and particularly the struggles that they had if they have not prepared themselves for that transition. I believe that in some way you cannot fully prepare yourself for that transition mentally. Like, it's gonna be a sad day [chuckles] for me when I leave tennis, and it's gonna be very emotional, and I know that. But what I'm talking about is basically the adrenaline. That also needs to be filtered or re-channeled somewhere. And I know that I will play sports for the rest of my life 'cause I love sports, and being active is essential. But also I feel like you need a challenge. Tennis has consumed most of my life, and that's what I know how to do best, but I have very broad interest in a lot of different things. And the industry or the, the sphere of, of life which is called health, wellness, and wellbeing is my biggest passion, and it's very broad ecosystem or field if, if you want, as you know, because you're part of it. But it has been my passion for 15-plus years and, you know, uh, always imagined the world where most of the people will take care of themselves of, you know, how they hydrate, how they eat, exercise, how they manage their sleep. Just a healthier world. And of course, it's, it's hard to change everything at the same time, and it of course takes a lot of different time because this, the planet is big and there's a lot of people. But I think taking small steps is very valuable, and it has its effect. So hydration is something that was always super important for me as a professional athlete, and I noticed that people who live everyday life, but not only them, but also athletes don't really understand the importance of hydration and don't really understand maybe how to fully hydrate themselves-

    24. JSJay Shetty1:36:06

        Mm

    25. NDNovak Djokovic1:36:06

        ... on a cellular level.

    26. JSJay Shetty1:36:07

        Mm.

    27. NDNovak Djokovic1:36:08

        Because when we talk about hydration, obviously first thing that comes to your mind is drink water, right? We drink water. We have to. We, we wouldn't survive a day without water. So that's normal. But then we also have all these other ingredients and vitamins and minerals and things that we're trying to take, whether it's through supplementation, whether it's through food. Obviously, if you can get everything through food, it's the best.

    28. JSJay Shetty1:36:31

        Mm.

    29. NDNovak Djokovic1:36:32

        Bryan Johnson I saw the other day-

    30. JSJay Shetty1:36:33

        Yeah
22. 1:44:52 – 2:02:35

    Novak on Final Five

    1. NDNovak Djokovic1:44:52

       like you, trying to f- make other people feel better.

    2. JSJay Shetty1:44:56

       Yes.

    3. NDNovak Djokovic1:44:56

       You know, whether it's mentally or physically, uh, through supplements, through this pod, through this podcast, through talking, through, you know, sharing the journey, sharing the maybe some hacks and techniques and stuff that they can do.

    4. JSJay Shetty1:45:10

       Yeah.

    5. NDNovak Djokovic1:45:10

       You know, in the end of the day, that's actually what drives me, and I feel like it drives you a lot, you know? C- 'cause it gives the purpose on purpose. It gives you purpose in your life. It's not, like, only about yourself and what you do and achievements and the fame and money and everything. It's, it's really about how you make your mark in the world. What's the legacy? What do you leave behind? How do people, you know, benefit from you and what you say, what you do, what you create? So that's a kind of a driving force. You know, one of the best psychologists that I work with and one of the most impressive and intelligent people that I ever met in my life, uh, his name is Dr. Jim Loehr, and he c- he is, was one of the founders of Human Performance Institute, HPI, in Florida. And we worked for a few years, and h- you know, he has this, obviously one of the most important questions is what would you like to have written on your tombstone? And would you like, you know, people to list your achievements, or is it something else? How would you like people to remember you? You know, but deeply think about that. And then we would go through a process of writing things down and really kind of deconstructing my personality, my life, what I'm living in a given moment, and what I, how I see the future self and how I see the future of the world and, and whether I feel like I strongly believe that I can make that impact. So I feel this is, everything that I do is related to that source of the purpose and of the light that is in the center of everything because, you know, I, I've also turned down many different companies in my life that wanted me to-

    6. JSJay Shetty1:46:52

       Can imagine

    7. NDNovak Djokovic1:46:52

       ... be an ambassador because I just feel it's very hard for me to represent and advocate something to millions of people that I really don't believe in. I would never drink that drink or eat that or, or whatever it is. I just, if it's not aligned with my philosophy, my mindset, it's not gonna work. And-

    8. JSJay Shetty1:47:12

       Yeah

    9. NDNovak Djokovic1:47:12

       ... and I've selected that journey, which is for my managers and my [laughs] agents-

    10. JSJay Shetty1:47:17

        [laughs]

    11. NDNovak Djokovic1:47:17

        ... not the ideal one, but at the same time, I'm calm in my heart-

    12. JSJay Shetty1:47:22

        Yes

    13. NDNovak Djokovic1:47:22

        ... in my mind because I know that I'm doing something that is right.

    14. JSJay Shetty1:47:25

        I love that, and I'm so excited to try it. And I'm, I'm grateful that you've said that and that authenticity's there because-

    15. NDNovak Djokovic1:47:32

        Right

    16. JSJay Shetty1:47:32

        ... I personally am someone who wants to try new things and wants to know what the best are using.

    17. NDNovak Djokovic1:47:38

        Right.

    18. JSJay Shetty1:47:39

        Especially when you're creating it yourself. You're not putting your name to it. It's not something ... You know, it's-

    19. NDNovak Djokovic1:47:44

        Exactly

    20. JSJay Shetty1:47:44

        ... you're actually saying, "No, this is what I use. This is what I'm doing." I think that's important. So Novak, we end every interview with the final five. These have to be answered in one word to one sentence maximum.

    21. NDNovak Djokovic1:47:56

        Okay. [laughs]

    22. JSJay Shetty1:47:56

        Uh, and then I may ask you to-

    23. NDNovak Djokovic1:47:58

        Right

    24. JSJay Shetty1:47:58

        ... go over. Uh, but Novak Djokovic, these are your final five. The first is what is the best advice you've ever had or received?

    25. NDNovak Djokovic1:48:06

        Live the life in the present moment. Learn from the past, live in the present, and work for the future.

    26. JSJay Shetty1:48:15

        What is the worst advice you've ever had or received?

    27. NDNovak Djokovic1:48:18

        [laughs]

    28. JSJay Shetty1:48:19

        [laughs]

    29. NDNovak Djokovic1:48:19

        The worst advice, if someone does good to you, do 10 times better to them, but if someone does bad to you, do 10 times worse to them.

    30. JSJay Shetty1:48:33

        Oh, that second part is not good advice.

Episode duration: 2:02:35