Latest news with #VenusWilliams
Fast Company
19 hours ago
- General
- Fast Company
Emotionally intelligent people use the 2-week rule to motivate themselves and reach their biggest goals
What's your elephant? Maybe you've heard that old saying: 'How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.' The idea is that the best way for tackling large, overwhelming tasks or projects is to break them down into smaller, more manageable steps. But that doesn't address the obvious problem: Nobody wants to actually 'eat the elephant.' So, how do you motivate yourself to actually get started? I learned a great trick some years ago from fellow Inc. columnist Jeff Haden, author of The Motivation Myth. It's a technique founded on principles of emotional intelligence, the ability to identify, understand, and manage emotions effectively. Best of all, it's far simpler than you might expect—as you can tell from its name: The Two-Week Rule. What's the Two-Week Rule, and how can it help you beat procrastination, find motivation, and reach your biggest goals? It all comes down to the psychology of how motivation works, and how that knowledge can help you manage your emotions. (Sign up here for my free email emotional intelligence course.) How to use the Two-Week Rule to reach your biggest goals Over the years, Haden's had the chance to interview successful people like Shark Tank investor and billionaire Mark Cuban, NBA superstar Shaquille O'Neal, and professional tennis great Venus Williams. Through those interviews, Haden learned some interesting things about the psychology of motivation. 'Motivation isn't something you get from the outside, nor is it something you find within,' Haden told me in a recent interview. 'Motivation is something you create through a cycle of a little bit of effort, a little bit of success that feels good—because it always feels good to get better at something—and that gives you enough motivation to get you to the next day.' 'That cycle just continues to repeat, and it can take you a really long way,' says Haden. In other words, while motivation is part of the cycle, it's not the beginning of the cycle. And here's where the two-week rule comes in. The two-week rule is about as simple as it sounds: Commit yourself to a project for two weeks. Then, evaluate your progress and decide whether you want to move forward. To illustrate, Haden uses the following example: Let's say you want to run a marathon. At the beginning, you may only be able to run a mile; still, you commit to training for two weeks. After day one, you're thinking there's no way you're ever going to be able to run the full race. This thing is hard, much harder than you anticipated. That fact alone is so overwhelming, you're tempted to give up. But you've committed to a full two weeks, so you force yourself to keep going. After a week, you still haven't seen much improvement. 'I'm sore,' you think to yourself. 'I'm tired. My knees hurt. I don't really enjoy this.' But you also think: 'Thank God I only have another week to go.' At the end of two weeks, though, things look different. You're a little faster. A little fitter. You've developed a new routine and you've found your flow. Now you say to yourself: 'Hey, I've actually gotten somewhere. I'm not at 26 miles yet, but I'm much better than when I started.' And that progress may be all you need to keep going. Why the Two-Week Rule works The beauty of this rule is you can commit to almost anything for two weeks. At the end of that time, you'll have data you can actually use to make a decision about moving forward—and many times, the motivation you need, too. But what if you can't even get yourself to commit for two weeks? Or, what if you try, and discover it's not really something you want to do? 'Then it's probably not a goal you wanted to achieve anyway,' Haden says. 'And that's a good thing—because if you try it and find out you don't really want it, it comes off your list of things you want to do. You get rid of the guilt associated with not doing it.' 'And now, you can focus on some of the things you really want to do instead.' So, whatever major project you're trying to tackle, try the two-week rule: Commit to doing it for just two weeks. Once you do, you'll finally have gotten started eating the elephant. And at the end of those two weeks, there's a good chance you'll have improved your efforts, you're starting to see progress, and most importantly, you've found the motivation to keep going.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
Venus Williams earns US Open doubles spot as comeback continues
The post Venus Williams earns US Open doubles spot as comeback continues appeared first on ClutchPoints. There's no stopping Venus Williams. The 45-year-old tennis legend is continuing her comeback stemming from her run at the DC Open. Now she is setting her sights on Flushing Meadows for the US Open. Williams will be competing in mixed doubles as a wild-card pick, per ESPN. She will be partnering with Reilly Opelka of the Czech Republic. The mixed doubles event is scheduled for Aug. 19-20. Out of the 14 teams allotted to compete, six of them were wild cards. The teams will be competing for a $1 million prize. Williams got as far as the second round in doubles in the DC Open. She and her partner, Hailey Baptiste, lost to Taylor Townsend and Zhang Shuai. Williams also reached the second round in singles, losing to Magdalena Frech 2-6, 2-6. This will mark the first time Williams will compete in mixed doubles at the US Open. She is embarking on her first WTA tour since taking a year off. Venus Williams and her record at the US Open Throughout her career, Williams has excelled at the US Open. In 1997, she made her debut as an unseeded player. In the process, Williams became the only unseeded player to reach the final before losing to Martina Hingis. Three years later, she won her first US Open singles title after defeating Lindsey Davenport. Williams repeated the following year by defeating Davenport in her last US Open singles title. In 2002, she lost to her sister Serena in the semifinals, who subsequently went onto win the singles title. Williams made her doubles debut at Flushing Meadows in 1999. That year, she and Serena defeated the pair of Chanda Rubin and Sandrine Testud. Ten years later, the Williams sisters won their second US Open doubles title by defeating Cara Black and Liezel Huber. In 2017, Venus made it to the semifinals in the singles tournament before losing to Sloane Stephens. Related: Genie Bouchard's Montreal win presses pause on retirement Related: Coco Gauff preps for Canadian Open resurgence after Wimbledon upset
Hindustan Times
2 days ago
- Sport
- Hindustan Times
At 45, Venus Williams Still Can't Quit Tennis
Until her appearance at a tournament in Washington, D.C., this month, it would have been fair to presume that Venus Williams had slipped quietly into retirement. She was 45 with nothing left to prove. Her seven major singles titles, four Olympic gold medals, and more than $40 million in career earnings were more than enough to call it a day after more than three decades as a pro. Even her younger sister, Serena, had hung up her Swarovski-crystal-studded sneakers three years earlier. Yet there she was in D.C., grinding out a first-round victory over world No. 35 Peyton Stearns, after 16 months away from the courts and nearly two years since her last win. The result made Williams the oldest player to win a tour-level singles match since 47-year-old Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon in 2004. 'It's hard to describe how difficult it is to play a first match after so much time off,' Williams said after her first competitive outing since March 2024. Williams went on to lose in the second round, but that won't slow the comeback. This week, she received a wild card to play the revamped U.S. Open mixed doubles tournament alongside Reilly Opelka, the 6-foot-11 American with a monster serve. Other pairs in the field include men's No. 1 Jannik Sinner playing with women's No. 11 Emma Navarro, and Carlos Alcaraz lining up alongside 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu. Though Williams joked that her motivation to return was retaining her eligibility for WTA health insurance, the world No. 571 is on a mission to earn a wild card berth for the U.S. Open singles tournament, too. That's why she is set to follow D.C. with a trip to the Cincinnati Open in August. 'There are no limits for excellence,' Williams said. 'It's all about what's in your head.' Williams hasn't played more than 10 singles matches in a season since 2021. And the last time she managed to string together back-to-back victories at any tournament was Cincinnati in 2019. Williams lost in the first round of the 2023 U.S. Open to Greet Minnen. None of that has dissuaded her. Nor has a series of health concerns linked to her 2011 diagnosis with Sjögren's syndrome, an incurable autoimmune disease, which causes fatigue and chronic pain, among other symptoms. Williams's love of the game is enough to keep her on the road—especially after returning to Wimbledon as a tourist this summer. 'It was so beautiful and exciting, and I remembered all the times that I had,' she said. 'And of course the adrenaline.' Williams is a long way from recapturing that on Centre Court, where she racked up five singles titles in eight years. For now, she'll settle for the rush she gets from any sign of progress. 'There is no doubt I can play tennis, but obviously coming back to play matches, it takes time to get in the swing of things,' she said. 'I definitely feel I'll play well. I'm still the same player.' Write to Joshua Robinson at
Mint
2 days ago
- Sport
- Mint
At 45, Venus Williams still can't quit tennis
Next Story Joshua Robinson , The Wall Street Journal The seven-time major champion returned to competition this month after a 16-month hiatus. She still has hopes of getting back to a U.S. Open. Venus Williams of the United States waves to fans after a women's singles match against Magdalena Frech of Poland on day 4 of the Mubadala Citi DC Open 2025 at William H.G. FitzGerald Tennis Center on July 24, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Getty Images via AFP) Gift this article Until her appearance at a tournament in Washington, D.C., this month, it would have been fair to presume that Venus Williams had slipped quietly into retirement. Until her appearance at a tournament in Washington, D.C., this month, it would have been fair to presume that Venus Williams had slipped quietly into retirement. She was 45 with nothing left to prove. Her seven major singles titles, four Olympic gold medals, and more than $40 million in career earnings were more than enough to call it a day after more than three decades as a pro. Even her younger sister, Serena, had hung up her Swarovski-crystal-studded sneakers three years earlier. Yet there she was in D.C., grinding out a first-round victory over world No. 35 Peyton Stearns, after 16 months away from the courts and nearly two years since her last win. The result made Williams the oldest player to win a tour-level singles match since 47-year-old Martina Navratilova at Wimbledon in 2004. 'It's hard to describe how difficult it is to play a first match after so much time off," Williams said after her first competitive outing since March 2024. Williams went on to lose in the second round, but that won't slow the comeback. This week, she received a wild card to play the revamped U.S. Open mixed doubles tournament alongside Reilly Opelka, the 6-foot-11 American with a monster serve. Other pairs in the field include men's No. 1 Jannik Sinner playing with women's No. 11 Emma Navarro, and Carlos Alcaraz lining up alongside 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu. Though Williams joked that her motivation to return was retaining her eligibility for WTA health insurance, the world No. 571 is on a mission to earn a wild card berth for the U.S. Open singles tournament, too. That's why she is set to follow D.C. with a trip to the Cincinnati Open in August. 'There are no limits for excellence," Williams said. 'It's all about what's in your head." Williams hasn't played more than 10 singles matches in a season since 2021. And the last time she managed to string together back-to-back victories at any tournament was Cincinnati in 2019. Williams lost in the first round of the 2023 U.S. Open to Greet Minnen. None of that has dissuaded her. Nor has a series of health concerns linked to her 2011 diagnosis with Sjögren's syndrome, an incurable autoimmune disease, which causes fatigue and chronic pain, among other symptoms. Williams's love of the game is enough to keep her on the road—especially after returning to Wimbledon as a tourist this summer. 'It was so beautiful and exciting, and I remembered all the times that I had," she said. 'And of course the adrenaline." Williams is a long way from recapturing that on Centre Court, where she racked up five singles titles in eight years. For now, she'll settle for the rush she gets from any sign of progress. 'There is no doubt I can play tennis, but obviously coming back to play matches, it takes time to get in the swing of things," she said. 'I definitely feel I'll play well. I'm still the same player." Write to Joshua Robinson at Topics You May Be Interested In Stay updated with all the latest news and insights on Cricket, Football, and Tennis at Livemint Sports.
Wall Street Journal
2 days ago
- Sport
- Wall Street Journal
At 45, Venus Williams Still Can't Quit Tennis
Until her appearance at a tournament in Washington, D.C., this month, it would have been fair to presume that Venus Williams had slipped quietly into retirement. She was 45 with nothing left to prove. Her seven major singles titles, four Olympic gold medals, and more than $40 million in career earnings were more than enough to call it a day after more than three decades as a pro. Even her younger sister, Serena, had hung up her Swarovski-crystal-studded sneakers three years earlier.
