535 Maria Sharapova: Unstoppable In Tennis, Business, and Life

"Repetition led to discipline." - Maria Sharapova If you enjoyed this episode, check out show notes, video, and more at http://lewishowes.com/535 Get more from Lewis! Get my New York Times Bestselling book, Make Money Easy! Get The Greatness Mindset audiobook on SpotifyText Lewis AIYouTubeInstagramWebsiteTiktokFacebookX

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Lewis Howes?

  This is episode number 535 with tennis champion and Olympic medalist Maria Sharapova.

• 0:09Lewis Howes?

  Welcome to the School of Greatness. My name is Lewis Howes, a former pro athlete turned lifestyle entrepreneur. And each week, we bring you an inspiring person or message to help you discover how to unlock your inner greatness. Thanks for spending some time with me today. Now let the class begin.

• 0:34Lewis Howes?

  Thomas Edison said, "If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves." Welcome everyone to another incredible interview with the one and only Maria Sharapova. And if you don't know who she is, she is a world-class tennis player. She's competed on the tour since 2001. She's been ranked number one in the world in singles by the WTA on five separate occasions for a total of 21 weeks. She is one of 10 women and the only Russian to hold the career Grand Slam. She is also an Olympic medalist in women's singles at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. And I'm excited to have Maria on. I've had her on before.

• 1:19Lewis Howes?

  But I'm bringing her back on because she's got a brand-new book that is inspiring and moving and powerful. And all about overcoming the odds and what she's had to overcome in order to get to where she's at. It wasn't always easy. She didn't have all this money and all these opportunities. She really earned it through so many trials that she faced in her early years and continues to face right now. And in this episode, we talk about how Maria avoided burnout while playing the same sport for so many years. Also, why she would never want her child to play tennis, even though she loves it. Why focus is more important than hard work in sports. The difference between being good enough and what it takes to be great.

• 2:04Lewis Howes?

  Also, what Maria is focused on in the future and so much more. She just had a major comeback at the US Open, beating the number two player in the world in the first round and continued on many other rounds and was just so inspiring to watch her comeback, fight and compete at such a high level again. So I'm so excited to see what's next for Maria, but I really believe you're going to get so much value from this episode. And as always, the full show notes and video interview is back at LewisHouse.com/535. If you're listening to this on your podcast app right now, take a screenshot, tag me and at Maria Sharapova on your Instagram story. Let us know you're watching it. Let us know you're listening. We want to make sure to connect with you and I'm sure Maria would love to see that as well. Before we dive in,

• 2:48Lewis Howes?

  want to give a shout out to the review of the week. This is from Robert M. who said, "The School of Greatness podcast is informative, useful, and really helped me grasp a better perspective on life, especially as a 19-year-old. I look forward to more content from you, Lewis. Please keep inspiring." So, Robert M., thank you to the young guns out there who are listening to the School of Greatness and thanks so much for leaving a review. You are the review of the week. And if you want a chance to get shouted out on the podcast, then head over to your podcast app and just leave us a review over on the School of Greatness podcast. All right, guys. I hope you enjoy this one. I'm super inspired by everything that Maria has created, not only in her sport, in her craft, but also in her business endeavors

• 3:33Lewis Howes?

  and what she's doing to continue to learn while she is performing at such a high level in her sport. So without further ado, let me introduce to you the one, the only Maria Sharapova.

• 3:47Lewis Howes?

  Welcome back everyone to the School of Greatness podcast. We've got my good friend Maria Sharapova in the house. Good to see you.

• 3:53Speaker 01

  Back.

• 3:54Lewis Howes?

  Back.

• 3:55Speaker 01

  We're back.

• 3:56Lewis Howes?

  Back and excited to talk about your new book. This was, I was nervous, like I was telling you before, I was nervous to read this because I really wanted it to be good for you. Because I know you spent a lot of time and energy on this, but I was like, I have no clue if Maria can even write because she barely went to school.

• 4:11Speaker 01

  You know, I can handle criticism and you know, I want your honest opinion. So yeah, that's, that's what I want.

• 4:17Lewis Howes?

  And I stayed up late until 2:30 in the morning to make sure I completed. I have the early manuscript here, which was, I was so impressed and so, so much more fascinated by you as my friend to know everything you've gone through to get to where you're at. It's just incredible the amount of.

• 4:36Lewis Howes?

  Like a lack of security that you had like financially, emotionally, without your mom being there growing up, unstable environment, your entire childhood, you lived in a dorm for three, four, or five years, I believe, in a tennis academy for many years, which I didn't realize you lived where I'm like a boarding student. And I lived in a dorm for five years.

• 4:55Speaker 01

  Well, it was for a year, but it was in and out and.

• 4:57Lewis Howes?

  Got it, got it. But you were like 10.

• 4:59Speaker 01

  I did feel like I was boarding for a long time.

• 5:01Lewis Howes?

  Right. But you were young. You were like 10, 9, 10, 11 or something.

• 5:04Speaker 01

  At one point, they didn't allow me to board because I was too young.

• 5:07Lewis Howes?

  Wow. Yeah. And I know what that's like to be a boarding student. I mean, your dad was, I think, a few miles away from you, but I was, I was, yeah, I was seven hours away from my parents when I went to a boarding school and I was 13. So I just learned more about you that I was fascinated by, about how there's so many moments that you share, growing up, that if they didn't happen the way they happened, you wouldn't, you wouldn't have been a Grand Slam champion, you wouldn't have been number one in the world, you wanted to do, want to be doing all the things you're doing. And so it's just fascinating to me that.

• 5:36Speaker 01

  It's very easy to forget once if you don't happen to have it on paper or ever write it down or ever think about it. It's so easy to forget what happened so many years ago. So this was in a way for me, just going through my life journal, which I did, and I actually included.

• 5:52Lewis Howes?

  You keep showing your diary. It's amazing.

• 5:53Speaker 01

  I go back to my diary and I include passages from my diary in the book, which was, yeah, which is very interesting to, to go back in time and to learn a lot about yourself as you're speaking to your family and, and my, my example, the coaches that were in my life and how those shape, you know, how they really shaped me and how they, just because of them, I am where I am today.

• 6:17Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, it's amazing. And to be, you know, your mom wasn't around most of your childhood because she was in Russia when you guys came here when you were six. Is that right? Six? It's just crazy how everything happened and it's so cool. I'm just so excited for you. Now that I know everything, I'm like just even more happy for you and I just, I appreciate the level of commitment you had to one thing.

• 6:39Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 6:40Lewis Howes?

  Which is like, how do I get to be the best in the world at something?

• 6:42Speaker 01

  Well, I was just really happy to share it. I think, because I've never, I don't think I was, until a couple of years ago, I don't think I was um, available emotionally to share my story. And I don't think you ever as an individual, every day think of the depth of your upbringing. And I think every individual is different and has a different um, coming of age and success story. And we don't really, we don't go too deep into it. We just, we don't think it's that special. And um, as I did interviews throughout my career and people would ask about me moving to America and they would just wanna know all these little details and little by little I,

• 7:24Speaker 01

  I was like, is there something cool about this story? Is it something different? And as I got older, I realized how special it really was and um, how inspiring it could be for many other people, girls and boys and, and parents as well, because a lot of, a lot of this book is about um, the journey of my father and, and his little girl, and how I had to as a little girl, put so much trust in the people that were around me and how my father was able to go on this journey um, with my best interests, not just his best interests and not a family or financial best interest. It's also an athlete's story and to success, which um, can go into many wrong directions and there's so many

• 8:08Speaker 01

  tough stories out there of the past. So I was just so fortunate to be able to share a story that um, that had a really amazing connection with myself and my father and mom.

• 8:17Lewis Howes?

  Well, your father is like literally like the dad of the century after reading this because he took such a leap of faith to say, I'm leaving my wife. My homeland, like my friends, I don't know English and I'm going off the trust of this one tennis player that like watched you, I guess, when you were six or something or five.

• 8:33Speaker 01

  Right, nineteen and over, Toloa.

• 8:34Lewis Howes?

  And was like, you need to send her away or take her to like America.

• 8:37Speaker 01

  Well, he could either look like he's the smartest man or the stupidest.

• 8:40Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, exactly.

• 8:41Speaker 01

  So.

• 8:43Speaker 01

  It depends how you look at it.

• 8:45Lewis Howes?

  It's crazy and just how like he got like, he enrolled the, the person getting, giving the visa. Like how he just like razzle and dazzle the person to be like, give me a visa, I need to go, I'm taking my like child to go. It's like every step of the way, like his conviction for his vision for you and I guess both of you. What was possible. It just amazes me, his level of commitments.

• 9:08Speaker 01

  Yeah. And one of my favorite things that he's, that he speaks about in the book is how sometimes if you think too much about a particular situation, or if you really think what is the best move, you won't ever make the right move. Because sometimes the best decision is not always the smartest one in that particular moment.

• 9:26Lewis Howes?

  That's true.

• 9:26Speaker 01

  And so when he was speaking about that, as I was working on this book, that was, was extraordinary to hear that. Because we just, we always want to make the right decisions and we tend to overthink a lot of the things in our future and our vision and.

• 9:41Lewis Howes?

  You talk about like feeling like you made a lot of these things yourself, just because you didn't know any better. And you were like, I would just practice hours and hours because I didn't know any better. And I feel like.

• 9:49Speaker 01

  Exactly. It was really the only thing I knew. And, and I came from, um, you know, I spent many years in a country where you didn't have so many opportunities or opportunities to be part of other sports. So it was, you know, if you did one thing, if it was dance or ballet or hockey in Russia, um, for me it was tennis. I couldn't do all three. I just financially, um, just time wise.

• 10:14Lewis Howes?

  Resources, everything.

• 10:15Speaker 01

  Yeah, there was just not, you didn't have that opportunity, which in America, when we arrived, you had so much opportunity to do that. And in ways that's, that's pretty amazing that you have, you can play twice a week tennis and twice a week football and lacrosse.

• 10:30Lewis Howes?

  Swimming and everything.

• 10:31Speaker 01

  Right. And then figure out at one point what you want to do. But sometimes that's difficult because you, you like having, you have your social groups in each little sport and you know, what will you have to take away? Do you really want to commit to one thing? So it's a tricky, it's a very tricky situation.

• 10:48Lewis Howes?

  How have you stayed? I mean, you've been playing for what? Twenty-five years almost?

• 10:52Speaker 01

  I don't, I'm done counting.

• 10:55Lewis Howes?

  You've been playing for a while and you're just like, at least the way you write about it, it's like you're just eight, nine, 10 hours a day of just hitting a ball just as hard as you can, just like right over trying to hit a can over the net.

• 11:07Speaker 01

  Right.

• 11:08Lewis Howes?

  Barely over just hitting it deep and like in the corners. Just like, how do you do this without getting burnt out? You know, because I did have all the, I was playing four sports a season or a year or whatever. And if I got burnt out from one sport, I'd be like, okay, I'm just going to play one of these other three that I like. How do you still play at a high level? I'm just like, I'm just going to be, and I got to watch you for the first time in the last few weeks, which was so awesome for me to see you.

• 11:32Speaker 01

  And that was just an exhibition.

• 11:34Lewis Howes?

  I know. I want to see you at like the US Open or something, like on a big stage.

• 11:38Speaker 01

  Right.

• 11:38Lewis Howes?

  But just your mindset, I was just so impressed with how, I don't know, you've just come so far and how you continue to stay committed to that mindset is, how do you stay there after this long?

• 11:50Speaker 01

  Well, I think one of the things that, um, having the hardships of the childhood that I had that I speak about in the book is, is this sense of, um, of repetition, but repetition led to discipline. And if it was about the repetition of hitting hundreds of balls, it focuses your mind on doing this one thing repetitively. And, and ultimately you get this just really good feeling about the stroke that you're hitting, or if it's a forehand or a backhand, um, you, you feel really confident and good. It gives you a self-esteem and a, and awareness and you feel that at a young age. That's not something that just, no matter how young you are, you know that when something feels natural and good and that you improved on it, um, and you see maybe, you know, your fa, someone gives you a compliment

• 12:35Speaker 01

  or your father or your coach and, and you feel it as well. It, it brings you up. It makes you happy. And so of course, as a young kid, you, I wanted that feeling. I, I wanted my father to be happy about my practice. I wanted my coach to be happy. I wanted a little chocolate bar at the end and I knew that if I did.

• 12:51Lewis Howes?

  A little ice cream with sprinkles.

• 12:53Speaker 01

  Right, exactly.

• 12:56Speaker 01

  I want it all and um and so I I I definitely looked for that. I wanted that and I don't know if that was a sense of I wanted that attention or people to notice me that I was doing well. But through that process, you you're learning how to be disciplined through that repetition and that feeling and so and that for me off the court as well. I speak a lot about my mother's influence and how she didn't have much to do with tennis and she didn't come from a sports background at all. So for her was more the educational aspect and I I talk about how she made me memorize passages and poems and Russian literature that I I just didn't I had no idea

• 13:36Speaker 01

  what they even meant. I was so young for any of it all, but the her idea was that if I was challenging myself to do something that I didn't necessarily love and I kept doing it, um, it was building some some sort of toughness in my mind um that would help me in other areas in my life. And for me, that became sort of that mental aspect in tennis.

• 13:57Lewis Howes?

  Hmm. Was there ever a part in tennis where you didn't love for like a period of time where you're just like, I don't love this at all. And you thought about like, why am I doing this?

• 14:06Speaker 01

  Um, there are a lot of things that come with the sport that you don't necessarily choose. And and you don't necessarily know what road that might take you to or how you will feel about it. There are definitely moments where um, you know, after tough like there's so many tough matches where I come home and I I just tell my mom like I would never want to put my children through this ever, ever. I don't want them to feel.

• 14:30Lewis Howes?

  Paying the side.

• 14:31Speaker 01

  I don't want them to feel this. Yes. In front of thousands of people going down. But then I wake up the next day and I I get up and I go to the practice court and I do it again and I look forward to getting back on that court and playing the same opponent and coming out the one that's victorious and. And then I'm like, well, actually, I would love this experience for my child because it teaches you so much and it it does. I mean, there's so many hardships and you know, you have to grow up on your own a lot and you're you you could become very isolated and and the sport itself kind of um, you know, it made me I I wouldn't even say by choice, but it isolated me from the very beginning because if I wanted to keep

• 15:13Speaker 01

  a strong mind and a clear path, I really I had to, even though I could have chosen other directions, um, which maybe wouldn't have continued my success, but and again, those are all, I think, choices that you make.

• 15:26Lewis Howes?

  Another choice that you made that I was just like, I don't know if I could do this is you literally couldn't really be friends with anyone that you're playing tennis with, like any other girls that you're playing against. You're not like buddy buddy. You're not like talking and chatting up after the match or before the match. That was kind of like from when you were like six to nine until now, you really say, you know, at least you you write in the book that you're like, you really can't have friends because then it might make you a little weaker, a little softer because you want to you'll feel bad for them or for

• 15:56Speaker 01

  Right.

• 15:57Lewis Howes?

  And that's gotta be hard, too. You're just like isolating yourself to never really have a community in the sport you're playing.

• 16:02Speaker 01

  Right.

• 16:03Lewis Howes?

  You know, in football, we may like hate each other or we're playing like our rivals, but then it's like you respect each other and you're like buddy buddy, you know, afterwards.

• 16:11Speaker 01

  Well, there's a different, I think there's a definitely a difference between respecting each other and going into a locker room and knowing that every single one of them in that room works so hard and is so extremely disciplined to get that credential, to get their name in the draw to be there. And I feel that and I understand that. And so that that respect is always um, is always there for me. But I think um,

• 16:35Lewis Howes?

  But you're not like, let's go up dinner and have cocktails afterwards and relax.

• 16:39Speaker 01

  No, just because I've always felt it's it's been my workplace and and a big part of that, I think, happened when I did win a Grand Slam at a young age and it immediately, as I said, it it isolates you because you you become not just someone that someone plays in a quarterfinal or a final of a tournament, but you become the match that people want to win.

• 17:01Lewis Howes?

  Right.

• 17:01Speaker 01

  Um, and it becomes so much more and they not only want to be you, but they want to have everything that you have, all the things that came with winning a Grand Slam and And I didn't like that idea and it's not what I really chose. It's not what I knew. And so I immediately realized that that I want that for myself. I worked for it and I'm going to do everything I can for brothers not to have it. And that's that that's the competitor in me.

• 17:24Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. The first, were you the youngest female to win a grand slam or no?

• 17:28Speaker 01

  Um, I believe at that age, no, I think I was the third, third youngest to win one.

• 17:32Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. And you almost didn't even get to the finals. Weren't you down like three sets or something and then?

• 17:37Speaker 01

  Yeah, I was. Well, in, yeah, against Lindsay Davenport, I was.

• 17:41Lewis Howes?

  She was like crushing you, right?

• 17:43Speaker 01

  Completely. I had no chance.

• 17:45Lewis Howes?

  Something and you're like.

• 17:46Speaker 01

  I talk about this match vividly because it's still a huge, I was so excited as a teenager. I was so happy. I was in the semifinals of Wimbledon. It was already a big deal and just say, I described that match quite well because I was really on a, I was already on the plane home.

• 18:01Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, you were in the locker room during the break. Yeah, yeah.

• 18:03Speaker 01

  Yeah, my father just had this intervention with me and he just had this.

• 18:08Lewis Howes?

  He started laughing, right?

• 18:09Speaker 01

  Yeah, he started laughing in my face and said, you got this. You're gonna win this. And I was like, so I came from laughing to just being, wow, um, maybe I have a chance.

• 18:18Lewis Howes?

  And she was just dominating.

• 18:19Speaker 01

  She was dominating.

• 18:20Lewis Howes?

  She couldn't have anything returned. She was crushing your serve.

• 18:23Speaker 01

  Zero chance.

• 18:25Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 18:26Speaker 01

  And was able to turn it around.

• 18:27Lewis Howes?

  How do you think you were able to do that though? Was it really more your just consistency of just hitting the ball back? Or was it her just breaking down? Cause she was like, I don't know what to do in this situation or what was that?

• 18:38Speaker 01

  Well, there was a little bit of rain delay. So I think when you're in a position as a player that's up and ahead and all of a sudden has the opportunity to think that you have a chance to be in the Wimbledon final and it's so close and it's seems so easy. That's hard. It's mentally, it's tough. Definitely.

• 18:58Lewis Howes?

  Have you ever talked to her about this?

• 18:59Speaker 01

  No.

• 19:00Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 19:00Speaker 01

  No.

• 19:01Lewis Howes?

  She probably thinks about it all the time.

• 19:05Speaker 01

  She's had so many incredible moments in her career. So yeah, you usually tend to think of those rather than than the tough ones.

• 19:13Lewis Howes?

  What do you think is the moment growing up that was if if one of them was a different situation? Obviously, like so many things could have happened where you couldn't be here now. But what was like the one thing that almost ruined it all? Where you're like, good God, we got out of that situation or because thank goodness someone rescued us on the side of the street at this time.

• 19:31Speaker 01

  I think if you're

• 19:32Lewis Howes?

  So many of those moments.

• 19:33Speaker 01

  Once you read the book, I think there's so many that I could say and name. And I just think overall, there's so many paths that we could have taken that were wrong, or maybe just because when I was young, so many of the decisions that were made were out of my hands.

• 19:49Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 19:49Speaker 01

  And I really loved sharing like that trust aspect in this book because I had to give a lot of trust as a young girl to my parents. And and that's really special as I look back on that because you're as you're growing up and you become a teenager, you kind of you know, you want to wouldn't say separate from your family, but you want that distance from your family. And in my, you know, in my youth, in my situation, also maybe because I was an only child. And because they sacrificed so much, and I think I felt that and I knew that that I I just felt like what they were doing for me was the right thing. And I had to give them that trust in order to make decisions for my life.

• 20:31Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 20:31Speaker 01

  That would bring me to where I would be today.

• 20:33Lewis Howes?

  Crazy. In your mind, what do you think it takes for anyone to be number one in the world at whatever they do? What's what's it take for that to happen?

• 20:42Speaker 01

  A lot of things. So many things have to come together.

• 20:47Speaker 01

  There's hard work, but I believe in especially in today's age.

• 20:53Speaker 01

  Everyone works hard.

• 20:54Lewis Howes?

  Everyone. But you have a different level of hard work. You have like this obsessive hard work ethic. It's like unbelievable.

• 21:01Speaker 01

  I would, I wouldn't say it's the, the words hard work. I think it's the focus. I think um. I just know personally what focus is able to do for me when I work hard and when I focus on a task or um. And even when I do play like the exhibitions that you watch me play at World Team Tennis and. Those are just small examples, but like I, for instance, I don't know, I don't know how to differentiate an exhibition to. A real match. Like I just know one way. Like that's the way that I play and I'm focused and I'm. Pumping my fists and I'm excited after a good point and I'm emotional and um. You know, I, I think exhibitions are also a way to show your personality and be, you know, funny and fun and enjoy the crowd and.

• 21:46Speaker 01

  Sometimes when I go to that direction, I like, I, I don't exactly know what to do. So exactly, I was like, whoa, I'm so out of my element. So I know that, you know, I know when, when someone pays me to go on a court. They wanna see the Maria that they see when I play Wimbledon and that's what I, I want to deliver. Um, and so that's how I treat. Everything that I do. It's like if I practice and I'm, I'm training or if I have a meeting and I'm with people that I've met for the first time like that. You know, that, that first meeting, that first impression takes you to so many directions um that, that's very important.

• 22:24Lewis Howes?

  And what about the mindsets? We talked about this focused hard work, but what about the mindset? Cause I think a lot of people say they wanna be the best at something or. You know, I hear a lot of people say I wanna be the best or number one or whatever, the top. What do they have to think about mentally in order to? It, cause it takes decades sometimes to get there. To how do, how do they, how do you prepare mentally to try to even strive to be the best at something, even for a moment in time? And then how do you try to stay there? Once you're there.

• 22:53Speaker 01

  Don't we all wanna know that? I'm still, I think I'm still trying to figure it out. But I, I would, I definitely see this, this, everyone seems to have this aspect of rushing. Like rushing to get to the next step and rushing to make a certain amount of money. And um, when I, when I think of goals, I don't necessarily think of specifics. I just think of more feelings of how I would feel when I get to that. What is my success and how does that feel like? Um, instead of saying, okay, I wanna, I wanna win this amount of titles and I wanna win this amount of grand slams. Or I wanna earn this amount of money.

• 23:34Speaker 01

  Um, I think that always, I think more of the feeling, how am I gonna feel when I win match point? I visualize it, I embrace that feeling and I carry it with me.

• 23:43Lewis Howes?

  Like you visualize it all the time or in the moment?

• 23:47Speaker 01

  I think moments and, and I think it always comes when you least expect it. Sometimes you can be on a, on a run, sometimes those long plane rides where, you know, it's sunset and, and it's just you and you've been traveling and you're going home and you have no one around you, just yourself on the flight. It's just a bunch, hundreds of strangers next to you and you have this moment where, um, you start thinking of why you're doing this, why are you lonely? Why are you in this position? And you think of what you've already done to get there and where you would like to see yourself go. So it, those moments always come at a different, I don't, I don't sit down and I think, okay, right now I'm gonna visualize,

• 24:26Speaker 01

  um, the feeling that I might have when I win a tournament or, yeah, but I definitely, I think it's important to, I, when you say things or, you know, when a friend of mine says something negative and I was like, don't put that in the universe. Like, don't put that out there. I do believe in that, there's some sense of, um, truth in that. Because it's also comes with, then you carry it with that attitude. You know, when someone says something negative, you usually see their attitude change and, um.

• 24:53Lewis Howes?

  Shows up in your body and your energy, yeah.

• 24:54Speaker 01

  And I, I mean, I for sure do that as well and I have my moments and, but the faster you acknowledge it and realize it, the faster you can move on.

• 25:03Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 25:05Lewis Howes?

  So you went through a big, uh, you know, this unfortunate experience in the last couple of years. You, you, you got silver at the Olympics in two thousand twelve. Then you had the surgery after that or before that? When was your surgery?

• 25:18Speaker 01

  Uh, before that, right.

• 25:19Lewis Howes?

  But then you came back and you won a French Open in two thousand fifteen, is that right?

• 25:24Speaker 01

  I won in two thousand twelve and then fourteen.

• 25:26Lewis Howes?

  Fourteen. And then in two thousand, I'm trying to get the dates, sixteen is when the Australian Open thing, right? Where you got, uh, you know, hundreds of athletes got, you know, caught for using something that they announced, uh, but didn't really tell anyone that they announced this new ru- regulation. You were the one that was made an example of out of everyone, unfortunately. It had an incredible, you know, effect on you, I think, over the last year and a half.

• 25:55Speaker 01

  I was the only one being suspended for it.

• 25:57Lewis Howes?

  Um, yeah, so that you were made an example, unfortunately.

• 26:00Speaker 01

  Those are your words, not mine.

• 26:01Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah.

• 26:04Lewis Howes?

  Which was also, it sounds like was, you know, this a very challenging time for you. I was, I met you right before it happened, I think, like a month before or something. And I was just felt horrible for you because I was like, this has got to be the worst feeling. Because you were writing about it and this, how you were like, you know, maybe this is my last year and

• 26:21Speaker 01

  Exactly.

• 26:22Lewis Howes?

  I'm gonna go out and go hurrah, like,

• 26:25Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 26:25Lewis Howes?

  Try to win another Grand Slam and call it a day and then retire like on top. And then this has happened where you were suspended for fifteen months. Uh, then they, I guess they took back the claim or something that they.

• 26:36Speaker 01

  I was suspended for two years and then that was reduced to fifteen months.

• 26:40Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah. Um, and during that time, you learned a ton. So I've known you like this whole time this has happened. You've grown a lot. You got to go to Harvard to practice, uh, to te- to learn from a couple of great teachers. You got to travel, you got to explore, you got to date, you got to do all these different things and have fun, probably for the first time.

• 26:57Speaker 01

  Really did, yeah.

• 26:58Lewis Howes?

  And relax.

• 26:59Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 26:59Lewis Howes?

  And recover, which is kind of cool. Um, now I'm curious, and now you just came back a few months ago. And you've been competing, you got a couple of minor injuries, you're like.

• 27:10Speaker 01

  Had a little bit of a setback.

• 27:11Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, setback. What's the, what are you playing for now? And what's the vision moving forward? Because again, you've achieved everything pretty much that you can achieve. I mean, let's just more champ- more championships, but you've won every big tournament, right?

• 27:27Speaker 01

  Yes, and I think, um, I think that's one of the questions that I asked myself as I was kind of coming back into the routine of playing tournaments again in April. And as I left for the trip, um, I had been home for, for a few months at a time, which was unusual and so different than, than ever in my life. Um, and as I was leaving, I, I noticed this feeling that I was, I was just so ready to go. Like there was no sense of I'm leaving something behind or I have. I mean, one of the greatest things was being able to, I met so many, so many new friends and, um, you know, been able to really form great friendships and partnerships during that time and really be there for people that I

• 28:11Speaker 01

  haven't been able to be there for. But as I was leaving, I, I, I had this sense of just contentness that I, or happiness that I, I formed these bonds, I formed, um, a little bit of a normal life and I didn't feel like I was leaving it. I just felt like I was going to do something that I was meant to be doing and that was my work and I knew that I had that when I would be coming back home. And so that I think that was a really great feeling to have because I think it's always scary to, um, to just go away from it. And because I've done it for so many years, um, those first few days away from home are just, are really, they're tough, you know?

• 28:52Speaker 01

  Different food, you have different people, just hotel room, it's just everything is cold and opening a suitcase, it's just, I don't know, it's so sterile, like, is that the right word?

• 29:04Speaker 01

  So it just, it doesn't feel very friendly. But I felt like I wanted it, like I really, really wanted it and I didn't have any regrets of leaving. And so I knew that that was a really good sign.

• 29:16Lewis Howes?

  That's good. Want it, then it'd be hard to play.

• 29:19Speaker 01

  It'd be really hard, it'd be really hard. And I didn't, um, you know, there's so many little things of a routine that you do every day that. That are fun at first, that are exciting, but when you do it hundreds of times, such as pre, you know, pre-practice warmups or the shoulder rub downs. And when you do it dozens and dozens of times, um, it gets old.

• 29:39Lewis Howes?

  Very old, very old, boy.

• 29:42Speaker 01

  Right, but I, I loved every part of it in the weeks that followed when I left. I lo- I just loved the feeling of getting in an official transportation car. Usually I wanna, I wanna feel anonymous. I always say I love being in a taxi in, in New York City cause everyone, there's hundreds of taxis. No one is looking in the window to see who's in a taxi. They just know it's another passenger in a car. When we're sitting in an official transportation car with the logo of the tournament and, um, kind of the announcement of the, someone, someone knows in another car that there's a tennis player in the car. So they're all looking at you and they're trying to see who it is. So I love that anonymous feeling and, um, and I loved getting in a car where people knew that here's an athlete.

• 30:25Speaker 01

  She's going to the courts and she's, she's playing in this tournament at this, um, at this venue and I, I wanted that feeling. And so I knew those are, I felt like all were good signs. Cause I was, I think I was a little scared of that. Um, cause it can, it's a long, it's it's a long process. There's, yeah. And so without, without really understanding what I wanted to come from this, I knew that I had the desire and I knew I was looking forward to those things. And I knew as long as I had that, I will have the motivation to train as hard as I can to be a winner at the end of a certain match.

• 31:02Lewis Howes?

  Hmm. And so what's, what's the goal now then? You're back, you're playing.

• 31:07Speaker 01

  I think, I think every stage will, I'll, I'll carry a different goal in my mind. Um.

• 31:12Lewis Howes?

  But you're not like, I'm gonna play for this many more seasons or I'm trying to win a grand slam. Do you have that vision or dream?

• 31:17Speaker 01

  I never did. I never, I never had that vision, but a few years ago and.

• 31:21Lewis Howes?

  You just wanted to win every time you, on the step in the court.

• 31:23Speaker 01

  I did, but I was also starting to think about the end. And that's something that I think I share in the book. Those big surprise for a lot of. The people that are that are just starting to read it and that um that were close in my life that I didn't really share with because I I wasn't so sure but I was It was always on my mind was like this when when would I end and how would I end it and And so it played it played as as part of this um do I even wanna come back do I really want this but there's nothing that that That stopped me from it.

• 31:54Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 31:55Speaker 01

  So I don't see I don't I don't look at the future and say this is my goal and this is my timeline. I think everyone has a different timeline. And based on just even if you look at my whole life, I've had so many surprises and so many uncertainties and Um, so I don't wanna say that this will be the time to end it because I I don't wanna play it out like that.

• 32:16Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah, so you don't know.

• 32:17Speaker 01

  I think I also don't wanna know.

• 32:19Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, I think you'll you'll just you'll know when you know, right?

• 32:22Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think so and I, right.

• 32:24Lewis Howes?

  You'll be like, I don't wanna play anymore. I'm good, I'm good.

• 32:27Speaker 01

  Maybe, but I I certainly have the feeling that I'll be playing much longer than I thought that I would be a few years ago.

• 32:34Lewis Howes?

  Hmm, alright. I like it, some foreshadowing, alright, I like it. Yeah, I wanna see you in a grand slam. I wanna think the US Open or something, I think it'd be awesome. Well, it sounds like Wimbledon is your favorite place to play based on this.

• 32:45Speaker 01

  Right.

• 32:45Lewis Howes?

  And so if you get back there, I'd love to go there and and watch. So what is your who you have this team now that's supporting you and they could be like, oh, here's an athlete who's done it all. Is she gonna be around? Is she? Because you probably don't tell them what you're gonna do. They don't know, right?

• 33:02Speaker 01

  Um, I don't share like long term goals or visions. I mean, I have a contract with each one of them and they know that based on the timeline that I obviously look forward to playing those years and fulfilling our contracts, but of course, you never know um with with the body and health and um and motivation and all those things, but.

• 33:21Lewis Howes?

  How do you keep them inspired and kind of like This vision of moving forward if they're, you know, you're unclear where you're gonna go?

• 33:28Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think that I think by them showing me and sticking with me through this tough time, I think it's Every day that I'm around them, I I think of it that I I'm I'm doing it for them and not just myself. And that I I don't think I ever had that feeling, even as a young girl, I never thought that I was doing it for my family or to.

• 33:48Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 33:49Speaker 01

  Yeah, I it never or or maybe because my family never made me feel like I had to. I I don't I don't know.

• 33:56Lewis Howes?

  Did you always love playing then when you were younger?

• 33:58Speaker 01

  Yeah, but I never gave it. I never thought that, okay, if I play well. In a sense, this will cover um, you know, my grandparents or my parents, or they can travel around the world and they can be financially stable. Like that was never really, never thought about it. But I think and after going through the last couple of years, when you see um. Cause you're as as you know, I mean, I'm with my team so often and all the time and. Um, much more than I am with my family and what they do for you and just on a daily basis, just the smallest things are. Those are not things that are written in a contract and. But you have to realize how important that is and it really, I mean, it's it's so crucial.

• 34:40Speaker 01

  It's so crucial to have a great team that has your back, that understands. And understands understands you, and I know that's such a broad thing to say, like understands who you are, but. When you spend, it does take time and takes a lot of trust and I'm someone that, you know, that. That likes to build the trust and I don't I don't go into a partnership saying I immediately trust you and believe you and. Think it that that that sense of loyalty is so important to me, so I definitely build on that with people. And I challenge people. I think that's also important and I want people to challenge me.

• 35:13Lewis Howes?

  You challenge your team a lot?

• 35:14Speaker 01

  Yeah, yeah, no, I I definitely I question their. Even exercises, things, drills, plans, schedule, I question it all the time. I know, which is.

• 35:31Speaker 01

  Is that what they call a control freak?

• 35:33Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, right, exactly.

• 35:35Speaker 01

  But I think it's good. I think the act of asking questions is so important.

• 35:40Lewis Howes?

  I agree.

• 35:41Speaker 01

  I think it opens up, um, well, clearly, I think it it opens up, um, different avenues, different plans. Um, and it makes like I I know that before. My team comes up with a plan or a practice that they've thought about it because they know that I'm going to be thinking, why are we doing this today? And what what is the idea behind it? What's the goal?

• 36:04Lewis Howes?

  They've got the best answers.

• 36:05Speaker 01

  So they've got the answers before I'm able to give them that question.

• 36:08Lewis Howes?

  That's good. What advice would you give to a parent who's got a young child? That they put into a sport or. A musical instrument or singing or something. They put them into a, uh. An experience with a talent. What advice would you give them? Just in general about if you want to cultivate.

• 36:27Speaker 01

  I wish my father was here to help with that.

• 36:30Lewis Howes?

  But I mean, it's like, okay, you want your kids to succeed.

• 36:32Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 36:33Lewis Howes?

  And knowing what you knew growing up and kind of where you're at now on the the latter end of it.

• 36:37Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 36:38Lewis Howes?

  I guess what would you? Tell parents that they should focus on when cultivating the uh, uh, champion's mind for children?

• 36:46Speaker 01

  Yeah. Well, I think one of the biggest gifts that my father um, gave me and something that I speak a lot about is this idea of. He was my father and the guidance, but he never knew everything. So I think as a parent, um, it's very easy to to believe that we are. Not that I'm a parent at all, but to have the sense of. They know everything and they know the answers and they know what's right for their child. And. What my father was able to do for me was. Realize that he wasn't a tennis coach and he wasn't the best at that, but he would find the right people that could help me and.

• 37:27Speaker 01

  And so that's, I don't know if that's kind of letting your ego step aside.

• 37:32Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 37:32Speaker 01

  And being like, there are other people that I will oversee everything, but there are other people that are much more knowledgeable in my field than I am. Um, and it's a tough thing to do and also having realistic goals and being very real and my father and my mother as well, were very well aware that in any day we could move back to Russia. And having that realistic approach that that could happen without thinking about it negatively, I think really helped them because it gave them the security that even if they did go back to their previous life back home, then that was okay.

• 38:09Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 38:09Speaker 01

  Um, I think I saw a lot of families while I was boarding at the academy and training at the academy that had this financial opportunity of having, um, you know, trying to fulfill unrealistic dreams.

• 38:20Lewis Howes?

  They weren't good enough.

• 38:22Speaker 01

  And they might've been good enough, but they weren't great enough. And I think that's a huge.

• 38:27Lewis Howes?

  To make to pro level and elite level, yeah.

• 38:29Speaker 01

  It's a huge difference.

• 38:30Lewis Howes?

  You can maybe get a college scholarship somewhere, but.

• 38:32Speaker 01

  Which is a, I mean, that can't take that for granted.

• 38:35Lewis Howes?

  But you're paying more for like ten years to get the scholarship.

• 38:38Speaker 01

  And tennis is not a cheap sport. I mean, no sport is.

• 38:42Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 38:42Speaker 01

  So I think having of, just being real about, about your goals, um, in the most sensible way.

• 38:49Lewis Howes?

  Do you feel like your father did a good job of switching off from parent to like manager, coach? Like where you felt like he was still your father as opposed to just focusing on one thing all the time?

• 38:59Speaker 01

  Well, one of the biggest things that he did was that, I mean, after I won three grand slams and you would think that he'd wanna be, you know, overseeing that or being my coach, my, you know, that, that person that sits in, in my box during every match that I continue to play for the rest of my career, he said, you know, it's very, it was a very mutual decision that now you can do it on your own. And as I look at the tour now and I see, um, I see many examples of, um, of parents continuing their, their life on the tour with children, um, and it's, it's a very, that separation is very difficult because you spend your life. Um, you know, from a very young age being together and the parents always wanna be by their side and kind of taking.

• 39:44Speaker 01

  Wouldn't say almost all the credit, but a lot of it does go to the parents.

• 39:48Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 39:48Speaker 01

  And I think it was, I think just selfishly, I also wanted to prove that I could do it on my own. I think that was the competitor in me and my father. Fully understood that and accepted that and he stepped back.

• 40:00Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 40:00Speaker 01

  And let me, you know, get my own coach and and do it on my own after already accomplishing what I had.

• 40:06Lewis Howes?

  It's amazing. Now, I remember you writing about. There was one Grand Slam, I think it was, you won and he wasn't there and you were like looking up.

• 40:14Speaker 01

  First one, the French Open.

• 40:16Lewis Howes?

  You were looking up in the stands, you didn't see him and.

• 40:19Speaker 01

  Um. Yes.

• 40:20Lewis Howes?

  So he just didn't come to the events anymore?

• 40:22Speaker 01

  No, he stopped.

• 40:23Lewis Howes?

  Just watched on TV or what?

• 40:25Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 40:25Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 40:26Speaker 01

  Yes.

• 40:26Lewis Howes?

  Couldn't even just come and sit as a spectator like at the top?

• 40:30Speaker 01

  I don't think there's like a, there's no happy medium.

• 40:32Lewis Howes?

  You can't, you can't do it.

• 40:33Speaker 01

  You, well, I don't know if I could, I don't know. I think if I, if my father would come, I I would definitely want him to be sitting next to my coach. He's my father, but I think that time has.

• 40:44Lewis Howes?

  You shouldn't come anymore. He was like, I'm not gonna come anymore.

• 40:46Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 40:47Lewis Howes?

  He hasn't been to a match since?

• 40:49Speaker 01

  Not, maybe one or two.

• 40:52Lewis Howes?

  Really?

• 40:52Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 40:53Lewis Howes?

  Wow.

• 40:54Speaker 01

  Yeah, he watches them all on TV though.

• 40:55Lewis Howes?

  Oh, he does?

• 40:56Speaker 01

  And I, I mean, he's, he speaks to my coach and I.

• 40:59Lewis Howes?

  All the time.

• 40:59Speaker 01

  Every other day.

• 41:00Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, yeah, okay.

• 41:00Speaker 01

  And after every match and he's still very much a big part of my career.

• 41:04Lewis Howes?

  Of course. But he doesn't come, is that weird? He's not there?

• 41:07Speaker 01

  It was weird in the beginning and I think it was weird because I, I, I definitely. It just felt like I really wanted to prove that I could do it on my own because so much of. Uh, of our lives was me and him and trying to accomplish this together. And I, I think I just wanted, I love that responsibility of proving that I could do it on my own.

• 41:28Lewis Howes?

  You did it.

• 41:28Speaker 01

  Yeah, with and with different.

• 41:30Lewis Howes?

  We've got a great team.

• 41:30Speaker 01

  I mean, again, it's when I say on my own, it's you're on your own, right, you're on your own when you're out competing, but you know, that that little group that's behind you every day, that's they're so very much part of your victory. So and I've I've been able to win with with all the the previous three grand slams. I've had different coaches. Um, so it's it's been an interesting journey and as I grow, as I grow up, I also learn a lot more about what what I would want or what I needed before is not what I need now. And so making those adjustments. Um, and also having a a great connection. Maybe when I was younger, it wasn't as important for me, but really

• 42:12Speaker 01

  just because they they become family and as you're older, you you, I don't know, we speak a lot about different aspects of life and conversation and from the plane to dinners and things beyond tennis, which I I love to do because we're so enclosed in the small world of of sport and I I like to, I love to grow. And so having people that are that are smart and that can challenge my questions and answers. Um, that have a a good brain on their shoulders is is interesting.

• 42:42Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. What's the things you still feel like you need to learn?

• 42:46Speaker 01

  I don't think we always know what we need to learn. I think that's that's part of it.

• 42:51Lewis Howes?

  Is there anything that's holding you back then in your life or?

• 42:56Lewis Howes?

  In any area?

• 42:57Speaker 01

  Yeah, I mean, I think I think injuries is a big part of an athlete's career, as you know, as you very well know. And I think when you go through a few in your career, um, that hesitation and that uncertainty and you become, you know, you become a little less comfortable and confident and

• 43:18Lewis Howes?

  Less fearless.

• 43:19Speaker 01

  Yeah, and you you think of it sometimes, a little bit more, you think of it more than than you should.

• 43:25Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 43:25Speaker 01

  And, um, so always I try to snap out of it because that's such a, you know, tennis is so physical and it's, um, it's so quick and there are so many movements and to feel healthy is is just completely healthy is a complete gift.

• 43:44Speaker 01

  No, no.

• 43:44Lewis Howes?

  If you're seventeen again, maybe, right?

• 43:46Speaker 01

  Maybe. So I think, but there are so many things. I mean, you have the food and you have diet and you have discipline and and the way that exactly in the way that I believe we work out now compared to years ago is very different and more refined.

• 44:01Lewis Howes?

  Mm hmm.

• 44:01Speaker 01

  And the quality is more important than um than quantity.

• 44:05Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 44:05Speaker 01

  So.

• 44:06Lewis Howes?

  It just sounded like you just to be beating yourself up constantly, just like constantly.

• 44:10Speaker 01

  I think it was more about hours and repetition. And I don't necessarily think that that was the best way. It was just the only way that was accessible.

• 44:19Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 44:19Speaker 01

  In that time. Yeah, and I just.

• 44:21Lewis Howes?

  If one of your coaches here that you would come to LA, he would just hit the same ball over and over for hours.

• 44:25Speaker 01

  Same ball, just, uh, yeah, there's just this huge basket of balls and.

• 44:29Lewis Howes?

  I don't know how you do it.

• 44:30Speaker 01

  (laughing).

• 44:30Lewis Howes?

  Stay like excited and passionate and like motivated.

• 44:34Speaker 01

  Well, he was a nut, so.

• 44:35Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 44:36Speaker 01

  You, he, he brought, he made it fun and.

• 44:39Lewis Howes?

  But just a.

• 44:39Speaker 01

  Well, if I look back at it now, it was fun, but in the moment, it was brutal.

• 44:42Lewis Howes?

  But you just have to have such a, a big reason why you're doing this every single day. I mean, you're talking about getting up at five AM and going to the courts and then going to training and then film and then back of the courts like all day. It's just you have to really have a big reason why you're doing it.

• 44:59Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 44:59Lewis Howes?

  Especially as a kid.

• 45:00Speaker 01

  (laughing).

• 45:00Lewis Howes?

  Otherwise, just like, I want to go play with some other, you know, friends in the playground and not work.

• 45:05Speaker 01

  Yeah, well, I want to know what it, I, I'm curious by what it would feel like to be better at what I do than today. So I'm curiously challenging myself to find out what that would feel like.

• 45:17Lewis Howes?

  To be better than you already are right now?

• 45:18Speaker 01

  Yeah, to be better and to be.

• 45:22Lewis Howes?

  Hmm.

• 45:22Speaker 01

  Yeah, which I think that leads to better performances and quality performances and, yeah, I, I. I think that's the feeling and drive that still gets, that still gets me up in the morning.

• 45:35Lewis Howes?

  Do you ever feel like maybe doing less would be, would make you better?

• 45:39Speaker 01

  Less of.

• 45:40Lewis Howes?

  Less reps, less like lifting, less.

• 45:43Speaker 01

  Um, I, I don't think I do, I actually don't think that I do more than others do. Um, I think that the way that I train is maybe more quality focused and more intense. Um, and I, I, if I bring that intensity, a certain amount of time, I don't think that I could bring that intensity for six hours a day.

• 46:05Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 46:05Speaker 01

  So. But there are a lot of other variables that go into it and it's sort of the patience of caring, caring yourself through the day, going through the different phases of the gym. And the warm up to the tennis court, to the cool down, to the stretching, to specific injury exercises, to the rehab on the massage table and you know, finishing your day up at seven thirty, eight P M. And doing it all over again from eight thirty the next morning. So kind of having that patience is, is crucial.

• 46:34Lewis Howes?

  Hmm. What do you think you're gonna do after tennis? Years and years from now?

• 46:40Speaker 01

  I don't, I don't, I don't know. I don't know where, I don't know. I think that's an uncertainty. I mean, I,

• 46:45Lewis Howes?

  Besides being a successful businesswoman and building brands and.

• 46:50Speaker 01

  I mean, I, I envision a family, absolutely. I mean, I have such a great bond with my family that I definitely envision that for myself. Um, but that takes time and with what I do now, it's very, you know, it's extremely difficult.

• 47:06Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 47:06Speaker 01

  But it's definitely a, you know, a goal of mine, if that can be a goal or.

• 47:13Speaker 01

  But uh, yeah, business is a part of it.

• 47:15Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 47:16Speaker 01

  You know, being, being excited about seeing something grow.

• 47:19Lewis Howes?

  Mm hmm.

• 47:19Speaker 01

  Yeah, being, still being in a competitive atmosphere. I think that's what business brings to me as well, even now.

• 47:25Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 47:26Speaker 01

  Um, cause there's not, that's ultimately what tennis brings to me today.

• 47:31Lewis Howes?

  Mm hmm.

• 47:31Speaker 01

  And that's the driving force that nothing else can really replicate.

• 47:35Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, you love to win.

• 47:37Speaker 01

  Yeah.

• 47:38Lewis Howes?

  It's a good thing I beat you in bowling though.

• 47:39Speaker 01

  I know. You have that one victory. I'm never gonna. Stop hearing.

• 47:45Lewis Howes?

  Play some ping pong. I can beat you at that maybe.

• 47:47Speaker 01

  Um, I'm sure you can probably beat me at every other sport.

• 47:50Lewis Howes?

  It's not tennis.

• 47:51Speaker 01

  Not tennis.

• 47:53Lewis Howes?

  I wanna play again. I wanna play like a real, nah, I won't even be able to hit a ball back from you, but I wanna play like some volley or something and see, see if I can try to hit something back.

• 48:02Speaker 01

  All right.

• 48:03Lewis Howes?

  Um, make sure you guys get this book. It's called Unstoppable, My Life So Far by Maria Sharapova. Uh, it's, it's incredible story of overcoming unbelievable challenges and adversity to making your dreams come true. It's a great story about. Trusting yourself, trusting your family, having discernment in certain situations, knowing when to back off from things that are maybe too good to be true. And just how do you turn, the lessons you learn from here and how you turn all these setbacks into comebacks? To get stronger every time is just so inspiring. Makes me so happy to know you.

• 48:43Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 48:44Lewis Howes?

  And to be friends with you and to know like how you've gone through it all.

• 48:49Lewis Howes?

  We did a previous interview where I asked a lot of other questions. We'll link it up below. You guys can learn more about kind of the rituals and routines, the more of the mindset and all this other stuff. We'll have that linked up, but I'm curious, a couple of final questions. What's the thing you're most proud of over the last two years? Since kind of all this has happened with the setbacks and now the comeback, what are you most proud of in your life?

• 49:16Speaker 01

  Well, proud that I still have this incredible motivation to keep going and that I really still want to keep doing it. I think that's, no one can really give that to you and no one, no matter how much money, no matter how many people you have around you, family, great words, positive energy. If you don't want it yourself, it will be really hard to, to live through it. And so I'm definitely very proud that I still have that feeling. And I think it's, you know, it has a lot to do with the mentality that I held through those couple of years.

• 49:50Speaker 01

  Through the way that I handled it and got out in front of it, through the tone of voice that I had in my mind, the belief that I had in myself and all those things really come into play. And, and yeah, and that I still want more. I think that's something to be proud of.

• 50:07Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 50:07Speaker 01

  And yeah, probably can think of a few other things, but I, you know, I don't, I don't speak about myself.

• 50:16Lewis Howes?

  No, you handled it with such grace, like which was again, so impressive for me. It's just like the level of grace and humility that you have throughout the challenges.

• 50:24Speaker 01

  Yeah, I love those two words. Those are great words.

• 50:26Lewis Howes?

  Yeah, as opposed to like defensiveness and anger and.

• 50:30Speaker 01

  Yeah, I think those things only get you so far.

• 50:33Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 50:33Speaker 01

  You know, maybe they can get you immediate, I don't know.

• 50:37Lewis Howes?

  Attention or something.

• 50:38Speaker 01

  Something.

• 50:38Lewis Howes?

  Yeah.

• 50:39Speaker 01

  But.

• 50:41Lewis Howes?

  I, I just appreciate you so much and I'm so grateful to know you and to be a part of, you know, this comeback and seeing everything and. Uh, this book is really cool. So make sure you guys get it. It's called Unstoppable. You can go to Maria Sharapova dot com, at Maria Sharapova, everywhere on social media. She's really active on Instagram and Twitter. So make sure to let her know what you thought about the interview. Get her book, take a photo of the book at the store, tag her on Instagram, Twitter, that you got the book. And

• 51:10Speaker 01

  You've been through that all before with your book. So you know all the things that

• 51:14Lewis Howes?

  Get ready. It's about to be an adventure. You're about to go through a whole other like journey.

• 51:18Speaker 01

  Well, I just got like a first couple of book reviews and I was like, wait, people have read it before. And I was like, yes, it's a whole new process. It is, which I love. Like I said, like I, I love that people are able, because I didn't share the book with, with many people at all. I shared it with my best friend and I shared it with my father and, um, and my manager. And those were the only few people that read it through this whole process. And so now in the last few weeks, I have finally been sharing it. Yeah. All my other friends and my team. And I think I was just scared to be influenced by everyone's opinions while it was not finished.

• 51:54Lewis Howes?

  Smart.

• 51:55Speaker 01

  So it was, it's just been, it's been great getting feedback and, and hearing them. Just hearing like what everyone is taking away from it. Cause I think everyone, it, everyone kind of knows me in different parts of my life. And not maybe all of it. And it was amazing that some of them still felt like there was so much that they learned in the story. And for some people that don't know me at all, that were very inspired by this story. And yeah, it's just, it's, it's real. Right? Like when you have a book and I just finished the audio version of the book.

• 52:29Lewis Howes?

  Three days.

• 52:30Speaker 01

  Three days. Wow. Wow. I was like, I don't know if I'm going to be doing a book for a long while. It's a lot of work, but I was really happy that I did it. I think it's, it adds another element of, you know, a fan can really see how, how those words made you feel. And so like expressing that.

• 52:49Lewis Howes?

  You're, you're going to inspire a lot of people with the book as you do in your, your competition and the way you carry yourself. So

• 52:56Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 52:57Lewis Howes?

  Congrats on this.

• 52:57Speaker 01

  Thank you.

• 52:58Lewis Howes?

  And, uh, I'm so excited to see what's next and

• 53:01Speaker 01

  So am I.

• 53:03Lewis Howes?

  It's gonna be amazing, right?

• 53:04Speaker 01

  I am as well.

• 53:04Lewis Howes?

  Yeah. Thanks so much for coming on. Appreciate it.

• 53:09Lewis Howes?

  All right, if you enjoyed this one, please let me know and let Maria know your favorite part of this interview and what you enjoyed about it the most. Shoot her a message and tag me and her @lewishouse and @maria sherapova over on Twitter, over on your Instagram story, and let her know that you're listening and let her know what you thought about the interview and your favorite parts. The link for this is lewishouse.com/535 and you can watch the full video interview there. Check out all the show notes, make sure to get a copy of Maria's book as well. All the links for that are back at lewishouse.com/535. And as always, make sure to take a screenshot and post it on Instagram story.

• 53:54Lewis Howes?

  Let me know, I like to have as many conversations there with you as possible. I try to reply to as many people on the Instagram stories as possible. So let me know that you're listening and I'll make sure to reply if I can. And as Thomas Edison said, "If we did the things we are capable of, we would astound ourselves." You are so capable of creating more than you've ever even imagined. You have all the tools within you to become resourceful, to master skills, to optimize your mind, your health, your opportunities. You just have to be willing to take the next step. I hope you guys enjoyed this episode and you know what time it is. It's time to go out there and do something great.