“I can well remember standing on top of Mount Everest having reached the top of the world in every sense of the term and looking East toward the great unclimbed summit of Makalu. Instinctively my eyes travelled up the mighty face of the mountain and I automatically picked out a route which Makalu could be climbed.” Thus spoke Sir Edmund Hillary over coffee one morning in his Remuera home in January 2000.
At some stage in our lives many of us are filled with a desire or dream to achieve something great. Then all too often the dream fades and life gets in the way.
I was in Canada last week when a young Canadian of Romanian descent fulfilled her dream. Bianca Andreescu became the first ever Canadian woman to win the US Open Singles – defeating all-time great Serena Williams in the Final. A great achievement in anybody’s life. She came from a Number 153 world ranking only 12 months ago – impressive. But what impressed me even more was how this 19 year old answered Pam Shriver’s big question – a question I consider to be the most important we can ever ask ourselves, and one we should ask every day – “What’s next?”.
Bianca answered:
“At the beginning of the year I wanted to crack the top 100, so I better start setting my goals higher. Let’s say top 3 by the end of the year.”
“I always dream big. I was dreaming of this day for a long time. Visualising it every day.”
“I never give up, always want to show my best.”
“A goal of mine is to inspire Canadian athletes as so many have inspired me from an early age.”
A big answer.
To a big question.
I hope you can answer it in your own way. What’s next?
KR
