To Tennis Legend Roger Federer's 'Effortless Is A Myth' Speech, Businessman Harsh Goenka's Reaction

Tennis legend Roger Federer recently delivered the commencement speech at Dartmouth College in the US on Sunday. In his 25-minute speech, the 20-grand slam winner shed light on life lessons he learnt throughout his stellar tennis career.

Federer’s inspiring speech soon went viral across social media and prompted responses from a number of successful personalities. On Tuesday, June 11, business mogul Harsh Goenka shared a video from Roger Federer’s speech and wrote, “What wonderful lessons from Roger Federer.” This post got over three lakh views.

In his speech, Roger Federer listed a number of life lessons, the first one being, “Effortless is a myth.” The former world number one player said that throughout his career people often described his performance as effortless. He said that this “compliment” used to frustrate him because he put in a lot of hard work over his tennis skills. The legendary athlete said traits like discipline, patience, and self-confidence are also “talents”.

His second lesson was the ability to accept failure and move on. Roger Federer said, “You can work harder than you thought possible and still lose. I have.” He added, “The best in the world is the best not because they win every point. It’s because they lose again and again and have learned how to deal with it.” His next life lesson was to give importance to things other than one’s career or work. He said, “Life is bigger than the court. A tennis court is a small space. Even when I was just starting out I knew tennis could show me the world, but tennis could never be the world.”

Commenting on the above-mentioned video, an X user wrote, “What simple but practical lessons he explained! Truly a seasoned professional! Hence I always respect him not only on court but off the court also!”

Someone else wrote, “The way he gives the best advice in the most humble, kind and patient way using plain simple words proves he is a genius with a golden heart.”

An X user wrote, “What a player on and off the court, am grateful to have witnessed tennis while he moved around with his magic wand, especially grass courts.”

Dartmouth College awarded Roger Federer with the Doctor of Humane Letters for his philanthropic endeavours. Since his retirement in 2022, the Swiss maestro has pledged more than $100 Million for philanthropic work that focuses on helping children from underprivileged regions gain access to basic needs like food and shelter.