Are you an autotelic person?
Dear all,
Good afternoon and a Happy New Year to you all! I hope you had a good Christmas break; that 2024 has started well; and that you have health and happiness in the year ahead.
There was no assembly this week due to mock exams (good luck to our Y11 and Upper Sixth as they navigate their way through them). My Thought for the Week included a challenge to all our students to consider the way they approach their school work and the other things with which they’re involved over the coming 12 months.
Back in 2010, Novak Djokovic told his tennis coach that he’d decided to quit the sport after he’d lost in the Quarter Finals of the French Open. He was ranked third in the world, he’d already enjoyed Grand Slam success and was only 24 years old.
Instead of asking him why he had decided to quit, his coach, Marian Vajda, asked this question:
Why did you start playing tennis?
Djokovic thought about the question and immediately recalled his childhood memories – the first time he was given a mini-tennis racket and a softball, and the enjoyment he’d had from playing the game with friends and family.
‘Do you still love holding a tennis racket in your hand?’ asked his coach. ‘Yes, I do,’ said Djokovic, ‘whether it’s in a major tournament or just on a practice court, I still love playing the game.’ Vajda told him to forget about his rankings, titles and ambitions and to focus instead on why he loved playing tennis.
He told him to take a few weeks off but the following morning Djokovic just wanted to get back onto a tennis court. He went on to win 43 matches in a row and three Grand Slams (including his first Wimbledon Championship). In total, he has won an all-time record 24 Grand Slam titles and is one of the most successful players in the history of the sport.
His experience in 2010 illustrates how becoming an ‘autotelic’ person can make us both happier and more successful. An autotelic (from the Greek ‘autos’ – self – and ‘telos’ – end) is someone who does something for its own sake where the experience of doing it is the main purpose (as opposed to doing something in order to achieve an external goal).
The book ‘Flow’ by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (1900) defines this as being ‘when you’re so invested in a project that you lose track of time. When you feel ‘in the zone’.’
It goes on to suggest how we can all create our own flow – by defining our goals, working on the different skills we need to achieve (and extend) them and completely focusing on the activity or task in hand (as well as the importance of being in, and enjoying, the experience).
As we begin a new year, when many of us will have chosen New Year Resolutions (and when our Y11 and Lower Sixth students are in the middle of their mock exams!), perhaps finding our ‘flow’ is something we should all strive to do this year.
Have a great weekend
Best wishes
Michael Bond
