CHENNAI: There is a media company called Impact Theory that does a variety of long-form talk shows with successful people. Also available in the form of a podcast, the show’s anchor — Tom Bilyeu — speaks to high achievers to know about the secrets of success.
Over the last 10 months, one Indian athlete has been tuning into Bilyeu’s shows to learn the secrets of the mega-rich and famous. Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan.
Listening to Impact Theory, he claims, has had an impact in the way he is playing tennis currently. It’s taught him to stay focussed. More importantly, it’s helped him save loads of time. He has learnt to focus his energy on more productive things.
“Austin (regular doubles partner Austin Krajicek) mentioned a podcast called Impact Theory,” he tells Express, when describing how he stopped wasting time on social media. “In the talk show, they discuss the lifestyle of successful people around the world in all fields. Try reading a book or listen to a podcast about real situations rather than things to do online.”
It’s certainly had an impact on his rankings. In the second week of January, he was ranked World No 123, his worst in 14 months. Ten months later, the change is there for all to see. He is now No 72 (achieved on Monday) — a career high for the 30-year-old — thanks to a barn burner of a season. He has four titles and as many runner-up medals on the Challenger Tour, most by an Indian this year. After teaming up with Christopher Rungkat to a win at the Dallas Challenger in late January, the southpaw has not looked back. He finished runner-up in four more meets before his first win with Krajicek at Ilkley in June. He followed that up with two more titles at Monterrey and Winnetka. The four titles he has won in 2018 equals the number of crowns he won between 2014 — when he started playing seriously — and 2017.
The obvious new-found weapon in his armoury is belief but he goes back to explaining how divorcing social media from his life has done him a world of good. “Belief is a big factor in sport and that’s the biggest change for me this year.
“(...) I surrounded myself with positive people who truly believed in my potential. We can only be as good as the people we have around us. I also made a conscious effort to stop spending too much time on my phone and social media because you can get sucked into a wormhole with those things and waste time which could be spent getting better, stronger and more mobile.”
The Chennai lad hopes he can use this as a platform to strive towards a place in the top-50. “If I am able to get into a Tour event, I will look to play them... it’s important to get out of the comfort zone and pursue a career which gets you into the top 50 and that is possible only with Tour events.”
swaroop@newindianexpress.com