The Only Way to Win

Can Nice Guys Finish First?

Imagine that you lived and breathed tennis from age two. You were self-centered and mistrustful, but you worked nonstop to become a professional by age 16. You were a fierce, take-no-prisoners competitor with little respect for your rivals or tennis tradition. Over the next decade, you set new records, won three grand slams, became No. 1 in the world and won an Olympic gold medal. Now...how do you feel? Andre Agassi achieved all of this by age 26 and yet felt only profound hollowness and disappointment. He attributes his drug use, lies, cover-ups and failed first marriage to his lack of purpose.

Even if you’re the best in the world, the rewards alone – wealth, fame, power, influence or material possessions – won’t bring you happiness or satisfy your fundamental needs. Fortunately Agassi “had the courage to reinvent himself.” He reversed what might have been an all-too-familiar story of celebrity self-destruction. In 1998, he began a meteoric comeback: He finished 1999 as the top player in the world, again, and won five more Grand Slam titles before retiring in 2006. Agassi eclipsed his previous accomplishments after deciding to become a ...