Nick Kyrgios ON: How to Deal with Being Misunderstood & Stop Trying to Live Up to People's Expectations

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

Tired of being misunderstood all the time?

Are you looking for ways to stop living up to other people's expectations?

Then this podcast is for you.

Today, Jay Shetty welcomes world-ranking professional tennis player Nick Kyrgios. Nick burst onto the pro tennis scene in 2012 after a prolific junior tennis career. Since his start he has captivated fans with a larger than life personality, passion for the game, and unpredictability. Kyrgios has won 7 singles titles and 4 doubles titles in his career, but 2022 marked the first time Kyrgios displayed his dominance making it to his first Grand Slam Final, winning 3 singles titles, and 3 doubles titles. He also reached the Quarter Finals of the 2022 US Open beating then-ranked No. 1 Daniil Medvedev and is one of the few players on Tour who have beaten the Big Three (Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal) at least once.

In this conversation, Nick opens up about how his strong personality online has sparked hate and negativity - how misunderstood his persona is and how different he is with friends and family.

Nick also briefly talks about dark times, dealing with depression and addiction and turning the most difficult phase of his life into a pivotal moment to have the best year of his life when he reached the Wimbledon final. He also talks about looking at life beyond tennis and what awaits him in the future.

In this episode, you will learn:

How to accept your flaws

How to overcome fear and anger

How to turn your life around

How to deal with negativity

How to become your best self

A truly inspiring story begins with a challenge and ends with a triumph, and Nick has just proven to us that success isn't elusive when you dream big and work hard for it.

With Love and Gratitude,

Jay Shetty

What We Discuss:

00:00 Intro

00:54 Enjoying Some Time Off

02:00 Nick Used to Hate Playing Tennis

03:35 Misbranded by the Media

06:00 The Effects of Promoting Negative Content

08:25 Dealing with Mental Health in Silence

10:49 Getting Out of the Darkest Moments

15:08 How Hard Work Led to Wimbledon

17:04 People Only See the Anger

19:23 People Will Always Have Something to Say

22:56 Being Okay with Leaving the Game Behind

24:52 Nick Talks About His Injury

25:46 Would You Spend Time with Your Haters?

28:25 Playing the Character of a Villain

29:55 The Best Crowd to Play For

33:32 Who is the Nice Guy Nick?

34:59 Tennis Is A White Privileged Sport!

38:34 How Media Can Negatively Affect Your Mental Health

44:26 How Strong Boundaries Make Relationships Work

49:36 An Old Conversation with Drake

51:50 Happiness is Spending Time with Family

54:44 The Many Breakdowns that People Do Not Know

59:14 What’s Keeping You Busy These Days?

01:00:30 The Best Places to Visit

01:02:00 Regrets of Losing a Loved One

01:06:44 Learning How to Bounce Back Right Away

01:07:58 The Hardest Lesson You Had to Learn

01:12:05 How Stress Can Affect How You React to People

01:16:24 Why Would You Break a Racket?

01:19:14 Routine Consistency is Hard Work

01:21:15 The Struggle of Letting People Down

01:24:13 Nick on Final Five

Episode Resources:

Nick Kyrgios | Website

Nick Kyrgios | X

Nick Kyrgios | Instagram

Nick Kyrgios | Facebook

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