I recently wrote about the “Cost of Anger.” The illustration described an outburst at the U.S. Open tennis tournament by the #1 seed, Novak Djokovic. In a moment of frustration and anger over his play, he angrily smacked a ball behind him, hitting a line judge in the neck.
Djokovic said he learned “a big lesson” after being disqualified from the U.S. Open. The disqualification cost him the chance to earn $3 million as the winner and the opportunity of capturing another Grand Slam event and inching closer to the two men ahead of him on the all-time wins list.
Djokovic said, “I’m working mentally and emotionally as hard as I am working physically. I’m trying to be the best version of myself on the court and off the court and I understand that I have outburst, and this is kind of the personality and the player that I have always been.”
“I’m going to take this in as profound as possible for me as a big lesson. I’ve been thinking about it. I’ve been comprehending. I’ve been talking to my team. It’s just one of these things that is just unfortunate and happens. You have to move on."
Anger is costly, but it can be an eye opener. We can learn “big lessons” from our failures.