Ash Barty on Inspiration: “You can hit refresh.”

Part of Barty’s work with Ben Crow involves establishing her “purpose.” Crowe has spoken at length about focusing on “the human being, less on the human action” and the importance of creating a “to-do list” rather than a “to-do list.” He asks his clients what lights them up and encourages them to create a statement of purpose that depends on their “decisions” rather than external “conditions.”

Your goal cannot be to be the best tennis player in the world because that is simply not something you can control. But it can be to enjoy the game, to do your best, or to inspire others to play.

But Barty’s goal has nothing to do with tennis.

“My purpose… once I discovered what that was, it was a really profound moment,” she says. “I want kids and I want people to feel comfortable in themselves.”

“Just because I’m not hitting a tennis ball anymore, I think my contribution becomes even greater. I have more time to do that… to share my experience with others and that’s what really lights me up.”

This is a woman who has worked to be a good person first and a great athlete second. In doing so, she became number one in the world in her sport. But it meant that once she was “spent”, she had the space to “pursue other dreams”.

So what does she do when she’s feeling uninspired? When does motivation run out?

“I go back to what lights me up the most,” she says. “What do I like to do the most? It’s spending time with my family, it’s challenging myself, it’s finding new ways to be curious and explore that curiosity.

“These are the values ​​I return to. This is my reset button.

“You have the right to go back to it, you have the right to hit the refresh button, hit the pause button and then continue again.”

Barty did it countless times on the international tennis stage, and then he did it in his life.

She has pressed refresh. And when she talks about it, she exudes the quiet confidence that it was the right thing for her.

I don’t know if it’s my own bias and the fact that in recent years I’ve found myself particularly interested in purpose and meaning, but my conversation with Ash Barty feels less like a media interview and more like a pep talk. It’s like she really wants people to learn from her story. To take with them the knowledge that falling in love with process of what you do, not of result is the key to feeling fulfilled.