Serena Williams: Review an Attempt Without Making It Your Identity

The Lesson

You finish a presentation and a listener asks a question you cannot answer. Later, the whole experience becomes one sentence in your head: “I’m no good at presenting.” That sentence may express disappointment, but it leaves out almost everything you could use to prepare differently.

A review needs a smaller subject: this attempt, in these conditions, with this result. You can take the result seriously while asking which detail deserves another look.

What Serena Williams’s reflection offers

In an August 2019 WTA report of her Toronto interviews, Serena Williams discussed facing Naomi Osaka again after two earlier losses. Williams explained that knowing Osaka’s game better and watching her play helped inform the next encounter.

That is a useful example of returning to specifics after a result. It does not establish that one review will produce a win, or that Williams used the worksheet below. Her tennis career is documented in the WTA’s biographical overview. This lesson draws on her account of preparation, without treating elite competition as a standard you must match.

The review process here is original SelfGrowthVideos material. Williams’s inclusion does not imply endorsement.

Keep the result, then look underneath it

Start with what happened. “I could not answer the question about costs” is more useful to investigate than “The presentation was a disaster.” If you do not know how the whole presentation landed, leave that question open. One difficult moment is not a complete audience survey.

Next, look at something you can inspect: your outline, a permitted recording, the question you wrote down or a section of your notes. Avoid relying only on a general memory of feeling awkward.

Separate an observation from an explanation. “The outline did not include costs” is an observation. “I ran out of preparation time” is a possible explanation to check. You may discover that you had time but never identified cost as an important audience question.

Make the next question narrow enough to answer

A useful question can guide a small task. “What cost information would a first-time participant need?” could lead you to write a clear paragraph and check its figures. “How do I become a brilliant presenter?” leaves the next task uncertain.

Include something that worked. Perhaps you explained the purpose clearly or answered a different question well. Keep that evidence because it helps you decide what to retain, rather than rebuilding everything after one difficult moment.

Reflection

• Which result am I reviewing, and what am I adding to it?
• What piece of work or recorded detail can I inspect?
• Which explanation have I assumed without checking?
• What worked well enough to keep?
• What question could guide a useful next attempt?

Practice

This is an original SelfGrowthVideos exercise. Choose one ordinary learning attempt, such as a short presentation, practice conversation or piece of writing. Use work you can review without exposing another person’s private information.

Write four short entries:

1. Result: describe what happened in observable terms.
2. Evidence: name a detail you can inspect in the work or your notes.
3. Question: identify one thing the evidence leaves you wanting to understand.
4. Next task: choose a small action that could answer that question.

For example: “A listener asked about costs. My outline has no cost section. Which costs would someone need before deciding to attend? I will draft a short cost explanation and check the figures.”

Do not force a conclusion when the evidence is thin. “I need to ask what was unclear” can be an honest next task. If you request another person’s perspective, ask about the work and leave them room to decline.

Review

After the next attempt, compare the same detail. Did you address the question you chose? What evidence now supports keeping or changing your approach?

The next result may still be mixed. Record what you learned without treating improvement as proof of your worth or disappointment as proof that you cannot learn. Choose another task only when it follows from what you can actually see.

Go Deeper

Explore Serena Williams’s teacher profile for more context. For another way to choose a learning method, try Angela Duckworth: Keep the Goal, Reconsider the Strategy. If you need someone else’s perspective, use Ask for Useful Feedback on a Project You Care About.