In a YouTube broadcast on Tuesday under the title 'Health, the important thing', Rafael Nadal and medical experts (including his doctor) shared their views on health and on other matters such as the meaning of success.
Nadal observed that not meeting an objective does not constitute failure. "I don't like the word failure - that's not trying." Nor did he believe that "perfection yields better performance". "There are intangibles that one also needs to achieve, like being happy to compete and deal with whatever comes your way."
For him to continue playing, one of the keys is that he tolerates both success and failure in a similar way. "Athletes, first of all, are normal and ordinary people. There are mornings when it is more difficult to go to work. People who succeed and who continue to succeed do so because they have the necessary attitude."
"You can't give your best every day. But if the body allows you to give 60 per cent, then you have to give 60 per cent. The real risk is the way in which bad times are tolerated. It is important to have genuine internal humility and to accept that things will not always go well. One can therefore tolerate the bad times better and face the future better."
He admitted that in the past he was "a disaster" in terms of his nutrition. Moreover, and contrary to what many may think, he is not a very methodical person. "I haven't been obsessive regarding general care or anything. The only thing I've been very consistent in has been the intensity at work. When I'm training, I usually give it my all."
Nadal didn't consider that he has made great sacrifices. "What I have done, I have done because I wanted to", and he stressed the importance of combining health with pleasure. In general, his view is to live with the "imperfection of things", to accept mistakes and successes and to understand that "it is never a failure when one strives to achieve a goal".