Life lessons from badminton player | #66

Learnings from Lee Chong Wei 🏸

Mar 24, 2023

Every Friday, I share process, thoughts, stories, ideas, and weekly recommendations. We're a group of 100+ curious people reading these newsletters.

I have a big passion for badminton. It’s very close to my heart. In badminton, there’s a Malaysian badminton player, Lee Chong Wei. I admire him the most. Here are 5 lessons I learn from him.

Firstly, who is Lee Chong Wei

Lee Chong Wei is a retired Malaysian badminton player who is considered one of the greatest players of all time. He was ranked as the world's number one player for a total of 349 weeks and won numerous international tournaments throughout his career. Despite facing many challenges, including injuries, he persevered and continued to inspire fans around the world with his skill and sportsmanship. In this newsletter, I’ll tell you 5 of the key learnings that can be gained from his career and apply them to our own lives.

Lessons

Not giving up attitude

Injury is a part of a athletes. Lee Chong Wei’s life is the same with lots of injuries. But he didn’t let his injuries stop him.

He played in three Olympic Finals, in 2008, 2012, and 2016, but lost all three. In the first two, he was defeated by the same Chinese player (Lin Dan), while in 2016, he lost to another Chinese player. Despite the demotivating experience of playing for so long, working hard for so many years, and losing in each of the finals, he kept moving forward and pushing himself.

In 2012, two months before the start of the London Olympics, he suffered an injury in his ankle (swelling). Despite this, he fought on and reached the finals of the 2012 Olympics, but unfortunately lost. Playing one match every day for almost six to ten days is difficult, and even more so with an injury.

All England Open is one of the major badminton tournaments. It is the oldest tournament, having started in 1899. He won the All England gold medal four times and got three silvers. In 2017, he played his last All England Open. One month before the tournament started, due to slippery courts, he slipped during practice sessions and tore his knee ligament. But due to his determination, he played one month later and won the tournament with an injured knee.

Fighting Spirit

He holds the record of winning 12 Malaysian Open Gold medals and 6 Indonesia Open Gold medals. No player is close to him.

He was world number 1 for total 349 weeks (6.6 yrs) and 199 consecutive weeks (3.81 years). He has won some of the major tournaments and being number 1 for so long, needs perseverance.

In 2018, he was diagnosed with nose cancer. He fought against the cancer and won. It was a long and hard journey, but he was able to overcome the cancer.

Calmness

Lee Chong Wei is a very silent player. Like many other players shout on every point they win, he doesn’t shout. He is just calm, playing like a monk. I learnt calmness from him and started applying in my badminton practice.

Humbleness

Winning so many games, gaining many awards and with all the fame, he is still humble. After he retired he promotes badminton.

Patience

Healing from an injury takes time. It takes a lot of patience and mental strength. You don’t know weather it will stop your sports career or not. It’s not just about Lee Chong Wei, but all the athletes. I also play badminton and like watching cricket. I have also gone through lots of injuries and the patience is needed to heal it.

Lee Chong Wei had an amazing career with lots of ups and downs. You should see his match replays and interviews you will learn a lot. He has been a huge inspiration to me and taught me a lot both, badminton and life lessons.

Sports has taught me a lot. from being a calm person to working hard and playing till the last point.