Venus Williams' new book 'Strive' is a personal guide to physical and mental health

NPR's Book of the Day

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Books, Arts

4.2 • 672 Ratings

🗓️ 17 September 2024

⏱️ 6 minutes

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Summary

Tennis legend Venus Williams has a lot on her plate. There's her tennis career, of course, but also business pursuits in fashion, interior design, nail art and more. As a result, Williams says it can be difficult for her to find balance. In her new book Strive, she details eight steps she follows in pursuit of this balance between her mental, physical and emotional health. In today's episode, Williams speaks with NPR's Michel Martin about learning from an early-career loss at the U.S. Open, resting more and living with an autoimmune disease.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's NPR's book of the day. I'm Andrew Limbaugh. The athletes that occupy Mount Olympus,
0:08.0	the people whose names are synonymous with their sport, they've got off days too, days where maybe
0:14.1	they feel like doing nothing besides eating 14 pizzas and scrolling on their phone all day.
0:19.7	But one of those athletes, tennis star Venus
0:22.1	Williams, has written a book about the steps she takes to keep herself from doing just that,
0:28.5	at least not all of the time. It's called Strive, and she spoke with NPR's Michelle Martin
0:32.9	about finding the balance between constant grinding and finding time for rest.
0:39.0	That's coming up.
0:40.5	In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.
0:45.3	Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, sources and methods.
0:51.9	NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people, helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.
0:59.2	Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:04.9	If you follow sports at all, Venus Williams is a person who needs no introduction.
1:09.7	Over a 30-year career in tennis,
1:11.9	she stacked her mantle with seven Grand Slam singles titles, 14 Grand Slam doubles for Olympic
1:17.2	medals, among other accolades. She is also a serial entrepreneur. Along the way, she's
1:21.9	developed a roadmap to physical, mental, and emotional health, which she wants to tell us
1:25.8	about in a new book. It's called Strive, and it details the eight steps Venus says she lives by, a program she hopes others can follow in order to find their awesome, as she puts it. And Venus Williams is with us now. Good morning. Hi, good morning. How are you? I'm good. So, Venus, we've spoken before, and I've always talked with you about your business ventures. I don't know if people realize that you always have had a lot going on besides tennis.
1:48.2	I mean, fashion, interior design, nail art.
1:51.5	How does this book fit into your many other interests?
1:55.1	This book is really kind of the story of my life.
1:58.0	You know, a lot of people would write a biography, and I would write a book about health and wellness. And also the story of my life. You know, a lot of people would write a biography, and I would write a book
	...

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