The strategy for victory? Failure

Serbian tennis player Novak Djokovic won 43 straight matches over a period of six months before losing to Roger Federer in the French Open in June.

This amazing series of wins, against the best players in the world, rocked the sport of tennis. But it was the loss, and a string of bitter defeats last year during a self-described personal "crisis," that set the stage for Djokovic's greatest triumph to date: his first Wimbledon championship. He beat defending champion Rafael Nadal July 3 in convincing style on the sport's biggest stage.

"[L]osing that really epic semifinal against Federer -- a great match -- I managed to recover and to come back … and to win Wimbledon for the first time in my life," Djokovic told reporters.

Winning is great, but losing helps you get better -- if you learn from your mistakes. Any good athlete or coach will tell you the same. Compete with bigger, faster, better players, they advise. Pay the price of losing repeatedly in order to gain the skills to win.

To read more, click here.