Life balance vs. achievement and failure

In the past two days, top-seed tennis star, Venus Williams, comeback princess, Kim Clijsters and six-time title holder, Roger Federer were ousted in the earliest rounds of the Wimbledon. That's how fast it can go. There's going to be endless debate in open and closed forums on it for probably a lot of money rested on their able shoulders. On this side of life, I think we can easily draw a parallel to the corporate scene: yesterday's success is no surety for even a fair performance, forget winning, today. You are only as good as your last sale or last seminar or last whatever-you-do. In an increasingly competitive scenario competition can come from unexpected quarters. All these three stars were beaten by people who are almost 100 ranks below. It can happen to you and me. So what can be done to reduce the chances of such shocks? I suppose there aren't any new ideas- only new ways to look at old, time-tested ones. To be prepared, to keep in good physical and mental shape, to train and upgrade skills continuously even when the market is low and there's no real pressing demand for it. I do a bit of stock checking every night and see where in my skill set or life did I make an improvement in the previous 24-hours. But above all, I think the most important thing to be the winner even when you lose is to get your life's philosophy in shape. I face the challenge all the time of balancing desire and ambition with a fair dose of nonchalance and equanimity. I don't want to hang myself because I did not achieve my target. But I don't want to regret not reaching anywhere close to it. So how do you balance your ambition with common sense? Share your ideas for all of us to learn.