“I just believe that the interesting time in a career is pre-success, what shaped things, how did you get to this point?”
― Steve Martin, Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life
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“I just believe that the interesting time in a career is pre-success, what shaped things, how did you get to this point?” ― Steve Martin, Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life
“Despite a lack of natural ability, I did have the one element necessary to all early creativity: naïveté, that fabulous quality that keeps you from knowing just how unsuited you are for what you are about to do.”
― Steve Martin, Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life
When you read a biography, everybody wants to know the beginning. There's always a part of the biography after they're super rich and famous and they're donating a bunch of money and I'm glad they're doing all that, that's fundamentally not interesting. How many people can relate to that? But everybody can relate to, hey, I have a dream. This is wh... See more
Patrick O'Shaughnessy • Passion & Pain
It took Martin, by his own estimation, ten years for his new act to cohere, but when it did, he became a monster success. It’s clear in his telling that there was no real shortcut to his eventual fame. “[Eventually] you are so experienced [that] there’s a confidence that comes out,” Martin explained. “I think it’s something the audience smells.”
Cal Newport • So Good They Can't Ignore You: Why Skills Trump Passion in the Quest for Work You Love
Steve Jobs said: “You can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. This practice requires that we trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something—your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life
... See moreWilliam A. Adams • Mastering Leadership: An Integrated Framework for Breakthrough Performance and Extraordinary Business Results
"Whether you are an adult or child, your first attempts will often seem unimportant or foolish.
Early attempts are easy to dismiss because they don't seem to amount to much. But you have to do the low stakes stuff to prepare for the ... See more
- The open mic night at a nearly empty bar.
- The early blog posts that get ignored.
- The dance recital on a little stage.
Early attempts are easy to dismiss because they don't seem to amount to much. But you have to do the low stakes stuff to prepare for the ... See more
3-2-1: When to be patient, why we procrastinate, and the importance of early attempts
While doing the reporting for my book, I read a postmortem from a successful startup founder. They said something along the lines of: “One of the best things that can happen to you is to achieve professional success when you’re young. That way you can learn that it does little to change your happiness.” For better or worse, achieving your goals sho
... See more