rant · moment 6 of 13
Individual Sports, Failure, and Never Bottoming Out
from Brighton Beach Memoirs · #96
Audio-only archive episode — no video to seek.
4 minTim reflects on being a solo competitor (swimming, acting) rather than a team athlete, and argues that people frustrated with their careers have never truly failed and don't understand what drives real ambition.
- 11:19Tim was on a swim team, not in Boy Scouts, and thinks kids in individual sports learn responsibility differently than those in team sports.
- 11:45Kids who were never stars in team sports end up as communists walking around Brooklyn because they were never taught about competition.
- 12:23Tim was terrible at Little League and lacrosse in high school, and didn't get good at anything until later in life.
- 12:53Bill Hicks said doing what you love and doing it well is one of the greatest joys on earth, and Tim believes that.
- 13:31Tim tells frustrated friends the problem is they've never failed—they went from good school to decent job and don't know what it's like to bottom out.
- 14:04People who never failed don't know what it's like to sit back and ask why something didn't work.
- 14:23Good entrepreneurs know they're going to fail half the time, and success requires sticking your neck out and having ideas.
- 14:42If you play poker professionally and study it well, making the right moves means you will still fail.
- 14:53The only thing you can do is have something to fall back on, but even that fucks you over.