From Chapter 3, "Persistence, Press on!" in Ingredients of Outliers An Unlikely Hero Chances are you’ve never heard the amazing story of a man named Cliff Young, but he’s a legend half a world away—in Australia, the Land Down Under. The legend began in 1983, as the inaugural foot race from Sydney to Melbourne was about to get underway. It was an ambitious undertaking, covering a distance of 875 kilometers, or more than 540 miles. That’s the equivalent of running nearly 21 complete marathons—in a row! To put it in perspective, that would be similar to running from New York City to … [Read more...]
A Shining Example of Persistence
From Chapter 3, "Persistence: Press on!" in Ingredients of Outliers A Shining Example America’s history is replete with the stories of men and women whose “press on” and “never quit” attitudes are shining examples of the determination and the persevering spirit on which our nation was built. Among my favorites is Theodore Roosevelt, the President of the United States from 1901 to 1909. Although he was one of the most colorful and popular men to have ever served in that capacity, Roosevelt was far more than a political figure. He was—among other things—an adventurer, an historian, a … [Read more...]
Persistence: Don’t Quit
From Chapter 3, “Persistence: Press on!” in Ingredients of Outliers Too Dumb to Quit? In 1993, I started a company initially called Arizona Family and Urgent Care (AF UC), on a shoestring. I literally worked day and night to get it up and running. During its early stage, one partner backed out and another one said he didn’t want to take on any more risk. I pressed on and we were actually making headway when the bank called our loan and put us in the “workout” division. At the time I thought this was great because I liked to work out. Then I learned that this was the area of the bank … [Read more...]
Persistence: Press on!
From Chapter 3, "Persistence: Press on!" in Ingredients of Outliers The above words, spoken nearly a century ago by the 30th President of the United States, have long been favorites of mine. They epitomize a core principle on which our nation was founded, and on which it has been shaped. Call it what you will— persistence, determination, tenacity, perseverance—it’s the quality of pressing on toward a goal, no matter what obstacles or difficulties may stand in the way. This was brought home to me in a special way a few years ago when I attended the annual conference of the American … [Read more...]
Pick Yourself Up
From Chapter 2 "Fail Fast: The Gift of Failure" in Ingredients of Outliers The Immigrant's Son On May 10, 1899, Frederick Austerlitz, the son of Austrian immigrants, was born in Omaha, Nebraska. As children, Frederick and his sister Adele began singing and dancing in vaudeville shows and continued to do so for many years. A vaudeville show featured a variety of entertainers—including singers, dancers, comedians, ventriloquists, jugglers, magicians, and others—who would appear on stage in rapid-fire succession during shows lasting up to twelve hours. Many successful stage and … [Read more...]
The Gift of Failure
From Chapter 2 "Fail Fast: The Gift of Failure" in Ingredients of Outliers An Early Start My gift of failure started early. As noted previously, despite being tall and coming from a family that encouraged sports, I never really excelled at anything where coordination, speed, or strength mattered, thus relegating me to events like curling and badminton. My sister, however, was a very competitive swimmer, as well as a straight “A” student. Fortunately I was adopted, so I could genuinely claim some form of genetic malady (I still do). In fact, genetics haunt me to this day. A few years … [Read more...]