Success, failure and the in-between

I have a small, close group of friends with whom I discuss media and entertainment a lot. We have shows we watch together and we enjoy critiquing whatever happens to be the subject of the moment. It has become a long running joke that my contributions often start with "I heard (insert accomplished creative name) on Terry Gross and they said _________." What I have come to realize though, is that what is different about Terry Gross and some others (Charlie Rose) is that their interviews generally center around how a person rose to prominence and often the setbacks they faced. If one were to simply watch "interviews" on Late Night and the Tonight Show, one might assume that superstars were destined for fame, they were simply fulfilling a destiny.

One of my favorite interviews from recent years was with Jason Segel of How I Met Your Mother (you can listen to it here). He talks a lot about how he experienced early success after high school of being cast in Judd Apatow's network dramedy Freaks and Geeks only to have it canceled mid-season and did not work again for years. In light of his success over the past five years, most of his fans probably never imagined the years he spent questioning if he was wasting his time chasing his dream. What shows like this highlight is that often there are many, many setbacks before success and it's the people who grow from failure and persevere that are likeliest to experience success.

Here is another good thought from This American Life host Ira Glass about creativity and sticking with it: