Monday Motivation: PTJ

Even if you haven't seen Office Space by now, you have certainly experienced a case of the Mondays at some point in time. This downtrodden feel is exacerbated for many monkeys unhappy with their careers or (in current times) the inability to start one up.

We have all been up and down, but in my opinion the two go hand in hand. I never could have wished the poverty of my childhood upon myself, but I am also glad I never had a silver spoon. Having it rough made me appreciate what I had and more importantly it taught me to fight. Some people had great role models and textbook examples of success in their daily lives. I did not. In fact, everything I learned...I learned through the experience granted by my failures.

That is why today I want to share a bit of inspiration with you guys that echoes some of my experiences and sentiments on life. Considering that the words are from the mouth of Hedge Fund legend Paul Tudor Jones, I suggest paying close attention. Many of you have read this speech before, but it can never hurt to read it again. Life really is what you make of it.

Often we get stuck in the cycle of mystifying achievements and goals. Reaching the destination will never be as valuable as what you learned on your journey to get there. That is where the real success lies. Often on that road, it is the potholes that make the trip. Some of you are down right now, some have lost your motivation, some think that it will never happen.

Well realize this, little chimp...now that you are down is when you begin to build your foundation. Whether you crapped out in your job search or whether it just feels like shit having to go to work...remember that at your lowest point is the opportunity to begin that climb to the top. Oddly enough, you really are at your best when you fail the worst.

Enjoy the following words and the rest of your day, week and life. Any stories of failure which led to success would be more than welcome in this thread. Enough preaching from me. Ladies and gents, Paul Tudor Jones:


Now, there are two types of failure you will experience in life. The first type is what I just described and comes from things you can control. That is the worst kind. But there is another form of failure that will be equally devastating to you, and that is the kind beyond your control.

This happened to me in 1982. I had met a very lovely young Harvard student from Connecticut, dated her for two years then asked her to marry me right after she graduated from college. We set a date; we sent out the invitations; and all was fantastic until one month before the wedding when her father called me. He said, “Paul, my daughter sat me down this afternoon, and she doesn’t know how to tell you this, but she is really unhappy and thinks it’s time for you two to take a break.” At first I thought he was joking because he was a very funny guy. Then he said, “No, she is serious about this.” I thought to myself, “Oh, my God, I am being dumped at the altar.”

I’m from Tennessee. Getting dumped at the altar was the supreme social embarrassment of that time. It was a big deal. When all my family and friends found out, they were ready to re-start the Civil War on the spot. I had to remind them that the last Civil War didn’t go so well for our side, and I didn’t like our chances in a rematch.

The reality was that I was a 26-year old knucklehead, and since all my friends were getting married, I kind of felt it was time for me to do the same thing. And that was the worst reason in the world to get married. I actually think she understood that and to a certain extent spared me what would have been a very tough marriage. Instead, I’ve had an incredible marriage for twenty years to a wonderful wife, and we have four kids that I love more than anything on Earth. Some things happen to you that at the time will make you feel like the world is coming to an end, but in actuality, there is a very good reason for it. You just can’t see it and don’t know it. When one door closes, another will open, but standing in that hallway can be hell. You just have to persevere.

 

Midas,

I must truly echo the sentiment. The greatest way we grow is by dealing with the unexpected curve balls. I've found that they are a measure of our ability as men to flourish or flounder. As they bare no expectations or easy resolutions, how we handle the unexpected really defines us as individuals. PTJ speaks the truth and it takes having that kind of a curve ball where you are forced to reevaulate everything you know that leads us down a new path on a new journey. And he's right, the trip is more fun than the end destination, every time.

 
Best Response

Midas sir, SB to both you and Frieds. As an extension of your thoughts...I spoke with a PhD candidate in Finance on the weekend (who is likely to join the faculty at either Wharton or NYU in the coming year), and he shared similar sentiments about his own "path." He spoke about closing the gaps. As a pretty lousy high school student himself, he was a long shot from joining the ranks of those in the upper echelons of academia, but he persevered. After transferring out of his first university to a top school (where he graduated 3rd in his class in Math), he joined a top 5 PhD program. Here, he needed to close the gaps once more against former math olympiad winners and HYP studs. And he did - due to his initial failures, which taught him humility. He said that those in his program that had faced a smooth ride to the top, had a much tougher time when confronted face-to-face with adversity, some even facing severe depression. What I learned from that conversation was that failure is far less valued than it should be. And those who would like to tell you otherwise, are just afraid that you might just close the gap.

"Rage, rage against the dying of the light." - DT
 

I freaking love stories like this.

One more for WSO. Back in high school I knew a kid who went to a rival high school who was a total loser. He did drugs, was a skater, had no identity, lousy student, etc. The "smart" kids made fun of him for being a slacker. He ends up going to the flagship state school since his test scores were pretty decent, where he majored in physics and went on FIRE. He then entered the Physics Phd program at Harvard, got his masters, and left join goldman as a quant. Everyone is shocked at this kid's progress. But some switch went off on his brain, and he started busting his ass.

 

close the gap....I like it. I'm in process, so thanks for the motivational help. As for Monday: the first time someone used that phrase in a real conversation I did a double take.

Get busy living
 

Everyone's a come-back kid at some point one way or another. We're just too ashamed to admit it because of the way we have been conditioned. Which is quite irrational considering that our mistakes are essentially the reason we even get this far in the first place.

 
oagiy1991:
Everyone's a come-back kid at some point one way or another. We're just too ashamed to admit it because of the way we have been conditioned. Which is quite irrational considering that our mistakes are essentially the reason we even get this far in the first place.
I am very open and proud of it. I got a second chance by looking to others who had crashed and rebuilt, so by being HONEST about my story I get ahead and help others who also are rebuilding. At some point I will let the past be the past, but I'm still learning from it, and hiding doesn't help.
Get busy living
 

Do Americans ever actually think without spewing out a torrent of Hallmark-esq bullshit?

Moral of that PTJ story is that there are plenty more fish in the sea. Man the fuck up, its not a lesson in facing adversity in life, he was dumped because he was a prick, then met someone more suited.

Solution for monday motivation, tequila, cocaine and self-loathing - anything else is just fucking pathetic.

 
samoanboy:
Do Americans ever actually think without spewing out a torrent of Hallmark-esq bullshit?

Moral of that PTJ story is that there are plenty more fish in the sea. Man the fuck up, its not a lesson in facing adversity in life, he was dumped because he was a prick, then met someone more suited.

Solution for monday motivation, tequila, cocaine and self-loathing - anything else is just fucking pathetic.

Somebody's got a case of the... tuesdays...

 

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