From Chapter 12 “Indefatigable” in Ingredients of Outliers. Super Woman On September 16, 2007, I had to do something I never, ever wanted to do, nor do I ever want do it again. It was a beautiful Sunday in Phoenix. I was sitting in my office with the door to the rooftop patio overlooking twin runways open to let in the warm breeze. I was taking a bit of a break and called Bill and Colleen, close family friends. Bill was a founding partner in a law firm where I am “Of Counsel.” By coincidence, he and I went to the same university. He graduated from law school the same year I … [Read more...]
An Unlikely Hero
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...]
Tenacity: From Braces to Races
From Chapter 3, "Persistence, Press on!" in Ingredients of Outliers From Braces to Races The woman whose story follows had no aspirations to be a role model. “I don’t consciously try to be a role model,” she said, “so I don’t know if I am or not. That’s for others to decide.” After reading her story, I’m sure you’ll agree that she proved to be an outstanding one, inspiring others to press on, no matter what obstacles they faced. Born prematurely in 1940 in the segregated South, the twentieth of 22 children in a desperately poor family, there was nothing about this tiny … [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...]
Failure is Important
From Chapter 2 "Fail Fast: The Gift of Failure" in Ingredients of Outliers Joanne’s Story Joanne was the older of two daughters born to a London couple who met and married when they were 19. When Joanne was a teenager, her mother became seriously ill and a few years later, at age 45, she died. “It was a terrible time,” Joanne recalled, leaving her with “a literal pain in my heart.” Still grieving, she moved to Portugal, where she’d gotten a job teaching English. Soon after, she married a Portuguese man and gave birth to a daughter. After a divorce, she returned home with her … [Read more...]