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Ang Lee and the uncertainty of success

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Re: Ang Lee and the uncertainty of success

#61

Post by ankitml »

chaz wrote: post #58
jerryhuang100 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is no such thing as a guarantee of success. It's true there is no guarantee of success. But if you quit early there would be only guarantee failure.

> But if you quit early The problem is we never know when "early" is. It could be past our patience, financial means, career window, or lifetime.

I would say sometimes qutting is good option. Not absolute quitting, but quitting from current plan. Being open to bending and open to modifications in the 'way to success'.

I remember Bruce Lee said, "Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless - like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend."

Re: Ang Lee and the uncertainty of success

#62

Post by svdad »

mooreds wrote: post #26

What I think is fascinating is not Ang Lee's determination to last those 6 years, thought that is impressive. It is that his wife and family supported him for all those years (granted, it seems he was providing childcare). And believed in him, to the point of scolding him when he considered switching to a more immediately lucrative career. We should all be so generous to our partners.

Yeah, that's awesome. What's so unusual about it to me is that when he was discouraged she didn't tell him to do something easier that would make him feel more immediately satisfied (by making money, providing for the family, etc.); she told him to keep doing what was making him unhappy in the short term. I think that takes a damn strong relationship.

Re: Ang Lee and the uncertainty of success

#63

Post by greghinch »

chaz wrote: post #58
jerryhuang100 wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There is no such thing as a guarantee of success. It's true there is no guarantee of success. But if you quit early there would be only guarantee failure.

> But if you quit early The problem is we never know when "early" is. It could be past our patience, financial means, career window, or lifetime.

If you quit while you still have passion, it's too early. If you spend your life following a passion, and never achieve "success", was that a life wasted? What is the alternative?

Re: Ang Lee and the uncertainty of success

#64

Post by skrebbel »

brm wrote: post #56
patmcguire wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ha. Not from there, but every Icelander I've met "knew" Bjork, but that may be because it's half the size of Wyoming and is much, much more isolated.

Just for clarification, I think Wyo is this case is referring to Wyomissing, PA

I'm impressed that people on an online forum with visitors from all around the world think that abbreviating the name of some far out small town makes sense.

I get NY and SF, but "Wyo" for anything other than Wyoming?

Re: Ang Lee and the uncertainty of success

#65

Post by wicknicks »

pinaceae wrote: post #60
thejerz wrote: post #10

I knew Taylor Swift growing up. Like Ang Lee, for around 6 to 8 years Taylor acted in musicals, sang at festivals, entered competitions, and recorded demos. She was bad at first (sorry Taylor!), but she kept working at it. Every day, she was writing another lyric, or taking another guitar lesson, or auditioning for another play, or switching voice teachers. The reason I knew her was that I went to school with her (sh…

survivor bias. you just don't see all the other people "sticking to it" and never making it. you're discounting luck, chance, etc. one bad decision or just bad luck moment and you're toast. and for female singers - if your genes made you butt ugly, no career for you, no matter how great you sing.

I'm not saying she's ugly, but Susan Boyles made a huge impact at the "Britain's Got Talent" show when she was nearly 50. Today, her voice makes her millions. Even women can be successful at any point in their life. I don't know what it takes to be successful (different people have different definitions of that term), but being pretty is not a necessity.

Re: Ang Lee and the uncertainty of success

#66

Post by enraged_camel »

I read the story. It is very touching. That said, I think stories like this send a very dangerous message. The reality of the matter is that for every person who stuck to their passion and ultimately "succeeded," there are thousands who lived the rest of their lives in obscurity and never "made it."

When I was reading the story and Ang Le said he started taking computer science classes at the local college, I though, "that's great - he finally came to grips with reality ad went from being a daydreamer to being a harsh pragmatist." I was therefore dismayed when he then said he tore up his class schedule and went back to his passion.

A lot of people glamorize his choice with things like "his dedication and commitment paid off" but what if t had not? Would we hear about Ang Le today?

In hindsight his choice was the right one. But hindsight is 20/20. If you really want to maximize your chances of success in life, be flexible and ready to change course often.

Re: Ang Lee and the uncertainty of success

#67

Post by raverbashing »

colmvp wrote: post #18
thejerz wrote: post #10

I knew Taylor Swift growing up. Like Ang Lee, for around 6 to 8 years Taylor acted in musicals, sang at festivals, entered competitions, and recorded demos. She was bad at first (sorry Taylor!), but she kept working at it. Every day, she was writing another lyric, or taking another guitar lesson, or auditioning for another play, or switching voice teachers. The reason I knew her was that I went to school with her (sh…

I suppose that makes sense. So many of her songs are fuck you to ex boyfriends even in her 20s.

Well, Adele apparently got a lot of money for being dumped as well. (she also probably dumped a couple, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to be profitable for the men)

Re: Ang Lee and the uncertainty of success

#68

Post by cousin_it »

jerryhuang100 wrote: post #48
wwweston wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If you stick with it, you'll be successful. It doesn't matter where you come from, who your parents are, what you know, who you know, or how you look. All that is required is a choice I'm going to present a different picture of the world. I think it's a more accurate one. Not necessarily more useful. There is no such thing as a guarantee of success -- at least, for a definition of success that includes broad recogn…

> There is no such thing as a guarantee of success. It's true there is no guarantee of success. But if you quit early there would be only guarantee failure.

The same is true for the lottery, if you don't buy a lottery ticket, you're guaranteed not to win. But that doesn't prove you should spend all your money on lottery tickets.

Re: Ang Lee and the uncertainty of success

#69

Post by [deleted] »

wicknicks wrote: post #65
pinaceae wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

survivor bias. you just don't see all the other people "sticking to it" and never making it. you're discounting luck, chance, etc. one bad decision or just bad luck moment and you're toast. and for female singers - if your genes made you butt ugly, no career for you, no matter how great you sing.

I'm not saying she's ugly, but Susan Boyles made a huge impact at the "Britain's Got Talent" show when she was nearly 50. Today, her voice makes her millions. Even women can be successful at any point in their life. I don't know what it takes to be successful (different people have different definitions of that term), but being pretty is not a necessity.

[deleted]

Re: Ang Lee and the uncertainty of success

#70

Post by yardie »

redschell wrote: post #40
sskates wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many people have worked on their own startup in the valley for 5+ years and had nothing come of it? Before I made the leap to working on a startup full time, I searched for a while for an example where 5 or more years resulted in complete failure but I couldn't find one. Not a single data point among hundreds that I read about/heard about anecdotally. I'm very curious, anyone care to share an example where they w…

I don't have any, but I do wonder if this is another reason why there's a bias towards younger founders (or at least the perception of one). You start a company at 25 after a few years of unfulfilling work, put your nose to the grindstone for 5 years, and, in this unusually terrible hypothetical, end up with nothing but lost time and opportunity. But hey, you're 30. There's time for a comeback. There's no age limit o…

I feel in a lot of ways that starting over at 50 must be easier than starting over at 30. At 30 you possibly have kids, a spouse, and are just getting started in a mortgage. At 50 the kids are off to college, the house should be paid off or close to it, and now you have many peers in the same situation as you (ie, access to capital). It's no wonder the avg age for entrepreneurs is mid 40s
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