I’ve never been the world’s biggest Tiger Woods fan. I respect him, am in awe of his athletic ability, and admire his work ethic. However, I’ve always thought he came across a bit too ‘rehearsed’ and not ‘real’ enough…kind of like Michael Jordan. Nothing wrong with that I suppose, but in sports, business, and in life I tend to look up to people who are a little more transparent and strong in their convictions.
All of that said, his interview this week with Scott Van Pelt for the ESPN Sports Center Sunday Conversation was fantastic. Slowly but surely (likely because of his marriage, child, and death of his father) it feels like he’s showing a little more of his true self, which I find refreshing.
One sequence in particular stood out as particularly interesting to me. It shows the type of desire and focus that you need to be great at anything in life:
SVP: “You have 64 wins on the PGA Tour, a fortune in the bank, how do you fight the human nature that says ‘I’m going to hit the snooze button today, I’m gonna take my foot off the gas, I’m just gonna coast for a while.’ Where does the hunger inside of you come from?”
Tiger: “I don’t know how you can think any other way”.
SVP: “There’s no….what would allow you to be satisfied?”
Tiger: “Hmm – win more.”
SVP: “So the 64th is…it feels as good, as fulfilling, as the 1st, the 2nd, the 33rd?”
Tiger: “God yes. Oh yeah”.
SVP: “So there’s no point when you can sort of put the feet up on a Tuesday afternoon and say ‘Today I’m not going to the gym’.?
Tiger: “No. Because the next…that’s…I look at life as: the greatest thing about tomorrow is that I will be better than I am today. And that’s the way I’ve always lived my life. So I have no understanding why people do hit the snooze button because you have a chance to become a better person, become – for me – a better athlete…all the different things you can do to become better for tomorrow. Why wouldn’t you take advantage of that?”
You can check out the full interview on the video below:
Dudeee…
I watched the same interview and loved the same exact quote.
Damn it. I think I’m going to have to post it anyway…
Great Post Adam-
Self-Improvement is the only thing that we truly have control over.
Adam – you and me, we share a brain…
Brandon – that’s a very, very true statement. There are so many outside forces that we have no control over, but everyone can wake up every single day and say “I’m going to be better today than I was yesterday”.
Adam,
I listened to this conversation in the car from one of many espn podcast and literally turned off the car and thought about what he said. That last quote that you highlighted was something that got me going. And it is so easy to take what someone says to heart through their accomplishments. That statement in itself is really enough to live your life to the fullest.
[...] tip: Adam McFarland (a friend who shares the same outlook on life and is killing it with his business) [...]