A speaker reflects on early career arrogance despite athletic success, losing badly at international tournaments with scores like 11-1 and 11-2. They learned that greatness demands humility and respect for those who trained their whole lives.
Chapters
I was never the best in the world, right? As a matter of fact, I was probably when I started playing pro, the worst in the world. I was by far the worst in the world. And it was not because I didn't have the skill to do it. I just had the wrong mindset. Like, I was a great athlete. I played every sport. I got MVP in every sport I ever played, every sport. And so I just figured, you know what, I'm going to be great at this too, and I'm going to be everyone. And that was my mindset. But I wasn't really respecting the sport and respecting the people that actually put, you know, years into the sport since three years old. Because of that, I would go play these tournaments, like I would, you know, leave America, go to China and lose like 11 1, 11 2, 11 3, 11 1.