All of the teams in this league that have won multiple championships, they didn't come out the gate winning. Sometimes you have to take those hits to understand what it takes to win.
Interpretation
Success is often preceded by failures and lessons learned from setbacks.
Sue Bird's quote emphasizes that true success, particularly in competitive environments like sports, is often built on the experiences of losses and challenges. Winning multiple championships is not merely a result of talent, but also reflects resilience and the valuable lessons learned from earlier struggles. These 'hits' are crucial for developing the grit and understanding necessary to achieve long-term success.
In practice
This quote could be used in a motivational speech for athletes.
A lot of us players, if you were to ask them, feel like they have to play overseas. Why? 'Why not? Might as well do it while I can.' For a while, I felt that way - I've got to make the most money that I can. Now, do I feel like I could still play overseas? Absolutely. But I don't feel that pressure anymore.
Homophobia hurts our league. Racism hurts it. Sexism hurts it.
As quickly as you can go 4-1, you can go 1-4. And the whole objective is not to get too high and not to get too low. It's one thing to tell somebody that and explain it, but it's another thing to really buy in, to have felt that and understand what it means to stay even-keel. That's what you have to be in this league.
I may not hit 50, 40 or 30 home runs, but I can do the little things like moving runners over that don't show up in the box score.
I've worked hard, but this business can be tough, and I just consider myself incredibly lucky to have had the career that I have, and to still be having so much fun playing drums and making music.
In order to succeed in the world people do their upmost to appear successful.
Successful charitable fund-raising has much in common with managing a business: It requires leadership, persistence, and creativity.
What I learned from that loss, and also another loss that I'm going to talk about later, was that when you're there, it's not good enough to be there, when you're there, you better walk away with that ring.
Success doesn't come instantly. Neither does the ability to lead.
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