"I learned a lot from not having success, and realizing when you do have success, how hard it is to maintain it, and what you have to do to maintain it"
About this Quote
The line captures the paradox of greatness: failure is a better teacher than triumph, yet triumph is the harder assignment. Randy Johnson speaks from the long, uneven arc of a career that began as raw potential and wildness. Early on with Montreal and Seattle, he was known as much for walks as for strikeouts. He had to dismantle and rebuild his delivery, seek out mentors, and accept uncomfortable feedback. Work with coaches and conversations with veterans helped him harness his mechanics, shorten the arm path, and trust his release point. The walks dropped, the strikeouts stayed, and the path to dominance opened.
Then came the second lesson: success is not self-sustaining. Five Cy Young Awards, a World Series co-MVP performance in 2001, a perfect game at 40; none of that arrived by coasting on talent. Hitters adjust, bodies age, and the league collects data. To stay ahead, he refined pitch sequencing, protected his slider shape, monitored workload, and returned to fundamentals whenever results slipped. The discipline was not glamorous: side sessions, video study, strength and mobility work to support a 6-foot-10 frame, and the humility to change what no longer worked. Even late-career stops under relentless scrutiny demanded reinvention.
The statement is ultimately about attention and accountability. Early failures teach what to fix; sustained success teaches how relentlessly to keep fixing it. It rejects the myth of momentum as a perpetual motion machine. The work that gets you to the top is not identical to the work that keeps you there; the latter is a continuous loop of assessment, adjustment, and recommitment. Johnsons career embodies that loop. The fastball and slider were spectacular, but the engine underneath was routine, curiosity, and refusal to let yesterday’s highlight secure tomorrow’s result. Success, in this telling, is not a trophy but a practice that resets every fifth day.
Then came the second lesson: success is not self-sustaining. Five Cy Young Awards, a World Series co-MVP performance in 2001, a perfect game at 40; none of that arrived by coasting on talent. Hitters adjust, bodies age, and the league collects data. To stay ahead, he refined pitch sequencing, protected his slider shape, monitored workload, and returned to fundamentals whenever results slipped. The discipline was not glamorous: side sessions, video study, strength and mobility work to support a 6-foot-10 frame, and the humility to change what no longer worked. Even late-career stops under relentless scrutiny demanded reinvention.
The statement is ultimately about attention and accountability. Early failures teach what to fix; sustained success teaches how relentlessly to keep fixing it. It rejects the myth of momentum as a perpetual motion machine. The work that gets you to the top is not identical to the work that keeps you there; the latter is a continuous loop of assessment, adjustment, and recommitment. Johnsons career embodies that loop. The fastball and slider were spectacular, but the engine underneath was routine, curiosity, and refusal to let yesterday’s highlight secure tomorrow’s result. Success, in this telling, is not a trophy but a practice that resets every fifth day.
Quote Details
| Topic | Success |
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