Pressure to Succeed Quotes

Most athletes get intimidated once they see how many fans are out there, but it almost calms me down in a way because I think of it as a fun way to show off what I've been working on.

John Adams and John Quincy Adams had six sons. Two of these were great statesman and four were drunks. For the Adams family it was the White House or the Ale House …. Family pressure is part of what drives people to drink.

When I arrived in Texas in 2001, I felt an enormous amount of pressure. I felt like I had all the weight of the world on top of me, and I needed to perform, and perform at a high level every day.

Everyone's set the bar really high and expects me to be brilliant.

Being in a career and going from highlight to highlight and playing a lot of matches you go through it and think it's normal when you play in front of 60,000 and you almost want to vomit in front of every game.

I was really good at a young age, but every day I had to walk in the house, and walk past my dad's jersey framed on the wall because he was an Olympian, so I was like, all right, I haven't done anything yet.

I had a critical father. I'm more like my father. He was a sales rep for pharmaceutical companies.

There is pressure that comes with everything being a big deal. I remember thinking, 'I need to survive the Shins. I don't know what I'm going to do to make a living otherwise, but I really don't want to do the Shins right now.'

I was in the tennis bubble. I wasn't thinking about the big picture. I didn't notice what they said on television, I wasn't reading any papers. I had a coach and a manager, and they kept me in the bubble.

I read 'The Bell Jar' as an adolescent and, like most teenagers, had no problem identifying with a young woman who had everything going for her - looks, talent, opportunity, with her 'whole life ahead of her,' yadda, yadda, yadda - yet was spiraling into misery.

I've never felt as nervous as I did before a track meet - literally, stomach going crazy - 'cause it was just so difficult.

The fear of losing makes you better because it stops you cruising.

It has gotten worse as I'm becoming more successful. My nerves. Just because there's a bit more pressure, and people are expecting a lot more from me.

My whole life, I've felt like I've always had to prove myself. It's never been easy, as easy as others who are in my position have had it.

I don't think there's any player that's more talented than Alex Rodriguez. He cares very deeply about doing well. Baseball is his life. He puts a lot of pressure on himself.

It was being young and sensitive and an actor. There was a lot of pressure, everything was a hurdle.

There is pressure every day as a footballer.

Being an NBA player, a lot of stress comes with that: realizing there's a lot of pressure on me and accepting that for what it is, realizing that I might need help, I might need somebody to talk to, accepting that there's nothing wrong with that.

L.A. runs on optimism, enthusiasm and flattery. I think you can go a little bit crazy. I've heard people say there's a limit to the number of years you can stay in this city without going slightly mad. It's just too damn sunny in every dimension - weather-wise, socially and professionally.

Anxiety is the handmaiden of contemporary ambition.

Honestly... I've never felt pressure working in basketball. There's no pressure at all. If it doesn't work, it doesn't work.

Broadway, I have to memorize everything. You get one time to do it right.

Going for the Rhodes, it really put a label on me that was hard to shake, and frankly I don't think that I did shake it.

My fears are never about failure - it's about extreme success.

When I was young, I used to hear people say, 'He's a golden boy. Look at that guy. Can you imagine what he's going to be like when he grows up?' Well, I unfortunately bought into that. And I hadn't even found myself. Quite honestly, I was running from myself. But I knew how to work Top 40 radio.