Success Breeds Peer Alienation

Brendan Schaub shares his experience about how fast-tracking through industries (UFC, comedy, podcasting) created unexpected challenges with peer acceptance and industry relationships. He reflects on how rapid success, while beneficial in some ways, can actually push you further away from peer acceptance rather than bringing you closer.

Key Points:

• Fast Success Can Be Isolating:

  • Getting a network special within 2 years of starting comedy
  • Being in UFC within 2 years of training
  • These rapid achievements often alienated peers rather than earning their respect

• Industry Veteran Perspective:

  • Many comedians take 15-20 years to get a network special
  • Fast success can rub people the wrong way
  • It's not necessarily jealousy, but a sense of disrespect for the traditional journey

• Learning Process:

  • "I learned on the fly"
  • "I learned the hardest way - that's the only way I make changes"
  • Being thrown into the deep end in every career transition

• Career Pattern Recognition:

  • Consistent theme of going "0 to 100" in every aspect of life
  • Pattern of being "put in the deep end" across multiple industries
  • Having to figure things out while already performing at high levels

• Reflection on Approach:

  • Initially thought people would appreciate rapid progress
  • Expected others to see potential and future growth
  • Reality showed that fast-tracking can create distance from peers
  • "When you do that what happens is it actually pushes you further away from them"

• Personal Growth:

  • Acknowledges the benefits and drawbacks of rapid advancement
  • Wouldn't change the journey despite the challenges
  • Recognizes the value of experience that can't be shortcut