Advice From Ira Glass
“Things that are really good are good because people are being really really tough, and you’re going to be really tough.” (2:42) Part 2
I think that this is great advice not just for radio broadcast and story telling, but for life in general. In broadcasting, it makes sense that you have to know when to kill a story. You may like it a lot because it may have some meaning to you, but if it isn’t good, it takes a certain attitude to step up and kill it. This gives way to the opportunity to make a better story which means that after time, you will have a great story because you killed all the bad ones to get there. By being tough on yourself, you make your story better, adding more details, always looking for a better interview, whatever it is. Just like in essay writing how you want to be a harsh critic on yourself to improve your work, the same goes for speaking. Settling for just an average or good story won’t keep you on the air because you will lose people’s interest.
But connecting this to a bigger picture, being tough on yourself for anything makes you a better person. Anyone can get by doing average work and passing. An average person doesn’t wow anyone just as an average story doesn’t keep people entertained. Being really tough on yourself always makes you want more than you have and motivates you to strive for the best. By doing this, you become really good at whatever you try, whether it be essay writing and radio broadcast, to sports and talents. You need to be tough on yourself or you just settle for average. I really like this piece of advice from Ira Glass because it connects to something bigger than the intended message.
2 responses so far
I definitely agree here. It’s very easy to coast by and not push ourselves to our limits. I didn’t deduce this deeper meaning from Ira’s interview at the start, so to hear it here gave me a very different perspective. Sometimes it is harder to be tough on oneself, because we’re afraid of stress and we’re afraid of the extra work not feeling like it’s worth it. But it’s important to do so because more often then not, it ends up feeling very rewarding and it’s worth it not only to you, but to your audience as well. A good story might keep someone entertained for a little while, but it won’t keep their attention fixated on what you have to say. More importantly, it won’t allow you to leave a lasting impact on them. I never thought what Ira Glass was saying would be inspirational or motivational, but maybe I was wrong.
I liked how you saw the bigger message behind somewhat simple statement. I agree that it takes some courage and sacrifice to achieve something greater like you need to cut off the bad branches to have a healthy plant. Being tough on yourself is good but I think the point is to be constructive not destructive. Sometimes people become extremely harsh on themselves and become discouraged in every way. Sometimes you just need to be confident on your ideas and have the courage to implement it as well.