Mid-career, and the decade in which people are most often asked what their job actually consists of.
25 people · 1,190 answers
Journalist and columnist, The New York Times; two-time Pulitzer Prize winner
Recorded · American Academy of Achievement · 2008
I have a bunch of rules for myself. You stop at every village, you ask what the situation is like between this village and the next village, you look for fresh tire tracks.
British track cyclist, 1994–2013
Recorded · Cyclist · 2016
Those lactate sessions were the worst. I'd be in a lab on a turbo trainer and I'd do four 30-second efforts at 100% effort.
British wheelchair racer, 1988–2007; member of the House of Lords
Recorded · International Paralympic Committee · 2016
We were training 12 to 15 times a week, 50 weeks of the year.
Photojournalist and war photographer; Pulitzer Prize winner, 2009
Recorded · American Academy of Achievement · 2017
For a photographer — it’s like actually taking a picture is like five percent of what I do.
Australian sprinter, 1990–2003
Recorded · ABC News (Australia) · 2020
I looked straight across at the clock and I was disappointed with the time. I should have run under 49 and I didn't. And I knew I had a lot more in me.
Novelist
Recorded · The Guardian · 2010
Treat writing as a job. Be disciplined. Lots of writers get a bit OCD-ish about this. Graham Greene famously wrote 500 words a day.
Neurosurgeon; chair of neurosurgery at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Recorded · American Academy of Achievement · 2001
I’ve done almost 4,000 operations for brain tumors. I’m thinking of what’s going to happen ten or 12 steps before.
British wheelchair racer, 1988–2007; member of the House of Lords
Recorded · People's Collection Wales · 2015
I love training. It's not just about the competing.
Australian sprinter, 1990–2003
Recorded · National Museum of Australia · 2021
I wanted to be an Olympic champion and I didn't care about the goings-on around me. In my heart and with all of my soul I was ready, willing and I was very able.
Financier; co-founder of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.
Recorded · Academy of Achievement · 1991
One person that is my role model is my father. ... He’s a man who taught me something very important. And that was — give back to society what you’ve taken out.
Game designer; co-creator of Exploding Kittens
Recorded · The Tim Ferriss Show · 2023
There’s a few that are immediate, because he just drilled them into my head. One is “Nothing attracts a crowd like a crowd.” Try as hard as you want to market something, get a crowd.
Photojournalist and war photographer; Pulitzer Prize winner, 2009
Recorded · American Academy of Achievement · 2017
My parents also said, “Don’t follow money. Follow your heart and you’ll be successful.” That’s all they told me and my sisters.
India Test and one-day international cricketer, 1989–2013
Recorded · The Hindu · 2013
He gave me freedom at the age of 11, and told me that [I should] chase my dreams, but make sure you do not find short cuts.
Actor, director and producer
Recorded · The Observer / The Guardian · 2025
“David, you are going to walk among kings.” This was my mum’s prophecy when I was small. My father is from a royal family in Nigeria, so I interpreted it that way.
Anita Rani, Bear Grylls, Brandi Carlile, Chris Hoy, Dawn O’Porter, Felicity Jones, Helen Skelton, Hugh Skinner, Justin Hawkins, Kerry Godliman, Mellody Hobson, Nikki Amuka-Bird, Omid Djalili, Philippa Dunne, Robert Carlyle, Romola Garai, Sarah Perry, Seann Walsh, Serena Williams, Shinya Yamanaka, Shirley Manson, Siobhán McSweeney, Steve Jobs, Tom Fletcher, Zack Polanski