I want to share with you something I've come to believe deeply: anything worth doing is worth doing poorly. So many times in life, especially with all the stuff we watch online, you think you need to do things a certain way, do them really well, or don't even bother. I just finished playing tennis, and I'd say I played poorly, certainly compared to professionals, but even compared to my own performance. I got beat, 6-3, 6-4. But what I'm really proud of today is that I focused on just playing each point, because the idea of good or bad, rich or poor, these are all just stories we tell ourselves.
I've been playing tennis consistently for less than a year. Anything you want to get good at, you should be willing to be poor at it, to be bad at it first. I'm having fun playing tennis, and it's okay if I'm only ever a poor tennis player. If all I am is a poor tennis player my whole life, then that's fine, because it's worth playing tennis. I love getting out here and running around, and I love the people I play with. The guy I played with today, his oldest son was born the same year as me, and he's out here playing singles in the Florida heat. He beat me 6-3, 6-4. I hit lots of poor shots to facilitate that, but he hit lots of great shots too. And it left me thinking about how important this is. If you want to do something, you should be willing to be awful at it first, not expect that you should just be good at it. And don't be delusional either and think you're good at something you just started.
Why Not Just Do What I'm Already Good At?
Some days I wonder, why even bother playing tennis? Why don't I just do YouTube all the time, because that's what I'm good at? Shouldn't I just do YouTube? Why wash the dishes when somebody else could wash the dishes? I should just specialize and only do stuff I'm good at. What I find, though, is that there's a lot of value in humility. I put out six videos a day, and not many channels do that. But then I go out and play tennis, and a lot of the people there are playing better than me. I go to the tennis clinics on Thursdays here with the men at the racquet club, and I'm often one of the worst players there. And that's good, because then I don't feel different. I don't feel special. If I just did YouTube all the time, I might feel special, like there's something special about Jerry Banfield. But no, watch me play tennis and you'll see there's nothing special. Watch me wash the dishes, go for a run, do yoga, and you'll see there's nothing special.
The Show Nobody Came To
I'm actually refilming a video that I filmed about five years ago. I was doing an in-person show in 2020. That's right, an in-person show in the middle of 2020 in Alice, Florida, so we weren't on board with all that BS. I showed up for that show and not one other person did. I ran ads for it. I told people about it. Nobody showed up. And I recorded a video called "anything worth doing is worth doing poorly," and then I deleted it. Then I tried again and again, and eventually I had an in-person show that had like 30 people at it in July 2020. So I got it done. I did it. I had tried a bunch of times to have an in-person event and nobody ever came, and yet I kept trying, and eventually I got it done.
It's the same with tennis. I've thought sometimes that I should quit playing, like why play if I'm not going to work up to being a professional tennis player? But that's a really narrow-minded view of things. There's a lot of value in learning new things that goes way beyond whatever you're going to get out of it in terms of worldly possessions or money or fame or respect. My body loves playing tennis. I love the exercise. I love the people I play with. According to something I heard, that somebody else saw, that somebody else heard, people who play tennis might tend to live nine years longer compared to people who don't.
Positive Role Models on the Court
I'm out here playing with people like the guy I played with today, who could be my dad. My dad passed away, and my dad was only born maybe a handful of years before this guy. And this guy is out here beating me at tennis. My dad passed away because he was not active. He did not play tennis, did not take care of his body, and sat on the couch and watched the news and withered away. So I find positive role models at tennis, because I hear people say things like, oh, you get old and your body falls apart. But a guy who could be my dad just beat me at tennis, singles, in the heat. And I'm in good shape. The girl who signed me up for Crunch the other day said I was athletic. I'm not losing because I can't move. I'm moving. I'm running all over the court. But I run all over the court and he hits back almost all my shots, and then hits shots that I can't even get. And that's inspiring. So when somebody talks about how age somehow equals all this crap, I say no, because I play tennis with someone who defies all of that. I'm sure lots of times today he felt his tennis play was poor compared to what he's capable of, but he beat me.
If It's Worth Doing, It's Worth Doing No Matter How It Comes Out
Lots of things in life that are worth doing are going to come out poorly. Relationships, for one. I have a friend I was talking to, and his relationship is kind of going poorly, but it's worth doing. He's learning. He's growing. He's having fun. He's suffering. A lot of times we beat ourselves up. I didn't like myself with YouTube for years. I've been on YouTube 14 years, and I only have a few hundred videos because I deleted thousands of them. I only have so many views on my videos. But here's what I've come to believe: if it's worth doing, it's worth doing no matter how it comes out. If it's worth doing, it's worth doing no matter what you get out of it. If it was worth filming a video this morning, it's worth filming because it's worth filming, regardless of whether anybody else watches it.
I'm talking to and teaching myself. That's a fact of reality at this moment. It's just me talking to myself at the tennis club right after the game. But you know what? I filmed a video in my car this morning. I filmed another video after tennis. I love filming videos. Even if I'm the only person who ever watches, it's good for me to learn, good for me to teach myself. And then if it teaches you, that's good too.
This is the opposite of what I grew up with. I grew up with "anything worth doing is worth doing well." That's perfectionism. Don't even try doing something unless you can do it well. And I have the opposite message to share today, because the opposite has worked really well for me. I'm so glad I take less time to play video games so that I can play tennis. I essentially started playing tennis out of the hours I used to spend playing video games. And playing tennis one-on-one is so much more satisfying than playing Marvel Snap one-on-one with somebody. Because if I play bad at Marvel Snap, I beat myself up. I suck. Why even play this game if I'm not going to play good at it? But when I get out here and play tennis, even if I play terrible, I get a workout. I get connection. I get FaceTime with another person.
The People You Meet When You Show Up
There are high caliber people at the tennis club. There are people here who have lots of money, because who else is playing tennis at 10:30 in the morning on a Monday? Dudes like me who don't have to be at a 9 to 5 job. Dudes like the guy I play with, who has his own business and who most people would see as quite successful in the world. It's a nice law of attraction. On the court over there, there are women who look like they're in their 50s and 70s, and they're out there playing tennis from 10:30 in the morning to past noon in Florida. It's hot. It's sweaty. It works them out. And they're out there laughing, out there playing tennis, hitting lots of good shots. It doesn't matter if any of us are playing good or playing bad. We're out here. We're showing up. We're living with joy.
I'd rather do something poorly while living with joy than focus all my attention on doing something well and being on top of the world but being stressed and suffering. I really love this YouTuber lifestyle, that I can be out here filming a video and playing tennis on a Monday morning. I did yoga with lots of y'all's wives this morning too. While y'all are at work, I'm doing yoga with your wife, and I really appreciate it. If you want to see more of how I actually live this out day to day, I share a lot of it on my Life playlist. I hope this message lifts you up and is useful for you today.