#881: Tales of Overcoming The Odds, and How to Turn Losses Into Wins — Tim McGraw, Terry Crews, Dax Shepard, and More

Episode of The Tim Ferriss Show · September 4, 2026 · 1 h 5 min

Tim Ferriss compiles past interviews in which BJ Miller, Terry Crews, Tim McGraw, Dax Shepard, Cathy Lanier, Janna Levin and others describe turning setbacks into later success.

Summary

This compilation episode of The Tim Ferriss Show gathered excerpts from earlier interviews around the theme of overcoming failure and mistakes. Palliative-care physician BJ Miller described how a prosthetic component invented by Mert Lawill and modifications by a mechanic named Randy allowed him, as a triple amputee, to ride a clutchless Aprilia motorcycle. Terry Crews recounted missing a potential game-tying layup in a 1986 high-school district championship and reframing the loss as proof that he had taken his shot, a lesson he said still guides him.

Tim McGraw described his debut album's commercial failure, recording Not a Moment Too Soon on spec without Curb Records' approval, and a later legal battle with Curb that he said nearly ended his career before he rebuilt with Scott Borchetta's Big Machine label; he advised young artists to take charge of their careers. Jessica Lahey recalled an editor calling her first draft of The Gift of Failure unpublishable and suggesting a ghostwriter, after which she turned the critique into a checklist and produced a bestseller. Dax Shepard said the commercial failure of CHiPs ended his identity as a writer-director but led to Armchair Expert and a life with more time for his children.

Cathy Lanier described becoming pregnant at 14, marrying at 15, passing her GED by one point, and joining the Metropolitan Police Department in 1990 largely for its tuition reimbursement. Janna Levin explained her view that life is a series of obstacles rather than a smooth path, arguing that people should move around obstacles rather than push against them. Boyd Varty closed the episode explaining the tracker's maxim, "I don't know where we're going, but I know exactly how to get there," and how his mentor Martha Beck helped him apply tracking principles to recovering from trauma.

Chapters

  1. 0:00

    Introduction to the compilation

    Tim Ferriss introduces a special episode on turning mistakes and failures into later wins.

  2. 1:05

    BJ Miller's motorcycle

    BJ Miller explains how a prosthetic mount, a clutchless Aprilia and a custom single-hand control system let him ride a motorcycle as a triple amputee.

  3. 5:13

    Terry Crews and the missed shot

    Terry Crews recounts missing a game-deciding layup in high school and reframing it as a lesson about taking his shot and avoiding self-sabotage.

  4. 16:15

    Tim McGraw on failing on his own terms

    Tim McGraw discusses his flopped debut album, recording a follow-up on spec, his legal fight with Curb Records and his advice to take charge of one's career.

  5. 27:14

    Jessica Lahey's 'unpublishable' first book

    Jessica Lahey describes her editor's harsh verdict on The Gift of Failure and how she turned the feedback into a checklist that produced a bestseller.

  6. 31:36

    Dax Shepard and the failure of CHiPs

    Dax Shepard explains how losing his writer-director identity after CHiPs led to Armchair Expert and a better family life.

  7. 37:58

    Cathy Lanier's unlikely climb

    Cathy Lanier recounts teen pregnancy and marriage, passing her GED by one point, and joining the DC police for tuition reimbursement.

  8. 47:15

    Janna Levin: life is the obstacles

    Janna Levin explains her realization that there is no underlying smooth path and that obstacles should be navigated rather than resented.

  9. 54:24

    Boyd Varty on the tracker's mindset

    Boyd Varty explains tracking concepts like the first track and the following state and how they helped him heal from trauma.

Key points

What was said, by whom, with the exact words. Timestamps jump to the moment.

  • BJ Miller

    BJ Miller explains that a clutchless Aprilia Mana and a single combined brake lever made it possible for him to ride one-handed.

    “Aprilia makes a model, the Mana, M-A-N-A, that is clutchless”

    Listen from 3:21 · Prosthetics

  • Tim Ferriss

    Tim Ferriss challenges listeners to reconsider their excuses after hearing Miller's story.

    “what bullshit excuses do you have for not going after whatever it is that you want?”

    Listen from 4:26 · Failure and resilience

  • Terry Crews

    Terry Crews says missing the high-school shot taught him that success or failure should be on his own terms.

    “If I win or if I fail, it's going to be on my terms. It's going to be up to me”

    Listen from 8:11 · Reframing (psychology)

  • Terry Crews

    Crews notes that the game itself was unimportant but the lesson from it continues to guide him.

    “no one ever remembers that game. It's one of the least important things in my life. But the lesson I learned is still guiding me today”

    Listen from 9:24 · Failure and resilience

  • Terry Crews

    Crews argues that people get what they actually want, and that repeated lateness reveals a lack of real desire.

    “I discovered for a long time, if I show up late for something twice, I don't want it”

    Listen from 10:38 · Personal accountability

  • Tim McGraw

    Tim McGraw says he made his second album his own way, accepting that if it failed it would fail on his terms.

    “And if it fails, it fails on my terms this time. And luckily it worked”

    Listen from 18:48 · Not a Moment Too Soon

  • Tim McGraw

    McGraw says songs he was talked into against his instincts have never succeeded for him.

    “any time that I've let somebody else talk me into a song, whether it be a record label hit or somebody else, talk me into a song that I knew wasn't right for me, it's never worked”

    Listen from 19:03 · Personal accountability

  • Tim McGraw

    McGraw says Curb Records repeatedly released greatest-hits albums to extend his contract, prompting a legal battle.

    “they kept extending my contract by putting greatest hits albums out”

    Listen from 21:47 · Curb Records

  • Tim McGraw

    McGraw advises young artists that a long career requires taking ownership rather than coasting.

    “if you just coast you might have a career for a little while but if you want a long career you're going to have to take charge and ownership of it”

    Listen from 26:28 · Personal accountability

  • Jessica Lahey

    Jessica Lahey recounts that her editor declared her first draft of The Gift of Failure unpublishable.

    “what she said was this. It still makes me want to throw up. She said, this book is unpublishable”

    Listen from 28:41 · The Gift of Failure

  • Jessica Lahey

    Lahey attributes her later success not to talent but to humility in learning from criticism.

    “So it's not that I'm a great writer. It's that I was humble enough to say, teach me how to be better”

    Listen from 29:40 · Failure and resilience

  • Dax Shepard

    Shepard says he learns from others' failures rather than their victories, which shaped his podcast.

    “I say often on the podcast, I have nothing to learn from someone holding an Emmy over their head”

    Listen from 32:29 · Armchair Expert

  • Dax Shepard

    Dax Shepard says he had redefined himself as a writer-director before CHiPs failed and ended that identity.

    “I had a three-year stretch where, in my mind, I decided I wasn't an actor anymore. I was a writer-director”

    Listen from 32:43 · CHiPs (2017 film)

  • Dax Shepard

    Shepard says the TV role he reluctantly took on Parenthood turned out to be his best acting experience.

    “I reluctantly was on this show, Parenthood, because I was at a lull in my career. Best experience I've ever had as an actor”

    Listen from 36:21 · Failure and resilience

  • Cathy Lanier

    Cathy Lanier says she passed her GED by a single point.

    “Interestingly, you needed 255 to pass the test. I got 256”

    Listen from 43:37 · Teenage pregnancy

  • Cathy Lanier

    Lanier says she applied to the DC police after seeing a Washington Post ad highlighting tuition reimbursement.

    “I saw an ad in the Washington Post. for the Metropolitan Police Department. They were hiring”

    Listen from 45:51 · Metropolitan Police Department of the District of Columbia

  • Linked moment · 47:15Skip to 47:15 using a listen link in the info box.

    Janna Levin

    Janna Levin says her comfortable childhood had given her the false idea that life is good as long as you don't ruin it.

    “I had been sold because of my kind of comfy childhood, an idea that life is great and just don't screw it up”

    Listen from 48:22 · Failure and resilience

  • Janna Levin

    Levin argues that obstacles lose their power when one stops pushing against them and finds another route.

    “The boot actually has no power unless you insist on continually pushing against it”

    Listen from 53:25 · Reframing (psychology)

  • Boyd Varty

    Boyd Varty explains that trackers reduce infinite possibilities by focusing only on finding the next track.

    “all he needs is the next first track and then the next first track and then the next first track and the next first track”

    Listen from 56:07 · Animal tracking

  • Boyd Varty

    Varty says the first requirement for tracking, and for personal transformation, is becoming comfortable with not knowing.

    “the first thing that you will have to do if you want to go track a lion in the wild is you will have to become super uncomfortable with unknowns”

    Listen from 58:02 · The Lion Tracker's Guide to Life

People

In the conversation

  • Tim FerrissAmerican author, podcaster and investor, host of The Tim Ferriss Show
  • BJ MillerTriple amputee, palliative-care physician and cofounder of Mettle Health
  • Terry CrewsAmerican actor, television host and former NFL player
  • Tim McGrawGrammy-winning American country-music singer and actor
  • Jessica LaheyAmerican educator and author of The Gift of Failure
  • Dax ShepardAmerican actor and host of Armchair Expert; this label carries his show open and his 'robot' voice bit
  • Cathy LanierNFL chief security officer and former chief of the Washington, DC Metropolitan Police Department
  • Janna LevinTheoretical cosmologist and professor of physics and astronomy at Barnard College
  • Boyd VartySouth African lion tracker, wildlife activist and author of The Lion Tracker's Guide to Life

Discussed

  • Mert LawillFormer motorcycle racing champion who designed a prosthetic component for mounting an arm on handlebars
  • Byron GallimoreCountry music record producer and Tim McGraw's longtime studio partner
  • Scott BorchettaFounder of Big Machine Records, which signed Tim McGraw after his Curb Records dispute
  • Sam ElliottAmerican actor whose Landman monologue Tim McGraw quoted
  • Debbie MillmanGraphic designer cited by Ferriss for the mantra that busy is a decision
  • Martha BeckAuthor and life coach who became Boyd Varty's first mentor
  • Renias MhlongoLion tracker and mentor to Boyd Varty

Topics

More from The Tim Ferriss Show

From the publisher

This is a special episode about overcoming mistakes and failure. What do you do when your work is rejected, when the big bet fails, or when the path ahead suddenly disappears? As you’ll hear in this episode, setbacks can often present opportunities, if you know how to look for them. This episode is brought to you by: Helix Sleep premium mattresses: HelixSleep.com/Tim (20% off any purchase) Gusto simple and easy payroll, HR, and benefits platform used by 400,000+ businesses : Gusto.com/Tim Incogni, which removes your personal data from the web, helping shield you from fraud, scams, and identity theft: Incogni.com/Tim (use code TIM at checkout and get 60% off an annual plan) In this episode: BJ Miller, a triple amputee, on his years-long quest to ride a motorcycle. Terry Crews on missing a season-ending shot—and the mindset shift that stayed with him for life. Tim McGraw on his debut album flopping and betting his career on next steps. Jessica Lahey on being told her first book was “unpublishable” and turning brutal feedback into a New York Times bestseller. Dax Shepard on the collapse of an identity and career he thought he wanted—and the unexpected much better life it made possible. Cathy Lanier on becoming a teenage single mother, passing her GED by a single point, and beginning an unlikely climb. Janna Levin on the liberating realization that life is not a smooth path interrupted by obstacles—life is the obstacles. Boyd Varty on using the mindset of a lion tracker to move through uncertainty and the paralysis of not knowing what comes next. Dr. BJ Miller is a triple amputee, longtime palliative-care physician, cofounder of virtual palliative-care service Mettle Health, and coauthor of A Beginner’s Guide to the End . Terry Crews is an actor, artist, author, television host, and former NFL player best known as Terry Jeffords on the Emmy-nominated TV series Brooklyn Nine-Nine and as the longtime host of America’s Got Talent . Tim McGraw is a three-time Grammy-winnin…

Summary, chapters and key points were generated from the episode transcript on October 10, 2026. Quotes are checked word for word against the transcript.

Categories: Self-Improvement·Careers