You can’t win at life

You can’t win at life.

Trust me - I’ve tried.

In school you can’t avoid competition.

In sport, it’s the whole point.

So as someone who loved school and played a lot of sport

it’s maybe no surprise

that when I set my sights on breaking into the theatre industry

I leant heavily on my will to win.

I persevered despite 57 rejected assistant director applications.

I found team-mates whose strengths my own could compliment so we were stronger together.

I drove 10 years of growth at Paines Plough in large part driven by wanting to be the best new writing touring company in the world.

I owe a lot to comparison, collaboration and competitiveness.

But you can’t win at life.

And the one thing we need more than to climb above others is for them to catch us when we fall.

Ultimately, you can’t beat them.

The sooner you realise that

the sooner you can join them.