Surfing is a sport that requires a lot of patience and skill to master. Legendary surfer Kelly Slater has already proven himself in the world of surfing by winning 11 World Surf League ( WSL ) championships. He also has 55 event titles in his name. Slater is also the youngest and oldest surfer to claim the WSL title. Currently, he is 50 years old, but he still has all his charisma in the sport.

Back in 2016, in an interview with Graham Bensinger, Kelly Slater revealed why he wanted success as a kid. He mainly talked about how strange the reasons for success can be. It also varies from person to person, according to the pro surfer.

The reason that made Kelly Slater thrive for success

Kelly Slater, in the interview, candidly analyzed the different kinds of motivation for success. For him, it was a different reason, and for others, it might have been different.

“Yeah there’s a lot of things around fame or success that I find I think if you look at people who are really successful a lot of times they’re doing it for strange reasons,” Slater said and continued, “And I’d include myself in that.” 

As per the pro surfer, every successful person on the planet has strange reasons to achieve it. This included himself too.

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“I think when I was young I really just wanted to be recognized or noticed or something you know it was like a sense of insecurity,” Slater said and continued, “I wanted to be good at something so that it would like cover up any of my own personal insecurities.” 

Young Slater wanted success so that he could cover up his insecurities. Slater didn’t have a smooth family life as his parents got divorced when he was young. His mother had to raise three boys, including Slater, which was hard on her. Because of their financial issues, he always dreamt of getting rich and famous. His mother’s hard work led Slater to get into surfing and become the best at it.

His relationship with his mother

Kelly Slater was raised by his mother, and even after he achieved success, she continued to mentor him. In the mid-90s, Slater mentioned that his mother was peering into his life.

While Slater was trying to figure out his life, his mother gave him some pretty strong opinions, which he didn’t like. He also realized that she was just trying to help him, but according to Slater, she crossed a line. He didn’t even talk to her for around six months. Their relationship suffered for a while there.

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Do you also have any motivation for success like Kelly Slater had? Let us know in the comment section.