I remember enjoying the show with my family on Friday nights. The show is a reality-TV competition that puts a group of strangers on a remote island where they need to survive and provide food, fire and shelter for themselves.

Every episode, contestants are progressively eliminated from the game until one ‘Sole Survivor’ remains and is awarded a million dollars.

‘Survivor’ is considered the first highly rated and profitable reality shows on broadcast TV and is included in Time Magazine’s list of the 100 greatest TV shows of all-time.

But what makes the show truly great is not just the concept, but also its iconic host – Jeff Probst.

Jeff Probst is the Emmy-award-winning longtime host of Survivor. His charismatic blend of warmth and witty personality makes him intensely likeable not just to viewers but also the contestants on the show.

Probst hosted all 39 seasons. His presence and catchphrases (“the tribe has spoken”) have become so integral to the show that you can’t imagine ‘Survivor’ without him.

In an interview with the Archive of American Television, Probst talks about how he was at a time before the show, when he was unemployed and down to his last buck.

At the time, Probst was an up-and-coming TV show host.

He was offered a lot of jobs to host hacky dating or game shows but he knew that he wasn’t going to be happy doing them.

But whenever he did get a big break – the studio would turn him down because he didn’t have a name. He was skilled, but like most rising prospects, he didn’t have the track record that would land him his big break.

So he spent a year waiting for an opportunity for something special… until he was down to only a few thousand in his bank account.

During a drive, he heard Mark Burnett, the creator of Survivor, talk about the concept of the show on the radio.

As he heard about it, all the lightbulbs flashed in his head.

It was the most brilliant idea for a show he’s ever heard.

Without delay, he pushes for his agent to set up a meeting with Mark Burnett and it happened.

Probst was the first candidate Burnett met with, and by the first meeting, he was undeniably ready to pounce on the job.

Before coming to the interview, he had prepared a treasure trove of ‘Survivor’ related anecdotes, stories, ideas and tropes that he could use to hook Burnett’s attention and show that he was ’The One’ for the job.

But it didn’t matter.

Burnett spent an hour and forty-five minutes just talking about the vision, before finally telling Probst…

“I don’t think you can handle it.”

Probst couldn’t believe what he just heard. His ears burned.

He was sitting with the man who could give him the opportunity of a lifetime and the same man outright discouraged him by telling him that he’s not the right fit.

Burnett’s reason was that the host – like the rest of the production crew – will not be babysitted during the filming of the show.

He might get bit by snakes.

He might starve or get dehydrated.

He might have rats crawl all over them as he sleeps in his tent.

But Probst was undeterred.

He grabbed his resume on the desk and ripped it apart in front of Burnett.

“This?… (referring to the resume) This is not me.”

“I’m not a studio guy. I’m a writer, I’ve been in therapy, I GET this show. I’m the guy!”

Burnett simply responded with a smile on his face and a handshake and said…

“It was nice to meet you.”

Probst was absolutely dumbfounded.

As he left the room, it seemed almost unbelievable that he got passed over for an opportunity that he knew in his heart of hearts that he was made for.

And he got left in the dark.

After that meeting with Burnett which he apparently ‘botched’, Probst told his other up-and-coming host friends about the show.

He was upset about not being given the job. In his mind, only two guys deserved to be the host of Survivor.

Him, or his friend Phil Keoghan (who would later go on to become the host of the equally successful show – ‘The Amazing Race’).

Months went by and no one called back.

So Probst took matters into his own hands.

He made a message in a bottle – like the ones in island castaway stories. Inside the bottle, he wrote mock newspaper articles with headlines that said:

‘Survivor Set a Season Viewing Record’.

‘Survivor Knocked Millionaire Off The Air’.

‘Survivor Made Executive Producer So Rich He Bought His Own Island’.

And below the headlines, the subtext would read: “And experts say some of the success goes to the very likeable but relatively unknown Jeff Probst”.

He sends the bottle message over to Mark Burnett and the studio.

Probst knew the gesture could potentially be seen as arrogant, cocky or try-hard… but he knew he had nothing to lose.

Three weeks later after he sent the bottle, he gets a callback.

The studio had shortlisted two people to become the host of ‘Survivor’. And Probst was one of the two.

The other guy was… Phil Keoghan.

A few weeks after the audition, Keoghan gets the job to be the host of ‘The Amazing Race’, and Probst becomes the host of ‘Survivor’.

The rest is history.

What Probst didn’t know was that Mark Burnett himself had ALSO done something similar to his ‘mock-up message in a bottle’ gesture.

When Burnett was pitching to CBS, he had drawn up a mock cover of Time Magazine and Newsweek that it was the ‘No.1 Show on Television’.

Probst was already on Burnett’s shortlist, but it was that ‘message in a bottle’ gesture that really made Burnett feel like Probst was the right guy for the job.

Today, Probst is also a producer on the show and is one of Burnett’s close friends.

Say Yes To Yourself First

The big takeaway for me for this story is: to say ‘YES’ to yourself first. 

If you don’t get a ‘yes’ the first time, that doesn’t mean you no longer have a shot at the opportunity you wanted.

This isn’t just a typical story about not giving up.

Not giving up is one thing, but to truly believe that you deserve and can have what you want – I think that’s way more valuable.

Before you can expect other people to hand you what you want, ask yourself: would I say ‘YES’ to me?

Do I truly deserve this opportunity?

Do I care more about this than someone equally qualified to do the job? 

Am I willing to play at 100% (or even 200%) to make sure I succeed at this? 

These are very valuable questions to ask whenever you are preparing to take up the ‘big breaks’ in your life.

Sometimes you get rejected on the first day of try-outs, and it sucks.

I’ve been there too.

But nobody will stop you from showing up to the field to play.

If you want to be in the game, you have to learn to make plays and moves most people won’t.

Like Jeff Probst, you might need to be a little creative. Or sometimes, all it takes is a little persistence and a second shot.

Remember, we miss 100% of the shots we don’t take. 

Play the odds in your favour – say ‘YES’ to yourself first, and let the world follow your lead.