Bad psychoanalysis would say I enjoyed pleasing people, working really hard and pleasing people, which is probably related to my father in some way. But I really liked working hard. When I worked at Disneyland, I’d do 12 hours straight and go home thrilled.

Martin contrasts a reductive, pop-psychological explanation—people-pleasing as a symptom of paternal dynamics—with his own lived account of intrinsic motivation. The line “Bad psychoanalysis” signals skepticism toward tidy causal stories that turn ambition into pathology. By recalling his teenage/early working years at Disneyland, he frames hard work and performance as sources of genuine exhilaration rather than mere approval-seeking. The quote also fits Martin’s broader self-mythology: disciplined craft, long hours, and an almost athletic commitment to entertaining others, presented as joyfully chosen rather than compulsively driven.