Stop Talking, and Start Walking - December 24, 2007

For the last year to the day, I've run in the same pair of shoes. I think they cost something like 50 dollars. They've done close to a thousand miles. Holes showed up in the toes almost 4 months ago. The bottoms have long been worn smooth. They've been chewed on by four different dogs and pissed on by at least one them. Every week since June, they took the train from Los Angeles to Riverside. God knows how many times I threw them in a rage because they were the closest thing to pick up. All I know is that my walls have plenty of skidmarks. I soaked them in the rain and 100 degree heat. I have been known to purposely run through puddles. They've never been washed and they've definitely never been "put away nicely." And my feet feel just fucking fine.

Running is a multi-billion dollar industry. This is despite it being the most basic sport in existence. People have fancy heart monitors, energy goo, gym memberships and fucking special running socks. They use two hundred dollar shoes. All of this because it's a buffer between getting down and dirty and hitting the road. That's the masturbation that Tyler Durden was talking about. Self-destruction...

I'm not the best at a lot of things. Most of the time, the stuff people talk about makes my head spin and I get confused pretty easily. But I make due with what I've got. Arguably, I'm doing a better job than most. I meant to get new shoes a long time ago but mainly I was too busy running to get around to it. I probably would have kept going for a lot longer, getting everything out of what I had available, if someone else hadn't gotten me a new pair. And really, that's reason I've got three separate jobs that Ivy League grads have gone out for and been passed over or why I've got a better Alexa rank than thousands of bloggers with more of a right to an audience than I.

For the next year, stop thinking about all the stuff you need before you can start and just act. It doesn't matter that you smoke or you don't have the right shoes or that you're tired or you've got too much school work. If you wanted it to happen, it would happen. Being smart or talented or having the right equipment--none of that is all that rare. But to get up do a thousand miles or punched in the face or write a hundred pages or strike a deal or read a book or make a phone call without anyone telling you to? That's almost unheard of. So stop preparing and start working, stop talking and start walking.

Posted by ryanholiday at 2:08 PM

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Surely there are those of us who feel you are speaking right to our faces. Preach on, brotha.

Posted by: Joseph at December 24, 2007 03:58 PM

"I probably would have kept going too if someone else hadn't gotten me a new pair. And really, that's the only reason I'm holding down three separate jobs that Ivy League grads have gone out for and been passed over or why I've got a better Alexa rank than thousands of bloggers with more of a right to an audience than I."

Do you mean to say you have these three jobs and your high Alexa rank due to somebody giving them to you? I'm sure you don't, but this paragraph is worded to suggest it.

Posted by: BlackHole at December 24, 2007 04:15 PM

Fixed. Good catch.

Posted by: Ryan Holiday at December 24, 2007 06:14 PM

"It doesn't matter that you smoke or you don't have the right shoes "

Too true. The day I quit smoking I grabbed my Adidas that were beat on for two years and ran four miles. I was physically destroyed but I scarcely felt better.

Posted by: Derek Kreindler at December 24, 2007 08:23 PM

This is the sort of thing I've been thinking a lot about lately, and you put it into words nicely.

Thanks.

Posted by: Alex at December 24, 2007 11:59 PM

Hear hear!

Posted by: Rat Fink at December 25, 2007 12:23 AM

Oooh, I smell new year-resolutions.
Those are only good for breaking.
....but then again; resolutions are merely words.

You've hit yet another gem that everyone knows, somewhere in their head, yet manages to forget all the same: "Don't talk the talk, but walk the walk."
Thanks for what once again, functions for me as a motivational speech.

--Shoes

Posted by: Newshoes at December 25, 2007 08:59 AM

Blackhole, he means that the fact that he WOULD HAVE KEPT GOING means that he is able to.. etc.

Posted by: Soren at December 25, 2007 11:31 AM

Nice post. I'm too lazy though. ha

Posted by: Sammy at December 25, 2007 08:46 PM

boring

Posted by: jim at December 26, 2007 08:54 AM

This might be my favorite post of yours, (possibly tied with the running post that showed up a few days after the relaunch). Really great stuff.

Posted by: Daniel at December 26, 2007 09:00 AM

That's really inspirational and insightful, as other people have said, but overrunning the gel in your shoes is a quick way to get shin splints and other fun things.

Posted by: tienigami at December 27, 2007 04:28 PM

At 20 you can do things to your body now, and not feel it, than you will be able to in 15 years.

However, if you continue to run in worn-down shoes, your joints will not allow you to run in 10 years.

Hollywood is filled with plenty of Ivy Leaguers holding down three waitering jobs while taking their shot at the entertainment industry. Having three part time jobs certainly doesn't mean that you've accomplished anything.

How much does that Alexa ranking outside the top 100k (or 50k, or 10k) pay again?

Sorry to be such a dick, but hubris is annoying when there isn't anything there to back it up.

Posted by: MDO at December 31, 2007 02:22 PM

Generally directed at MDO:

I am completely amazed at the amount of people that completely miss the point of shit like this. I just don't get it. I mean, honestly - especially with your Alexa rank comment - do you really think that observing that it doesn't directly benefit him financially is anything even approaching a response? Have you paid attention AT ALL? I apologize if I'm over-dramatizing here. Violentacres' post left a rather bitter taste.

Posted by: Soren at January 26, 2008 07:17 PM