This video reminded me of why I started running. I have set a goal to run a full marathon under 4:00 hours by 2025. This is in consultation with my running coach who said 2025 is doable. Yeps, there is some logic to this madness.
As Casey Neistat says
“You do a lot of meaningless, purposeless, stupid things. You get obsessed. You spend years focused on it. And literally, no one cares but you. But you persevere anyway and you keep running. Because when you add up all those stupid, meaningless obsessions, what they add up to is your life”
Casey has been chasing the goal of running a full marathon under 3 hours for 17 years. He finished the race at 3 hours and 1 minute when he attempted last year at New York and this is what he said
“It’s just an arbitrary number. I don’t need to break three hours to know who I am. What matters are the experiences. The journey. Even if I failed in the goal, see, life’s a battle, and there are times when you need to accept that you’ve been beat. ”It’s been a long road, and there’s a lot to be proud of. But I’m never going to break three. I’m just not that guy”
he pauses, and then says: “Oh, F*CK THAT.”
17 years is a very long time by any yardstick. This is why we need to have a goal and work towards it. We can also call it a dream or an ambition. Most don’t set this goal as they are afraid of failure, are not disciplined, lack motivation, and are not focused.
Behind any of these reasons, is a mask of conformity. Most of our lives are governed by society, on how we should live our lives, what we should do, where we should go, what we should think, how we should think, whom we should listen to, which friends we need to keep, and what we should say. It starts early in school and is reinforced as we move to corporates. School or corporate teaches you, only conformity. If you conform to these institutions .you are rewarded; if you don’t you are reprimanded. The moment you remove the mask, a whole new world awaits us. Running here is a ‘metaphor’ and I see this applicable to everything in my daily life.
I would love to know what are your crazy goals.
PS. It is an ideal day for me to be reminded of it as it happens to be my birthday. Please send chocolates and NO empty wishes.
** The title of this post is borrowed from Joseph Campbell who is a huge inspiration for me