What I learned while reading “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running”
Haruki Murakami is no stranger to fame. His books hit different. A very unique style, Kafka on the Shore is pretty famous, just to rejig your memory.
Some small lessons I picked up while reading “What I Talk About When I Talk About Running”. (4/5)
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“I stop every day right at the point where I feel can write more”
Save some energy in tank : Stop when you have the intent to do more, not when you are tired of the task. Let that energy cultivate more energy.
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“ In long distance running the only opponent you have to beat is yourself, the way you used to be.”
You are always competing against yourself. Every day is a race where you start with one goal, to be better than yesterday.
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Murakami was a bar owner, and an avid baseball fan. One fine day while watching the match Murakami realised he wants to be an author.
Moment of leisure is required. You might be surprised to know a lot of great thinkers had walking as a daily routine. Our brain primarily operates in two modes. Diffused and focus modes. Problem solving requires both. A lot of time you will hear yourself saying, “I got the solution when I woke up” or “I reached to a solution when I was driving” that is diffused mode in action.
Go for that walk in the park.Who knows where you land, next Murakami?
https://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/the-science-of-why-you-do-your-best-thinking-while-walking.html
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Lot of people advised Murakami to keep running the bar on the side lines, after all he had been running it for a decade and writing for 0 days
Full commitment. Reminds me of the story where the general burns the boat. There was only one way out, through.
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Murakami has been religiously following the routine for running and writing for 24 years
Discipline is the key and Prioritise yourself. Motivation is fickle, if you are slave to it you are slave to procrastination.
Murakami gets up at 5 sleep at 10, he has morning routines as well as night routines. Even at cost of maintaining relationship with people he keeps his routines.
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“having the kind of body that easily puts on weight is a blessing in disguise”
Murakami talks about his wife and him. She is blessed with a body which gains no weight but he does. He has to constantly keep working on it, which helps him stay fit and which enables him to write more.
Life is not fair. We all know that. But hardships builds pathways which were never there. It prepares you for the future. Embrace the hardships and go all in.
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How to become a better writer? How to become a better runner.
Just do it and keep doing it. There is no shortcut, day after day put in the work. Body follows the mind. Endurance is critical for all excellence.
Discipline is choosing between what you want now and what you want most — Abraham Lincoln
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The fact that I can still feel this way is a real accomplishment calling it miracle might be an exaggeration but I really do feel this way.
Gratitude. Realise how lucky you are, where you are. Be thankful for what you have. As you age you learn to be happy with what you have.
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With the fugu fish the tastiest part is the portion near the poison
Risk to reward ratio. You can’t keep doing the same thing and expect different results.
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No matter how slow I might Run I wasn’t about to walk. That was the rule break one of my rules once and I am bound to break many more.
Tiny holes sink big ships. Streak is very important and it is very easy to fall back to old ways.
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I am not a human I am a piece of machinery I don’t need to feel a thing just Forge on ahead.
You need a Mantra some people use music to kick into the work mode some people have habits with the perform like rituals before an activity
Hope you also got a few actionable pointers from this article. Do hit the clap button. See you in the next article.
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