The Joy Of Fulfilling Promises to Yourself

I’ve been running a lot lately, and it sucks.

I’m out of shape, I’m slow (11:00 minutes/miles), it’s 95 degrees in Peak Sweaty Balls Houston Humidity, and I don’t see a near-term end game.

It’s just suffering.

After every run I post to my personal Instagram a pic of the run and my time.

A friend recently commented on a run, “You have a particular fitness goal you're working towards?”

I could run to try and lose weight. If this body at age 33 is my peak physical form then I’m totally screwed for the rest of my life.

I could also be running for a charity, or to support a sick friend, or any number of other wholesome & practical reasons.

But what I told my friend instead was “each run is its own reward.”

The point isn’t to suffer so I can achieve some other arbitrary goal in the future. Or to pass some mental goalpost I’ve set where “I’ll be happy when I have fill in the blank here.”

Overcoming all the pain & the suffering & the struggle... that’s the point.

To say “I did it”. To tell myself I’m going to do something, and then to keep that promise to myself and do it.

The personal satisfaction that one gains from keeping personal promises is reward enough.

The Links

Unless I hear Differently (single-purpose website)

Practical tactic for creating a bias towards action in work and other groups.

The Most Important Question of Your Life (markmanson.net, article)

Hint: it’s not “what are you passionate about”, or “what do you want in life”.

The Courage to be Disliked (amazon, book)

A Japanese book that uses Socratic dialogue to teach a combination of Adlerian psychology and Stoic philosophy. Easy read that will challenge your assumptions about why you do things.

1776 (amazon, book)

Another David McCullough classic, about the 1st year of the American Revolutionary War. Almost done with this for the 2nd time. I’m always amazed by how horrible things were going for the colonies. I still say America is the most successful startup of all time.