#striding edge

Day 8

Contrary to popular belief, drizzle is an amazing weather to run in. When it’s cold it can be a slightly different story, but if the temperature is playing ball then allowing yourself to get soaked on a soggy and wet 8 mile run is an invigorating way to start the day! Whilst treading along the river this morning, I had an idea about how I can decipher all my interests across my YouTube channel.

The goal is to create and upload weekly videos; some of these videos will be music/song based: #SongChallenge videos, some of these videos will surround my athletic endeavors: #AthleticChallenge, and the others will hopefully resemble travel style/adventure vlogs: #TravelChallenge. How does that sound? The whole point surrounding this is that I upload more of the content that I create. I want a good reason to put it into the public domain and not let it fester deep on my computer hard drive as I have been doing for so long. “What is a product if nobody knows about it?”

(The video from yesterdays post.)

As for today’s post - in my Steal Like An Artist logbook, the task was to steal a book title and write your own story under that title. I went on bookdepository.com and looked up the best sellers; it came up with a non-fiction book called 21 Lessons for the 21st Century. My best interpretation of that title was to list lessons I feel are useful in modern life. The result concluded that 21 lessons were too many. The list I wrote out ended up being 7 lessons but I have decided in light of it being day 8 of the daily blog, that I shall write 8.

So, without any more delay, here are 8 lessons for Modern Living:

1.    Socialising online is a lonely place. No matter how realistic the virtual world gets, nothing beats a real interaction. I would go as far to say that even a negative interaction is better done in real life – it’s no shock that arguments are often much easier to settle in real life. Meet up with your friends, limit texting and messaging and make the undivided time for family. Real life is always better.

2.    Learn to be excited about the moment. Modern living means we are constantly thinking about the future, planning our next move and figuring out later days. It’s easy to get excited about future plans but remember that once upon a time, past you was planning the present and might have even been getting excited about it. I always try to get excited about there here and now, even if its excitement over my coffee as I drink it. The best comparison is that to running a race; you look forward to that finish line but if you don’t take in the moment then it’s over and done before you’ve had a chance to realise what it is you’re going through.

(my morning espresso)

3.    Have set times for your phone and emails. I read a really sad obituary once about a CEO who died of cancer. Not the cheeriest of subjects to go over, but within it was an anecdote about how much regret went into prioritizing emails and texts instead of being in the moment. Not giving conversations with loved ones undivided and full attention, and instead having your head buried in what seems like the most important text or email, could end up being your biggest regret when it comes to your death bed. Keep that in mind.

4.    Do something for long enough and you’ll get good at it. This is something I have to remind learners all the time. In a world where instant gratification is becoming the norm, people seem to be forgetting that to be good at something or to have attained something good, you have to put lots of time and effort into it. Human beings love the idea of a quick fix; it’s why all marketing is based around the ‘get rich quick’ schemes or ‘6 pack abs in 2 weeks’ diets. Its bullshit. If you want something then prepare to be at it for a while. It’s the same with learning; you can’t just turn up in France and expect to know fluent French.

(Running takes time to get good at - do it for long enough and you addicted just like me.)

5.    Ask people for help, and help them back.   This concept is so obvious and you’d think it silly for being on my list. However, the age of the internet means we can help ourselves out most of the time by just googling problems, watching how-to YouTube videos or asking a computer for advice. The problem? It is never reciprocated online. If you help out a human being, seeing that they aren’t somewhat of an a***hole, then they’ll help you back. It might be easier to look online but (refer to lesson 1) you’ll miss out on all the human interaction and emotions that go with receiving and reciprocating help. “It’s who you know, not what you know.”

6.    Go on the holiday. So, you want to travel and there’s a weekend free but you just ‘can’t get around to booking it’. Suddenly it’s that weekend and you’re wondering why on earth you’re sat at home spending money online that could have been that fine authentic Italian cuisine in Napoli (or wherever it is you’re thinking of going). You always wish you’d gone on the holiday, rarely do you regret going once you’re there. Go on the holiday. A time out of the normal routine will always be more memorable.

(Me up Helvellyn, along striding edge, on June 9th - I remember because I was there. I don’t remember June 15th, I was probably at work...)  

7.    Move more than you don’t. This is easily said as a runner and somebody who finds it hard to sit still. Though, even on a long run day where I’ve churned out 13 miles, done a full-on strength session and rode my bike to and from the shop – I still make sure I get up and walk around every 30 minutes or so. Movement keeps the blood flowing, which in turn gives you energy and that helps you think, work and generally function better. It’s so simple to do - you stand up and walk about. The disruption also helps stop you from going into mindless internet browsing and getting lost in the virtual abyss.

8.    Lists of 8 are better than 21. Imagine if I’d written 21 of these… I don’t think either one of us would have been able to carry on.

This was written straight from my log book with minor edits. There’s other lessons I could have added or perhaps swapped out, but I thought it would be more authentic to just write them as they formed in my mind.