You won't believe this...😲
Alright - this one goes out to all the over-achievers out there…
This week, I went for a run as part of my Ironman training. Nothing special about that (patting myself on the back).
Of course, like any self-respecting time optimizer, there was no way I was going to run for a WHOLE HOUR without some intellectual FOMO-inducing talk between two people who make me feel distinctively inadequate about my life. Naturellement.
So I picked Rich Roll, the vegan ultra-endurance podcaster who ran 5 Ironman in 5 days to accompany me. Who else.
Rich has had some pretty eclectic people on his podcast, but that day, his guest was Harvey Lewis, a school teacher.
Now, Harvey Lewis isn’t just your average 9 to 5 school teacher.
No, in his spare time, Harvey runs.
Like, a lot.
In fact, he just ran 354 miles… in one go.
That’s right.
He didn’t run a marathon. Or an ultra-marathon.
Of course not, why would you make it easy on yourself.
No, he ran 354 MILES (570 kilometers for my fellow 🇪🇺) WITHOUT INTERRUPTION.
He didn’t sleep. He just ran. For three days straight.
Here I was, thinking I was a badass for clocking an 8km run on a Tuesday lunch break. Damn, Harvey.
Ok - so why am I telling you this?
First of all, because it’s downright amazing. He ran from (almost) San Francisco to Los Angeles. From Madrid to Barcelona. Just like that (though in reality, he ran a 4-mile loop continuously for 3 days).
But what’s really interesting is that Harvey talks in-depth about how beyond a certain point, the run isn’t physical.
It’s mental.
It’s about learning to control your mind, to stretch it beyond what you previously thought was possible.
In fact, he spent an entire year just training his mind, which took him from 280 miles (pff, what a beginner) to 354 miles (now we’re talking).
The whole podcast was FASCINATING. It was a deep dive into consistency, mental training, and plants. Go figure - Harvey’s a vegan! 🌱
I love stories like these because they make you go “DAMN I didn’t know that was even possible!!”
But I also love them because they illustrate why stretch goals are so important - goals that fundamentally FORCE you to re-think HOW you approach getting what you want, but also WHAT you want.
Would you do things differently if you believed you could 10X your income by simply changing your approach? Or run to freaking China?
I wonder.
We, brave humans, tend to think linearly. Like “this year I’m gonna increase my income by 10%”- kind of linear. But we forget that the massive gains don’t come from going from 1 to 1.1 - they come from going from 0 to 1.
That’s why I’m doing the challenge of turning $100K to $1M this year. It forces me to totally re-think how I invest and learn a ton of new stuff.
So far, I’ll admit it’s going the way the market is going. Meh.
BUT I can confidently tell you I’ve plowed all the funds into DeFi Kingdoms, in my opinion, the most interesting crypto project in the world right now.
In the process, my content’s taken off (more on this next time) and I’ve learned more about DeFi in the last month than I have in the last 4 years combined.
I can now take $100K (or $10, $1,000, or $100 million), make an angel investment-like bet with 50X upside… and also earn 1% daily interest on that investment.
I love it.
So although I don’t plan to run 384 miles THIS YEAR (just because I’m busy, why else? piece of cake), I do want to continue to lean into curiosities and stretch.
This is the most fun I’ve had in years.
And when the market turns to the upside, a lot of good things can happen.
So this time, I’d love to hear from you. If you’re doing things, stretching - let me know.
I love to be inspired.
I’ve posted some links below I think you might enjoy.
Wishing you all a fantastic February.
Much love,
Alex.
P.S. Rich Roll is probably my favorite podcaster out there, together with Andrew Huberman and Tim Ferriss. Rich hosted my favorite podcast episode of all time, with the amazing Yuval Noah Harari, which you can find here:
And you can find the episode with the bad-ass Harvey Lewis right here:
P.P.S: I also just bought every book by Cal Newport, who was recently on the Tim Ferriss podcast. If you enjoy digital minimalism and living a deeper, slower life, I think you’ll enjoy this (and read his books- they’re 👌)