BEING AWESOME

Literally - however, the analogy goes a long way beyond the words itself. And once again these are words uttered by Will Smith (a guy with a solid mentality).

Why Running? Well, running is one of the most exhausting activities we can do. When you're running you push yourself to continue even when your body is hurting. It doesn't matter if you are a great runner or a beginner, it's the same for all of us. Running is more of a mental challenge than anything else, in fact, the body is capable of running for days on end (with a continuous supply of water). The mind however, is more likely to fail long before the body will, which is why running is such a great tool for conditioning the psyche to keep on going when the going gets tough. You train your mentality and realize that you are stronger than you might imagine. The lessons you learn on the track will serve you well in the rest of your life, you will realize that you can always keep on pushing, even when you got the weight of the world on top of your shoulders. Running is also a great form of exercise that is very natural for us humans, and doesn't require us to get an expensive gym membership that we'll end up not using. It's great for our health, short-term (weight loss/no weight gain) and long-term (cardiovascular health and so forth), and a 30 minute run has been scientifically proven to improve our mood and overall mental fitness as well.

Why Reading? There is a not a problem in the world that you might experience that someone else has not already dealt with and written in a book. There is so much valuable knowledge available in books and on the internet that it is an invaluable key to solving any problem you might come across. Now books wont always get you all the way, you have to apply the knowledge you have in your head or it wont serve you. But before you can do something you have to know what to do. There are books for everyone and about anything – just like iPhone apps. And not only will reading educate you, but it will make you more proficient and skilled with languages and in speaking them.

As you see, a pair of running shoes and a good book will get you a long way. However the value in running & reading is not so much the acts itself, but what we can learn from them. Now grab a book, your running shoes and go solve your problems – or read about them and break a sweat. Either way, you can't go wrong.

Please comment with your thoughts and feedback!

Thanks,

- Philip