Do The Stupid Thing Now Before You Say “It’s Impossible”

You’ll never know until you try

Felix Baumgartner's skydive from the edge of space

In 2020, I went from 0 to 60.

Or, rather, 30.

Three years ago I was a couch potato. Then after months of training, I became an ultramarathoner by running 30 miles straight — no stopping.

We started at my parent's house in Hackensack, New Jersey, ran across the George Washington Bridge through the entire island of Manhattan, and finally finished by diving into Coney Island’s cold, soapy water.

It was the best experience of my life. My friends filmed it. I wrote an eBook in anticipation of it. I stepped into a new world. Then I stopped.

I became a loser, again.

Running was, and still is one of my greatest fears

I hate running.

I've never asked how other runners feel about it — I'm sure some of them like it and probably get high off it like an addict getting dopamine. But I don't.

So why do it?

Because I like the feeling of having run.

It's like writing in that sense; Hunter S. Thompson once said, "Writing is the flip side of sex - it's good only when it's over."

I saw myself diving into the waters of Coney Island after running 30 miles straight. I saw the purest happiness I would ever experience. I had to take myself out of my body and say: “This is what we do now — we run, we suffer.”

I ran 30 miles because I thought it would be funny. No one thought I would become this person. Hell, I never thought I would become this person. It was fun for a while — and then, two weeks after that run, I got a knee injury.

It sucked.

It hurt.

And I felt like a fucking loser again.

That's the thing about goals: As soon as you accomplish them, that's it. The high wears off, and suddenly, you're back to square one. Lost like a balloon released to the sky.

Well, here's the thing: I regret nothing.

I don’t want to see some version of me where I didn't run, where I stayed on the couch eating chips and watching movies. That's why I say "Do the stupid thing now before you say 'It's impossible." Front-load. You may not live to be old, but what if you do? I do crazy things now so that when I'm older ( if I make it till then), I can look back and tell a wild story.

The window of opportunity is always closing.

To use another Hunter-ism, "A man who procrastinates in his CHOOSING will inevitably have his choice made for him by circumstance."

Just fail. Chase a dream. Chase a lifestyle. It's better than regret. And it doesn't have to be running; it can be art, hobbies, anything. "The fool is the precursor to the savior."

I still dream of doing stand-up comedy out here in New York but have let fear stop that goal for years. That said, I've gone up on stage, I've tried (successfully and unsuccessfully), and I'm going to keep trying — and that's what matters.

What's Next and “don't kill em with kindness, torture em with success"

I lied.

In part.

I'm running again. I finished a 10k two weeks ago and qualified for the Brooklyn Half Marathon and New York City Marathon later this year.

The knee injury was a bump in the road, but it didn't stop me from pushing myself and trying again. It's a crazy thing, but suffering can have a purpose.

One motivational epiphany I had this year is to tell myself that when it comes to doing any task, this moment might be the most opportune time to do so for reasons I can't predict. In an extreme scenario, I might be blind, immobilized, severely injured, or grieving within the next few days or weeks.

It's an optimistically dark outlook, but it does help me shake off life's complacency and get moving. I see this philosophy as an anxiety panacea, as I'm often defeating questions like:

• “You should stop, you’re going to hurt or embarrass yourself.”

• “You should wait, this isn’t the right time or place.”

• “Ok, you can’t run anymore, it’s impossible, you can’t do it...”

Anyway, I didn't mean for this article to come off as some Gary Vee self-help guru new-age crap, but it is how I'm looking at life now.

Think about your dreams. Think about how great you will feel when you accomplish them — when you finally jump into that water after running 30 miles. Imagine that moment when you overcame all the haters and self-doubt.

Do the stupid thing now before you say “It’s impossible”—whatever that might be.