2 types of People

I read Richard Hammond's piece on Nissan Juke (you can read it here) and this inspired me to come out and write about something which has been irritating me from a long time.

Yes ladies and gentlemen, this is a rant. I repeat, this is a rant.

Maybe it is just me. Or it is something people have been noticing from a long time, but not said anything about it.

It is indeed quite a cliche to say that the world is made of 2 types of people, but for broad strokes lets just say there are indeed 2 types.

One type is the one which will crack easily, tell them something which hits their insecure soul and *boom*. You can trigger a meltdown. These people, driven by their vanity, driven more by the urge of what people would say about them, do things to create an image for themselves.
These are the kind of people, who comment on each of your posts, asking you about gear, asking you questions about every single thing in your life as if they could replicate the equipment you use, they can be you.

These are the kind of people who post stuff of their Facebook walls, enticing sympathy for their lazy asses, giving excuses for not getting their workouts in, giving excuses to the extent of not knowing the "right kind of clothes for winter running".

These are the kind of people, who don't know Google exists(or they don't know how to do a Google Search). These are the kind of people, who would rather ask questions than make decisions.
These are the kind of people who will set great goals for themselves, and then sit down gathering information. And by the time, the last box is checked they come up with another excuse on not to reach their goal.

They want to do an Ironman, have 140.6 or "Ironman_XXXX" as their username on Instagram, but when it comes to doing things, they won't last for 140.6 seconds if there was pain.

Weak, ineffectual people who are nothing but image obsessed. Running just for all the wrong reasons : Running to appear strong, rather than being strong.

I don't have anything against someone celebrating their PB, but I do have something against whiny people who are listing excuses on why they couldn't achieve a goal they set for themselves years back.

Then there is the other type. The ones who do things not because what others will think of them. The ones who do things because they want their life's to amount to something. The ones who believe they want to define their achievements rather than their achievements defining them.

They don't really search for answers. Don't get me wrong, they do have knowledge. But they know that knowledge is just a part of it. A blueprint is fine, but someone has to go out there and build the house.

They don't make social media posts to say "Hey, look at me, I ran a 5k, Here are 50 pictures". If they do make social media posts to whine, they make them to celebrate their success. And even after that, it is a FAR way from their image. It is more of a statement.

It is sad that this world is social media obsessed. I should know, I had to enter it because I needed appear more "sellable" infront of sponsors. Sponsors who never showed up, because even though I can run a Mile 3 minutes faster than the other person who writes non sensical bullshit but "hey, they look nice!". ( On a side note, free gear is good but I don't think I want to be in that arena anymore. My dreams are my dreams and no brand manager is going to tell me how to "hashtag" them.)

I'll give a great example of People, who actually go out there and do it.

I have known Amandeep Singh since 2014. I met him at Nehru Park, during a training session. New to cycling, he just had done a 600k brevet, as a debut, on pure guts.
I got to know him better and better, I was lucky enough to mentor/coach him for his 1st 100k run and he has been my riding buddy so many times, including a 200k brevet which we ran through in under 7 hours.

2 weeks back, out of nowhere he messaged me "I want to run a 100 miler".
I said okay, let's target something in December and do it.
He said "No, I want to do it in April, I just want to know what risks it will have as I want to be prepared"

I was pretty scared for him. 100 miles aren't easy, and even though he has a good base as an Ultra distance cyclist, running for that distance can have dire consequences.

I listed the risks out to him(even scolded him for a training run he did) and told him just 1 thing: "If you do go for it, then just finish it. If you have committed, follow through"

It took him 33 hours and 33 minutes, and despite my tips on avoiding blisters the bugger got blisters, but HE FINISHED.

He ran 100 miles, in 33 hours and 33 minutes, on hardly any specific training(don't get me wrong, he has a strong base) and he did it in 2 weeks after thinking about it.

He didn't sit around, waiting for answers. He didn't sit around, adding layers and complications to his dream. He didn't sit around wallowing, making sad Facebook posts trying to gain sympathy(I learnt about his state of mind post race).

HE MADE HIS DREAM HAPPEN.

You know why? Because he didn't run to show to the world that he is strong. He ran to prove to himself and that's what he ended up doing.

I don't mentor/coach too many people, I don't call too many people my friends.

The ones I do, they have this small trait in common. They have a big dream and they are willing to work for that dream and to make it happen.

There indeed are 2 types of people in the world :
Motivated : Ones who have the dream for Social Media (well they are motivated by the desire to boost their image)

And

Beyond motivated: Ones who a dream in Real life.

And the ones who do have a dream in real life, they don't wallow or sit around asking questions. They always make things happen. Because if your dreams really, actually mean something to you, you won't give up on them. When they mean something to you, you don't sit on social media, you are out there doing stuff.

And that's the way it is supposed to be.