“This is my story, to the best of my recollection. I’ll start at the beginning—full of dreams but stuck and making no progress—and show you how I’ve reached those dreams… So if you’re like me and you feel broken because no matter how much you want to pursue your dreams, you just can’t ever seem to get there, this is the book for you.
I’ve come to believe two simple principles about achieving success in creative pursuits.
1. Every single problem is fixable.
There is nothing unique about your brokenness. No matter how or why you are broken, there is a way to overcome it.
2. Success is inevitable if you keep moving.
The only thing that matters is that you keep going. The only way to truly fail at a marathon is to stop taking the next step. Sometimes you’re running, sometimes you’re walking, and sometimes you’re crawling. It doesn’t matter. If you’re moving forward, you will succeed. …
For now, your only job is to commit to going on this journey with me and to keep moving forward. I’m going to ask you to do some hard, uncomfortable, and, occasionally, weird things, but if you do them, you can beat Resistance and achieve your dreams.”
~ Tim Grahl from Running Down a Dream
I read this book in the same week that I read Steven Pressfield’s The Artist’s Journey and Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t. Steve’s publishing company (Black Irish Entertainment) actually published it—which explains why the cover looks like one of his books.
The iconic image gracing its cover? Running shoes.
Want to run down your dream? Fantastic. Lace up your shoes and get to work.
Our guide for the journey? Tim Grahl. Tim is one of the world’s leading book-launch marketing gurus. He’s worked with some of the best in the world—including Steve, Dan Pink and Charles Duhigg. To put it in perspective: At one point, his clients held FIVE spots on the New York Times bestseller lists. (To be clear: That’s REALLY (!!) hard to do. Like, almost impossible.)
But get this: That week when he achieved the pinnacle of success? He was miserable.
And this book is his inspiring, super-vulnerable story of how he moved through many dark nights of the soul as he ran down his dream—to not only create a business and body of work that he’s proud of but, much more importantly, a LIFE of sustainable meaning and mojo and joy.
If you’ve been looking for a “Road Map to Winning Creative Battles” and appreciate someone being willing to shine a light on the scary stuff, I think you’ll dig it. (Get a copy of the book here.)
It’s written in a similar pithy, micro-chapter style that makes Steve’s books so great. And, of course, it’s packed with Big Ideas and I’m excited to share some of my favorite wisdom we can apply to our lives TODAY so let’s jump straight in!
P.S. The book is named after one of Tom Petty’s classic songs: Running Down a Dream. I was a big Tom Petty fan in high school and I just had fun listening to the song and watching the video on YouTube. Pretty epic hero’s journey with all the requisite ups and downs. Check it out here.
Unlock this PhilosophersNote (and over 600 more) for free!
The Optimize membership used to be $100/year. It’s now free. No credit card required. No strings attached. Just more wisdom in less time.
