I've done this…

No, I haven't run a sub-4 minute mile 🙂

But I have done what the kid in this story did.

The first high school kid ever to run a mile under 4 minutes was a guy from Kansas named Jim Ryun.

There was a kid, a very good runner, who wanted to become the next Jim Ryun.

He wanted to become the second American high schooler to run the mile in under 4 minutes.

Early in the summer after Ryun ran that first sub-4 minute mile, he wrote to Ryun’s coach.

Yes, people used to write letters. Now they just ask on Facebook!

He said, “You know, I’m going to high school here, and I hope to do this and dah, dah, dah, dah, dah.

“Could you give me some advice on how I should train?”

Imagine the young boy's reaction when he got the mail one day.

This kid had a huge envelope — Jim Ryun’s coach sent all Ryun’s workouts leading up to the sub-4 minute mile.

He gave him all the workouts.

He gave him the grail, the Holy Grail.

That’s the good news.

The bad news is that kid spent the rest of the summer reading the workouts. He never did the workouts.

Ever enroll in an online class and never attend even a single session? Buy an ebook that you never opened?

Yeah, me too.

It's such a waste.

Not just a waste of money.

But a waste of energy.

Remember how you felt when you whipped out your credit card and paid for it?

“Man, this is going to put me over the top!” or something like that.

Am I right?

You got excited. Like you just got a shot of your favorite drug. You got a shot of dopamine.

And it felt good, didn't it?

Well, STOP that shit, okay? You're not a drug addict. Stop acting like you are.

RULE (repeat after me): “I will not buy anything unless I can give it my full, undivided attention, for as long as it takes me to consume it and implement it.”

You with me?

Don't be that kid.