In the contrast of illumination…
Ryan Holiday is the bestselling author of Trust Me, I’m Lying, The Obstacle Is The Way, Ego Is The Enemy, and other books about marketing, culture, and the human condition. His work has been translated into thirty languages and has appeared everywhere from the Columbia Journalism Review to Fast Company. His company, Brass Check, has advised companies such as Google, TASER, and Complex, as well as Grammy Award winning musicians and some of the biggest authors in the world. He lives in Austin, Texas.
I like your blog. I follow Tucker, and my own versions of Thompson and Aurelius (although I am keeping a list of the names you and he drop), as my inspirations in the same way.
I am only 20, and you are 19. I look at what you said about Tucker, about how he forces you to realize the time you’ve wasted, and am reminded of how I apply that same idea to my own life: “look at that guy, he’s XX and only just now getting his shit together…I’m glad I’m only 20 and am on the same track.”
But I can’t do that anymore. I started thinking that way at 17, and 18, then 19, but now at 20 I’ve been one-upped, by you. Now it’s, “look at this kid, he’s 19 and thinking about the same stuff I do at 20. I better catch up.”
But I know it’s like running. I know there’s no finish line to a leisurely run. But it’s inspiration. It’s, “wow, I was right; I really wasn’t the only one doing all this shit in my teens.” It’s just one thing to tell yourself that all the while, and another to finally see it. So thanks for that.
I know this is a year late, but I have to say that some of the thoughts you’ve voiced so far in this blog are surprisingly similar to what I think about everyday. Right now I’m 17, in a month 18, and there was nothing I wanted more than to live a life that had meaning.
Now when I say that I don’t mean that the worth I strive for is something that can be bestowed upon you by others. As in diplomas, job titles, fame; none of that is what I view as something that add true meaning to your life. Yet I see all of my friends strive for it, that recognition of being “better” than their peers through what titles they hold. Maybe this is why the most important thing to me right now is to analyze my life, and try to figure out what I truly want in it.
Now like everyone else here, I found meaning in tucker’s writings. To me they aren’t just funny stories about fucking, but rather a story about living your own life the way you want to live it.
I think too many people can say that, “well I do live my life the way I want,” without really thinking about it. Do you honestly want to work a job pushing papers and playing office politics 9-5 mondays to fridays?
For me, I don’t think I could handle that. If it wasn’t something I cared about, I don’t see how you could do that your entire life. I doubt that I have as much real life experience as these people, but I do know some of the things I want out of life. And I also know that they aren’t something to be expected, but rather earned.
So I’d like to thank Tucker, and now you, for validating my thoughts. I can’t wait to see what I make out of them.