#357 Haruki Murakami

What I learned from reading What I Talk About When I Talk About Running: A Memoir by Haruki Murakami.  ---- Founders Notes gives you the superpower to learn from history's greatest entrepreneurs on demand. You can search all my notes and highlights from every book I've ever read for the podcast.  Get access to Founders Notes here.  ---- Build relationships with other founders, investors, and executives at a Founders Event ---- (3:01) No matter how mundane some action might appear, keep at it long enough and it becomes a contemplative, even meditative act. (4:00) Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. (4:00) The hurt part is an unavoidable reality, but whether or not you can stand anymore is up to the runner himself. (10:00) You can't fake passion — someone else, that really loves the job, will out run you. Somebody else sitting in some other MBA program has a deep passion for whatever career path you're going down, and they are going to smoke you if you don't have it yourself.  — Runnin' Down a Dream: How to Succeed and Thrive in a Career You Love  (12:00) What’s crucial is whether your writing attains the standards you’ve set for yourself. Failure to reach that bar is not something you can easily explain away. (14:00) Big ideas come from the unconscious. This is true in art, in science and in advertising. But your unconscious has to be well informed, or your idea will be irrelevant. Stuff your conscious mind with information, then unhook your rational thought process. You can help this process by going for a long walk, or taking a hot bath, or drinking half a pint of claret. Suddenly, if the telephone line from your unconscious is open, a big idea wells up within you.  — David Ogilvy (16:00) If you absolutely can't tolerate critics, then don't do anything new or interesting. — Jeff Bezos (16:00) So the fact that I’m me and no one else is one of my greatest assets. (19:00) Failure was not an option. I had to give it everything I had. (19:00) My only strength has