How to Sleep in a Thousand Star Hotel

From the desk of Elijah “The Realist”
Subj: A sermon from the mountaintop

I tell you boy, my poor little feet used to hurt if I stood or walked too long.

If I was in the shower for ten minutes they’d start to hurt.

If I had to walk around the city for an hour I’d spend the rest of the night on the couch.

If the walk was 10 minutes, I just wouldn’t even make the walk.

I’d take a motorbike or a taxi literally EVERYWHERE that I went.

My poor little feet simply hurt too much.

I was a REAL damn weakling because of my feet.

So you know what I finally did to REALLY actually toughen up?

I went to Bishkek and started walking for five hours per day.

Every single day.

Anywhere I needed to go, I walked there.

I took no taxi, no motorbike, no bus, no bicycle.

Nothing but my own two feet and a pair of hiking boots.

I walked everywhere.

And you know what happened?

My feet toughened up.

They got used to the pain of simply walking.

Before I toughened my feet up, I’d get maybe 45 minutes walking time before my feet would instantly start hurting.

Soon it was 2 hours until they hurt, then 3 hours, then more.

When I’d walk 5 hours a day they hurt, boy, that’s for sure.

Instead of resting when my feet hurt, I kept on walking.

At first it’s painful, but remember that pain is only temporary.

Soon you toughen up and realize that the real pain only starts after you STOP walking and START resting.

If you just KEEP going, then the pain will usually go away.

But if you STOP and rest for TOO LONG, woo, the pain comes back for real.

So I just decided NOT to ever stop.

After I toughened my feet up, I rented a Jeep and went to the mountains so we could sleep under a thousand stars, instead of sleeping in a 4 star luxury jail cell called a hotel.

We were driving out on some hard mountain road outside of Karakol, using the 4 wheel drive.

When the driving became impossible because of fallen boulders we got out and immediately started walking.

When we got bored walking, we looked up at the mountain and said “let’s climb that” and that’s EXACTLY what we did.

We walked right up and down that son-of-a-bitch.

It wasn’t no easy trail, there actually wasn’t no trail at all.

It looked easy from the bottom but, boy, it sure wasn’t as easy as we thought.

Well, it wasn’t easy for the lungs.

For my feet, it was a breeze.

Training them for 5 hours per day REALLY paid off.

We were out in the wild and I would not call it a “fun” hike.

But then again, I’m NOT here just for only fun.

I’m here to walk through the pain and actually persevere.

Speaking of persevering, people ALWAYS tell me they wish they could STOP living the life that they are currently living and START living the life that they are actually REALLY dreaming about.

But for some very weird invisible reason… they just CAN’T.

These people are called dreamers.

They dream of sleeping under a night sky with a thousand stars in view so they could make a thousand wishes.

Instead of actually doing it, they go back to their luxury jail cell where they have no stars and absolutely no hope.

Why don’t they just simply go out and do it?

When I sleep in a yurt in the mountains of Kyrgyzstan, under a thousand night stars, they say: “I wish I could do what you do.”

I say: “Listen here, fella. Wishing upon a star does not work unless you are actually underneath a star. Get your feet walking to where you want to go. It ain’t no matter of “goal setting”, it’s a matter of walking there and doing the damn thing.”

Speaking of this nonsense called goal-setting, someone recently asked me this: “Elijah, what are your thoughts on goal setting?”

You want to talk about goals but, boy, I don’t have no REAL goals.

I don’t believe in goal-setting like these college educated fools believe in goal-setting.

I believe in being OBSESSED beyond all reason.

Being obsessed to the brink of absolute madness.

Being obsessed to the point of being totally selfish.

It is NOT a matter of setting goals, friend.

It is a matter of being singularly focused to the point of obsession.

Focused on ONE THING ONLY!

It don’t take NO genius, boy, it takes only an unnerving REAL actual desire.

Hell, I’m beginning to realize that only an idiot can become successful.

I did not say even an idiot could do it, I said only an idiot could actually do it.

Smart people listen to other people and that is ALWAYS their epic downfall.

It takes a REAL actual moron to do the EXACT opposite of EVERYTHING that they say to do.

And this, my friendly friends, is the hidden secret of SUCCESS.

**DO THE EXACT OPPOSITE!**

Do the EXACT opposite of EVERYTHING that they tell you to do.

When they go left, you go right.

When they say go up, you go down.

When they say “tone it down” you immediately crank up the volume.

You zig where they zag.

Where they’re weak, you be strong.

And you stay strong in the face of EVERYBODY in the world telling you to be weak just like them.

Do the EXACT opposite of literally EVERYTHING that they do.

Success is the MOST easiest thing in the world and only “idiots” take the easy way.

Smart college people take the HARD WAY and get nowhere literally again and again.

A smart doctor once told me, “Don’t spend to much time on your feet. Rest them, don’t stand or walk too much.”

You know where that got me?

Nowhere but the damn couch.

I had to do the stupid thing and walk on them for 5 hours per day to get my desired result.

All these years on the road have taught me ONE valuable lesson…

Goal setting is absolutely pointless if you are NOT willing to give ALL of your TIME.

I told you a thousand damn times, I do not have goals!

What I have is time.

I spend the required time it takes to achieve the desired result.

When I wanted to change my poor little feet into rough and tough feet, I spent the time required to actually do it.

IT TAKES AS LONG AS IT TAKES.

If you ain’t willing to spend the time, then you ain’t going to get no rewards.

If you aren’t prepared to spend the time, you can forget about your silly little wishes made under a luxury jail cell roof.

Speaking of goals, my only goals on this good green Earth are goals that will NEVER actually REALLY manifest.

I am here to walk the Earth like Caine from Kung-Fu, wandering the Earth in search of the great truth.

I love money as much as the next tycoon but my mission has become much more than mere success and riches.

I am here to find the truth, spread the good word, and live the good gospel.

It takes all damn life to achieve this goal.

Only TIME will tell if you succeed or fail and you won’t be around to actually REALLY know.

The light of truth has no end goal.

The path is never-ending, and a never-ending path is the only path that YOU should ever take.

On my endless travels, I learn this and I learn that, but what I NEVER actually achieve is closure and I don’t REALLY even want it.

Closure is doom, friend.

This is what happens when you achieve a goal you have set for yourself: stagnation.

When you stop walking for too long, your feet start to hurt too much when you do walk forward.

So I don’t have any goals.

None.

I have killed my goals like so many Buddha lovers try to kill their egos.

Now it just is what it is, boy.

Nothing else.

And what’s true for me is true for you.

In front of you is NOTHING but a long and winding road through the mountains.

Hard road, no easy road.

When the road gets too hard for the Jeep to pass, you will get out and you will simply walk.

If there is a mountain in front of you, you will simply climb it.

After that, you will continue forward.

There is literally NO END to this journey because when you stop, that’s when the pain actually starts.

On this long and winding road you CANNOT veer, because you have places to go and promises to keep.

Like Robert Frost said, “The woods are lovely dark and deep, but I have promises to keep and miles to go before I sleep.”

You hear that, boy?

You have promises to keep and miles to go before you finally sleep.

So
You
Had
Better
Not
Let
Me
Catch
You
Sleeping

Else there will be hell to pay and I will come collecting.

I will come to you in your nightmares and show you what could have actually been.

I will show you the life you could have been living.

I will show you the life you should have been living. If only…

“WAKE UP!” you’ll be screaming to yourself.

“Please, please, please wake up! I shouldn’t be asleep anymore! Please God let me wake up from this hell!”

But I will show you clearly…

Hell is no place you go when you die, it’s that moment in life you realize you could have been alive.

If only you could WAKE UP and simply get after it.

“If only I could sleep in a thousand star hotel instead of my 4 star luxury jail cell. If only I had the balls to wake up and get after it. If only, oh, if only…”

Yeah right.

If only.

Until next time.

Your man,

-Elijah “The Realist”

PS – MONK MODE is now available.