I know the last post comes off like a teen girl creating a cryptic Facebook message in order to get attention. That’s not my intent so I want to expand into what I’m trying to get across with more clarity (which will fail).

I wrote a post last Thursday about all of the people I met in New Orleans. It was straight to the punch about how I felt in various situations, with various people whether they be a cab driver, a bartender, or some girl I was trying to pick up. Now as I was writing how I felt about each situation, I was getting a feel for how I view people in general. When it got down to me sharing the post, I didn’t want to post it. Not because any of the people in the post read rnningfool (that’s a joke, we know they all do), but because I’m sharing how my outlook on life is and it’s going to be different than yours. My mission is not to make you think like me. You don’t want to think like me. You want to think like you and I felt that I was throwing some influence out onto this site and that’s not what its about.

So after I created that draft I took a step back and started to not feel pressured to post because I haven’t posted in a while. I’m still not sure what I want to share exactly as this blog continues to evolve, and I continue to improve the content (at least I think so). That last post had nothing to do with you. That’s not a specific you (aka Luke’s blog), it’s literally you sitting there (anyone who reads it). I’m not certain people do think like that, but I’ve started going through life by thinking that every single person only thinks about themselves. Perfectly normal.

This blog deals with my place in what’s revolving around me and the song “Once In A Lifetime” by the Talking Heads keeps coming up. “How Did I Get Here?” My journey is going to be different than yours and that’s the way it should be. You only get one crack at it and we all see it differently and there isn’t any best choice. I guess I felt like this blog had the ability to start getting too preachy and I don’t want that.

So that’s where I’m coming from and I hope people keep checking in.

It’s been about 10 days since I’ve posted. I was away for 2+ of them in New Orleans, and the rest was a needed break. I’ll be heading away to Europe on the 20th and not returning until the end of the month. I may go the entire month without blogging. Why you may ask?

I’ve been using the honest approach and it’s debilitating for lack of a better word. You sense when people aren’t being honest. You can’t understand why you’re telling someone a thought that you’re most likely not sharing otherwise. Relationships start becoming he said she said and the truth hurts. Combine that with the reality of how my life is going and I don’t know how to explain how I feel. How can I share the truth when I’m on some wavelength and someone else is on a completely, wildly different one? No one said life was going to be easy, and in order to get better at it you have to continue taking steps forward, and I’m pretty sure this one is one of my most challenging.

I understand that you aren’t going to be able to relate to this post. You don’t know what my life is like and what my issues are. I imagine most people go through sweeping issues under the table and “being happy”. I’m starting to wade through the bullshit and figure out what’s actually important to me and this is what I’m figuring out with this blog. There is nothing wrong with me. It’s the idea that you don’t know anything that throws me for a loop because how can you be honest about anything, when you no nothing?

It’s easy to be wrong in life and making predictions is pretty much how you can prove how smart you are. Unfortunately, most people are idiots and are wrong more often than they are right. I’m not sure where all these people who are right are hiding (Wall Street & Las Vegas), but they must be out there. Here are a few times I’ve incorrect.

Nick Foles – I’ve been hearing a lot of Big Dick Nick and very few Nick Folds. Before the playoffs started I was ready to call into WIP and tell them how not having a stellar QB will derail any chance the Eagles have of making the Super Bowl. I do believe that the Eagles got lucky that Stefon Diggs caught that miracle pass or else Drew Brees may have put up more of a fight than Case Keenum. As such, St. Nick was able to deliver and lead them to bowl, much to my surprise. The lesson learned is that one player does not make up an entire team in football. As the Shee says, “team game”.

Bitcoin – I was, am, a Bitcoin skeptic. Too many uncertainties surround it for me to put my money behind it…so far. I don’t like the idea of 500 million dollars being hacked from Coincheck. I don’t like that I have to use additional security to protect my investment and that if I somehow misplace my info, or someone gets it from me, I lose my entire investment. I don’t like that the currency has no actual purpose with regards to transactions. I don’t like that I’m so far out of the loop from what is going on that it feels more like a hodl and pray situation rather than investing in a company that produces a profit. Even with all of those negatives, I still think there is something to be said of a currency that uses the blockchain with a limited demand. Now whose to say that the 21 million Bitcoin is all that will ever be produced. It’s ludicrous to think that. Howeva, if that is the case, I don’t think investing in the coin, taking appropriate security measures, and waiting to see if it goes off in the future is a bad idea. How was I wrong on this? Ehh, I think it should be worth about $2,000-4,000 per Bitcoin. It has been trending that way.

Uber – When Uber first started I didn’t like the idea of getting into other people’s cars who could have just murdered their last passenger. I didn’t like how the driver’s would seemingly loop around your position for endless minutes while you stood their with your thumb up your ass. That is the expression, right? The app felt more like a thing you said you did to feel “in”. I guess I’m not necessarily surprised it caught on but I don’t quite comprehend how people make money doing it. Every Uber driver says how well they are doing and I’m not sure how that’s possible after they just spent 15 minutes making $5.65. The positives though outweigh the negatives as it literally turns any human being into having a job. I wouldn’t say that I thought it was going to fail, and it’s still not a certainty based on all the regulations, but it’s proven itself mainstream and here to stay.

Migos – I’ll start this one by saying that I have never listened to Migos. I think this is probably the worst music that has ever been created. It’s like a choppy,  lack of beat, auto-tuned, nursery rhyme, filled with curse words. Who listens to this?  Obviously a lot of people when their top song has 430 million listens.  It has to be some sort of younger generation infatuation. This is what it’s like when you get older and you start talking about the way things used to be. I’m not hip. I’m not with it. Tuck-a-tuck-a-tuck-a.

After reading Ray Dalio’s Principles (technically I have 75 pages left)((you see how this works)), I came away with a key concept that is “radical transparency” and “total honesty”. It means exactly what it says, you are wide open about precisely what you are thinking. You’d be surprised at how often you water down how you speak to people, or not even tell the truth. An example:

“I lost $500 in online blackjack”
Nice: You’ll get em’ next time,
Honest: Why the fuck are you playing online blackjack?

Now you’ll notice how the first option doesn’t make you come across like a douchebag. The 2nd option makes people start to question if they even want to hang around with you. That’s the beauty though, you don’t want to hang around with the people from group 2 either!

Here’s another example of when you learn if people can take it.  If I was being civil I’d ask Sam, “why haven’t you bought a bowling ball bag?” If I was being honest I’d say, “what the fuck are you waiting for?” I haven’t brought this up to Sam though because it doesn’t concern me. Being a part of my family though, I wonder why it takes 2 weeks to replace an item that is used on a weekly basis that you spilled some car oil into. It’s an indicator of initiative. Storm bag.

What’s fun is that you learn who can handle the concept and react to it with the same type of, I’ll call it humor, right back at you. Then you start to understand that you can be honest in this manner and it makes the relationship that much stronger. I’m not here to beat around the bush. I can see your fluff and I don’t like it. The question, “how are you doing” with the answer “I’m fine” is disgusting. If that’s all you’ve got, you should be happy to walk through life in a zombie like trance before you perish 6 feet under.

I know for a fact that I’m going to be wrong most of the time. HOWEVA (Adam used this over the weekends so I’m stealing it), I’ll flat out tell you that I can be wrong instead of telling you I’m going to be right. I want to be known as that person who will tell you what they think and not what you want to hear. HOWEVA , there is a tact to honesty and relationships. I’m not telling you to go up to your co-worker and tell them their suit makes them look overweight because they are overweight. It’s not that honesty. It’s being able to judge who your talking to so that you can relate on their level and do what’s appropriate which may be listening while they educate you. It’s not a science and it isn’t learned overnight. It’s a practice that continuously gets refined.

So when someone asks me how I’m doing, I’m responding like this:
“My problem, I don’t know, I don’t have a problem. Actually I have the opposite of a problem, I made over 550k last year. No, it’s not about money, but for me, it’s a little bit about money, and I made that much money last year. I am the VP of the biggest executive helicopter leasing company on this side of the Western Seaboard. I haven’t had a carb since 2004. See these boys? This is what I live with. Everyday I lather this up with Keihl’s in the shower. You want to touch these? Not gonna happen.