Hey everyone, this is my first post. I swallowed the pill ~8 months ago. I've lurked here for a while now on a few different accounts and I just wanted to share something directed at the people new to this sub that I think isn't so often talked about, pacing yourself.

To the finish line! TRP is about self-improvement so we can make it easier to surround ourselves with the company of beautiful women, and improve ourselves as men. With a lot of us and in this instance, myself there's often a feeling of wanting to reach the end at the fastest possible speed. I'm sure I'm not the only one who after reading the side-bar got all high on the idea of becoming a 100kg (~220lb) Chad who internalised all TRP philosophy, wrote a Ph.D. thesis on stoicism, and rammed every bitch in all 4 corners of wherever the fuck. Not to say this isn't an admirable goal, self-improvement is something you ideally want to have in the fore of your mind, but even self-improvement has the capacity to be self-destructive.

Gotta go fast! When you start learning how to drive, no one expects you to be Keiichi Tsuchiya. People just expect you to get behind the wheel and go from there. Some people are just okay with knowing how to get from A to B. At TRP, I like to think we all want to learn to spin tires and rip it up. Who wouldn't? It looks great, it feels great, it is great. We all want to be DK, but we just don't have the skills yet, or the knowledge. So we train and train and we absorb as much as we can. It begins to look a bit obsessive and people start to look at you funny and say shit like: "Why is he trying so hard? What a weirdo". But fuck them right? They've probably never done anything outside of their carefully crafted comfort zone or risked anything. What would they know? You mutter something to the tune of "only the mediocre are always at their best", then you jump back in your car and hit the track. For a while, it's fine. You're making progress and seeing results. But you could be doing more couldn't you? Damn right you fucking could be! Better start watching how other successful drivers hit the track, how they take particular corners. Not to mention you should be cleaning up your ride and making sure it's in tip-top shape. You need to have the best engine and the best parts in your car so you can go as hard as them. Then on a particular day while you're driving at the track you're so worked up worrying about every single micro-detail of every turn of the track that you freak out, lose control, and dive straight into a barrier.

Crashing into a wall Recently I hit a breaking point because I was trying to take on way too much. I was hitting the gym 5 days a week, starting a keto diet, investing a lot of time into managing my own business while working another job, and in addition to that, basically trying to control every facet of my life to perfection. This doesn't sound like a lot when you compare to a lot of the people talking about their self-improvement on this sub. It's easy to forget that working up to that level takes time, sometimes lying for internet points, but more importantly knowing your own limits. It's very easy to dismiss pumping the brakes as being lazy or not being dedicated enough, but eventually, you'll reach a point, much like I did where the stress will get to you and it'll seem like getting to your goal is impossible, and you just can't fucking do it anymore.

So I'm going to dial gym back to 3-4 days a week at best, maybe not be so strict on my diet, learn to chill out a bit managing my business, and try not to break myself living so perfectly. I'm confident I can climb back up to where I was and climb even higher than that. But I'm going to do it at a pace where I'm not simultaneously self-destructing.

The stories and advice helped kick my ass into gear to hit the gym, eat healthily, and more importantly just go out and have the stones to talk to and bed women. I'm no Chad, I'm certainly not jacked, and I'm still way off getting my shit together. But I'll get there with time and so will you.

I'd be interested to hear your criticisms and thoughts. Thanks for bearing with the racing analogies.