Diving into the life, lessons, and greatness of Phil Knight from his book, Shoe Dog.

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4:45 - Work as Play

 I asked myself: What if there were a way, without being an athlete, to feel what athletes feel? To play all the time, instead of working? Or else to enjoy work so much that it becomes essentially the same thing.

7:15 -  The Two Voices

Go home, a faint inner voice told me. Get a normal job. Be a normal person. Then I heard another faint voice, equally emphatic. No, don’t go home. Keep going. Don’t stop.

9:30 - Marketing and Belief

Driving back to Portland, I’d puzzle over my sudden success at selling. I’d been unable to sell encyclopedias, and I’d despised it to boot. I’d been slightly better at selling mutual funds, but I’d felt dead inside. So why was selling shoes so different? Because I realized, it wasn’t selling. I believed in running. I believed that if people got out and ran a few miles every day, the world would be a better place and I believed these shoes were better to run in. People, sensing my belief, wanted some of that belief for themselves. Belief I decided. Belief is irresistible.

15:15 - On Imbalance

I was putting in six days a week at Price Waterhouse, spending early morning and late nights and all weekends anf vacations at Blue Ribbon. No friends, no exercise, no social life–and wholly content. My life was out of balance, sure, but I didn't care. In fact, I wanted even more imbalance. Or a different kind of imbalance.

18:50 - On Leading

One lesson I took from all my home-schooling about heroes was that they didn’t say much. None was a blabbermouth. None micromanaged. Don’t tell people how to do things, tell them what to do and let them surprise you with their results.

23:15 - Competition is Forgetting

People reflexively assume that competition is always a good thing, that is always brings out the best in people, but that’s only true for people who can forget the competition. The art of competing, I’d learned from track, was the art of forgetting, and I now reminded myself of that fact. You must forget your limits. You must forget your doubts, your pain, your past. You must forget that internal voice screaming, begging, “Not one more step.” And when it’s not possible to forget it, you must negotiate with it. I thought over all the races in which my mind wanted one thing, and my body wanted another, those laps in which I’d had to tell my body, “Yes, you raise some excellent points, but let’s keep going anyway…


25:30 - Grow or Die

Leaning back in my recliner each night, staring at the ceiling, I tried to settle myself. I told myself: Life is growth. You grow or you die.

32:30 - One Final Note

I’d tell men and women in their mid-twenties not to settle for a job or a profession or even a career. Seek a calling. Even if you don’t know what that means. Seek it. If you’re following your calling, the fatigue will be easier to bear, the disappointments will be fuel, and the highs will be nothing like you’ve ever felt.

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