I remember hearing the Drake song “Successful” for the first time and I could relate even though I had no understanding what success meant for him. I just wanted success whatever success meant at the time, money, cars, clothes etc. You start working on your dreams and you realize that they demand more from you than you expected.

“Dreams are not cheap” is one quote that got to understand from being around Lebogang Nkoane. Dreams require more than just a vision, a speech, a phone call and an email. Dreams will consume you to a point that you feel like risking everything you have just for you to live this little dream of yours. You will start reading books of those who have done it, from Oprah, Steve Jobs, Malcolm Gladwell, and Richard Branson. Then you realize that all these people have similar things in common they not only dream big but they don’t give up on their dreams and they don’t give up.

There are no secrets to success, everyone one who has been successful has failed so many times they can’t even count. I have failed so many times; I know failure by its name, surname and ID number. I am a friend with failure to a point it doesn’t hurt as much anymore when I fail because I fail every day. I embrace it as a learning curve. When I don’t complete my to-do list I fail, when I don’t get the client I always wanted I feel like a failure. Failure is part of progress, I learn much more from failure than I do from success. I have been doing magazines for the last 10 years, and I have started four magazines in my lifetime. I have failed three times with magazines, Marvin is the fourth magazine I’ve owned and I believe that Marvin is a success because of lessons I learnt from the previous magazines.

I started running 4 years ago, it’s the one time that I feel that I am alone and I am with my thoughts and I can dream as big as I can. I started running when I came out of a relationship at the time, I needed a place where I can regain myself. This became part of my rituals weekly, put a good music mix on (usually Marvin Mix), then you hit the road.

The running helped when my mother passed on, it became my ritual when I needed to get away from everyone and everything. Running became the one place, which I could go to when the world demanded a lot out of me. I lived on TD Jakes podcast during that period, I needed to know that I will be ok, that this too shall pass. Running, Marvin Mixes & podcasts were my only escape, I knew that they would release new podcast every Sunday at 2pm and I would listen to them when I went to bed and when I woke up. These three things saved me from drowning – after losing everything I valued so much in this world.

The running, Marvin mixes and the podcasts are part of my everyday consumption and I am not the only one does these things. Other run to clear their minds, other drink coffee before they begin with their day, others smoke a cigar before they start to write that article, others play PlayStation to get themselves inspired, others meditate before work every day. It doesn’t matter what you do as long as it works for you. As long as it helps you start strong with your day.