As April began, my focus was on change because, as I recently explained in my last newsletter, I had a feeling that something was off. Life had been speaking to me, but I wasn’t listening even though I knew, knew, that if I changed my habits I could change my life. And I have a vision of what a better life can look like. A better life beyond the big dreams and goals I’ve been chasing. A life filled with calm, joy, love, and purpose. But to create that better life means changing my mindset, which isn’t always easy. It also means making sacrifices. That’s why I’m going back to writing off the grid.
The more I talked about change on social media, the more I thought about what seemed to be missing from my life. While I was creating lots of content for my social media accounts, progress on my writing projects stalled. What happened to the passion I had for writing? I realized that I had let it be derailed by less important things.
There is Only Now
We hear it all too often, and even if it sounds cliché, it’s true: Life is short. That was brought home last week as another one of my uncles passed away. And my aunt, who lost her husband at the beginning of the year, recently had surgery for a condition that could be life-threatening and is now (last I heard) recovering in the ICU.
It is then easy to see the urgency of Ryan Holiday’s words in his book, Discipline is Destiny: The Power of Self-Control: “You have to do your best while you still have a chance. Life is short. You never know when the game, when your body, will be taken away from you. Don’t waste it!”1
Are you prepared to act with urgency to change your life?
Writing Off the Grid
I am taking Holiday’s advice to do my best while I can, and that means that for the next 382 days, I’ll be writing off the grid. In more practical terms, I’m stepping away (again) from social media. No Instagram or Facebook. No more newsletter. I will keep my blog active on a reduced schedule, but, overall, I will be off the grid.
It’s easy to talk about change, but it’s a lot harder to take the action that will change your life. It’s time for me to walk the talk, to direct my time, energy, and attention to the things that matter.
Why now? Because twelve months from now, I don’t want to be where I am. I don’t want to be stuck, or still settling for the status quo.
Because no one is coming to rescue me.
You have to be willing—despite any fears or doubt—to take the first step. Chauncy Depew, a U.S. Senator who represented New York from 1899–1911, advised, “The first step towards getting better is to decide that you are not going to stay where you are.”2
So Give Thanks
Let me say thank you for stopping by my blog over the years. And just so you know, there are still more books coming, more characters who might make you want to tear your hair out. And I hope you will enjoy them.
One more thing…
In case no one has told you today, you are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. And you do not need anyone’s permission to be—unapologetically—who you are.
[…] the few short days that I have been off social media, I have already noticed a shift. I don’t feel overwhelmed. Because I’m no longer trying to do […]