Writing Life

When you are working on your dream, not everyone will understand your commitment. Not everyone will believe that you can achieve it. Friends will tempt to you go out for drinks when you know you need to put in time on your goals. Others may resent how much time you’re putting in to make your dream come because you’re ‘neglecting’ them. That’s because they don’t have your vision of the life you’re working to create for yourself. That’s why you must be prepared to walk alone.

A Lonely Road

In 2004, I was in a job that I didn’t like. I dreaded going into the office. The days passed slowly…to the point where it was torture. I knew I couldn’t stay. Even though I had nothing lined up, I decided to quit and spend time working on my writing. In many ways, I was at the beginning of my writing journey, and I had no illusions of hitting it big super quickly. But I was prepared to walk alone, and I resigned from a well-paying job in the federal civil service. [Read more…] about Be Prepared to Walk Alone

There’s a quote from Steve Jobs that, when I start to feel overwhelmed, always pops into my mind because it’s cited often: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” But if we go a little further, Jobs adds, “And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become.”

Follow Your Heart

It’s hard to follow your heart in a world where there are so many expectations placed upon us from a young age. I did a lot of things to please my parents because I did not want to disappoint them. For a long time, I attended work events that drained my energy until I finally had the courage to set boundaries about what I do and won’t do. The worst part was that I put off pursuing my creativity because a lot of people said I needed a sure thing. [Read more…] about Your Time is Limited

A couple weeks ago, I requested to switch from the evening to the overnight shift. The last time I worked an overnight shift was more than four years ago, at the start of the pandemic, after my last flight to London (UK). My biggest challenge is not staying up all night as much as trying to get adequate sleep when I get home. At the moment, I’m averaging about four hours of sleep. Some would say that that’s not enough, but I’m working with it. And as I continue to pursue my goals, there’s an important takeaway: don’t be too hard on yourself.

Do What You Can

On my new shift, I’ve had to rework my routine. I still write my Morning Pages first thing in the morning, only now I do it during the train ride home. When I wake up, I have my water and brew a coffee, and then settle in to write (I’m trying to figure out how to work in a stretching session). After that, I either go to the gym or get out for a run. Then it’s time to make dinner and, hopefully, get in another writing session before prepping for work. And on the train ride to work late in the evening, that is when I read. [Read more…] about Don’t Be Too Hard on Yourself

Pursing a life of writing off the grid, I understand the importance of creating a vision for your life. You must be crystal clear about what it is you want your life to look like. If you don’t know what you want, or if you’re wishy-washy about it, it’s quite possible that you will end up exactly where you do not what to go.

Clarity

I’m spending a lot of time journalling lately (outside of my usual Morning Pages). My goal is to get at the core of what it is that I truly want. And it’s not easy. As so many things come up—be a full-time creator, run a sub 3:30:00 marathon, be debt-free—self-doubt always creeps in and derails me. Or tries to. Questions like, ‘Who do I think I am?’ or ‘Do you really think you can pull that off?’ have me second guessing myself. [Read more…] about Create a Vision for Your Life

It has been a month since I stepped away from social media because I wasn’t where I wanted to be. I wasn’t being intentional about how I was spending my time. As much as I told myself that writing and running were important to me, I let social media steal my time. I accept responsibility for that. And I know I must do better, and be better, to change my life. Because I don’t want to be in the same place, doing the same things, in a year’s time. That means I must become obsessive about change.

Nature has given the opportunity of happiness to all, knew they but how to use it. – Claudian¹

I Will Be Great

Like I mentioned above, being in the same place and doing the same things next year are not options. So, I’ve become obsessive about self-improvement. I not only listen to podcasts and read books, but I am actively implementing what I’m learning. And sometimes it is uncomfortable because it is forcing me into discomfort. [Read more…] about Become Obsessive

1. Ben-Shahara, T. (2007.) Happier: Learn the Secrets to Daily Joy and Lasting Fulfillment. New York, McGraw-Hill, p. 13. [↩]