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Marcus Lopés

Storyteller and Actualizer of Dreams

change

Becoming Relentless

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RELENTLESS

There are some books that you read over and over again. Because each read-through lets you discover new gems that had been left buried. Sometimes those new discoveries lead to an ‘aha’ moment. You get it. Finally. Other times, what you actually experience is an ‘oh, shit!’ moment. Your kidneys dropkick your intestines because you get it, all right. The author is speaking directly to you. They know your darkest secret, and now you’re paranoid they’re just waiting to expose it to the world.

A Book that Changes Everything

One book that I have read, and reread, and pulled out again for the fifth time (I think) over the weekend is Tim Grover’s Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable. Because no matter how hard I try, I fall back into old habits that keep me stuck. Not all old habits, just the most destructive. [Read more…] about Becoming Relentless

The 15-Letter Expletive

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 15-letter expletive

It happens to us all. We tell ourselves we’re going to sit down and start the book we’ve always wanted to write. Or we’re going to organize our receipts ahead of filing our taxes so that we’re not doing it at the last minute. Or maybe we’re determined to cut out those sugary after-dinner treats, but devour half a bag of Oreos instead and say, “I’ll start tomorrow.” Those are, my dear friends, a few examples that stem from a 15-letter expletive I want us to—as much as humanly possible—learn to manage than try to eliminate altogether: procrastination. [Read more…] about The 15-Letter Expletive

Change is Hard

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change is hard

At the beginning of October, I received an e-mail with the subject line: “Your Last 3 Months of 2022.” The e-mail was from Jeff Fajans, a creative performance consultant with whom I had worked in the past. I did not open it — not until yesterday — because the subject line alone sent me into a tailspin. Three months left in 2022? WTF? For the previous nine months, I had been chastising myself for not doing more, for ‘wasting’ time, for being unfocused. I knew I had to change, but sometimes change is hard. Still, was I going to spend the last three months of the year doing the same thing?

Facing Reality

Last week, I finally sat down at my desk and took time to look at everything that I want to do before the end of the year. In some cases, it is a matter of what I need to get started on. But to make any sort of real progress, I knew I needed more than a mental game plan. I had to write it down and face reality. I needed a plan to hold me to account … because change is hard.

I cannot tell you how uncomfortable writing out the plan made me. Seeing all the goals on paper — and the concrete actions I would need to take to achieve them — had me, once again, doubting myself and my worth. Could I really do it? Who do I think I am? At what point will I fail? The negative chatter was trying to hold me back before I even made it out of the gate. Because change is hard, and I was already looking for any excuse to let myself fail. [Read more…] about Change is Hard

Into the Storm

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into the storm

Lately, I’ve thought a lot about a line from a hymn we sang often in church when I was growing up: “Keep me safe till the storm passes by.”

Because I’m in the storm, battered by high winds, trying to outrun the tsunami aiming for me, buried under thirty inches of snow and trying to claw my way out. Translation: trying to do it all and getting nowhere fast.

And like a hurricane, this storm has a name: change.

As a writer with a day job, I’m searching for another one that will give me more time for my writing (working with an increasingly impatient and abusive public is constantly testing my patience and my commitment to being kinder). I’m struggling to reduce my sugar intake … it seems harder to do this time. Still sidelined from running with a foot injury, I’m trying to find another way to stay active. [Read more…] about Into the Storm