• Skip to main content

Marcus Lopés

LGTBQIA2S+ Author, Blogger, Runner

  • Bio
  • Books
  • Writing Off the Grid

life lessons

Life is Short

March 11, 2024 by Marcus Leave a Comment

 

life is short

Recently, I stumbled across a quote from Dr. Phil with a blunt message: “If you want more, you have to require more from yourself.”1 And it has helped me to get a better grip on what it is I want [more of]. Because life is short, and I’m not getting any younger. So, that makes the time to act now. [Read more…] about Life is Short

  1. https://everydaypower.com/short-inspirational-quotes/ [↩]

Filed Under: Motivation, The Relentless Writer Series, Writing Life Tagged With: inspiration, life lessons, motivation, relentless writer, running, writing life

Stand Up for Yourself

February 5, 2024 by Marcus Leave a Comment

stand up for yourself

In life, whether I’m at work or not, I try to maintain a calm demeanour. It takes a lot to rile me, to get me to react. Most of the time, I shrug things off because it’s either out of my control or it simply doesn’t warrant a response. But there are other times when you must stand up for yourself, when you must be the voice that breaks the conforming silence.

How Things Have Changed

In 2010, I left Ottawa for Quebec, leaving behind the traditional office work environment. When I started my current job in August 2023, there was a ‘new’ reality that I had to deal with: Slack and Teams.

When I am trying to focus, I find the notifications to be a distraction. I’ve muted them and turned off the sound. I’ve also done the same with e-mail, which is less important in terms of my role. I get that they are communication tools to assist in our workflow, but there needs to be best practices for workplace chat apps—and consequences when they’re not adhered to.

Stand Up for Yourself

Just over a week ago, one of my coworkers posted a GIF in our work chat that, as a Black man, I found offensive because it propagated a stereotype. And in the chat—in a very diverse workforce—there was nothing but silence. So, I decided to stand up for myself and others and called it out. Because, as Maya Angelou advised, you must “Develop enough courage so that you can stand up for yourself and then stand up for somebody else.”

Don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself. Don’t be afraid to stand alone.

Filed Under: Motivation, The Relentless Writer Series, Writing Life Tagged With: be yourself, inspiration, life lessons, relentless, stand up for yourself, writing life

The Call to Courage

January 8, 2024 by Marcus 3 Comments

courage

In a social media post last week, I talked briefly about Ryan Holiday’s book, Courage is Calling: Fortune Favours the Brave. At the time, I was on my second read-through of the book after having read it roughly a year earlier. I set it aside to read again as I was trying to bring order to my writing space. 

Let Us Not Wait 

This time around, the book’s epigraph, a quote from the Greek philosopher Xenophon, really caught my attention:  [Read more…] about The Call to Courage

Filed Under: Motivation, The Relentless Writer Series, Writing Life Tagged With: courage, life lessons, live your best life, relentless writer, writing life

When Life Throws a Curveball

August 14, 2023 by Marcus Leave a Comment

curveball

It happened overnight. That subtle shift from forty-nine to being half a century old. I didn’t make a big deal out of turning fifty. A few of us celebrated the occasion at Antler, a restaurant I’d been wanting to try for a while—and we weren’t disappointed. I had planned to kayak the morning of my birthday, but strong winds forced to me reschedule. The next day, though, I was out on the water and exploring the Humber River—all the while trying to dodge the curveball life was throwing at me. [Read more…] about When Life Throws a Curveball

Filed Under: Motivation, The Relentless Writer Series Tagged With: do what you love, inspiration, life lessons, live your best life, motivation, relentless writer

On Perfectionism

January 13, 2023 by Marcus 2 Comments

The man with insight enough to admit his limitations comes nearest to perfection. –  Goethe

I am, for better or for worse, the poster boy for perfectionism. I’m the type who aspires to cross my t’s and dot my i’s. It means I’m setting incredibly high expectations for myself. And Unbelievably so. In everything that I do. So, when I fail … Lord, have mercy, you don’t want to be in my sights. Because I’m angry at myself for missing the mark, and that doesn’t make me nice to be around. [Read more…] about On Perfectionism

Filed Under: Motivation Tagged With: life lessons, motivation, perfectionism, writers

  • Page 1
  • Page 2
  • Page 3
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 5
  • Go to Next Page »

Copyright © 2025 · Parallax Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in