Yesterday and today, I did not pick up my phone until I was ready to leave for work. That’s important for me because I’m up around 3:00 am, first to write my Morning Pages, then to read (currently The 48 Laws of Power by Robert Greene and Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World by Cal Newport). Then I get about 60-75 minutes of writing time. With no distractions, I managed to finally finish the edits to a chapter of my current WIP (note: I started the edits to that chapter last week!). [Read more…] about Day 2 Recap: 30-Day Deep Work Challenge
writing life
Do the Hardest Thing: Begin Again
Day 1
As the end of March neared, I realized something: I wasn’t where I wanted to be. Or, perhaps it was more so that in the first three months of 2022, I hadn’t achieved what I’d set out to do. Somewhere, and somehow, along the way, I’d lost sight of my raison d’être. Not just in terms of my writing, but who I believed I could be/become.
Too many days unfocused. Too many days wondering in the hinterland of doubt and despair. Wondering more, ‘What’s the point?’ instead of asking myself, ‘What must I do to become the best version of myself and live my best life?’
And then came the realization, as I participated in a coaching session with Jeff Fajans, that the answer for the past three months was right in front of me. It always had been, but fear held me back from seeing it, from acknowledging it.
The answer, yes, was simple: Marcus, it’s time to do the hardest thing and begin again. [Read more…] about Do the Hardest Thing: Begin Again
The Scary Part of Goal Setting
I’ve been consistent about setting goals and writing them down for the past three years, maybe a little longer. But there’s one thing I never did.
I never shared them.
Why?
Because I was hanging on to limiting beliefs. Afraid that people would laugh at me. Mock me. Tell me I’m crazy.
But at some point, you have to stop running from yourself. I had to stop running from myself.
If there’s one thing I took away from Gary John Bishop’s Unfu*k Yourself, it’s this: “I am not my thoughts; I am what I do.”
There are, for me, two parts to “I am what I do.” One, I am a writer. That is what I do. No other job in this world will give me the high or a stronger sense of purpose and self. Second, showing up every day to write, and to share it with the world is also what I do. If I don’t do any of those things, if I don’t take action, then there’s no possible way I can achieve my dreams.
[Read more…] about The Scary Part of Goal Setting
1,578,240 Minutes and Counting
Or 1,096 days. Or 36 months.
That’s how long it’s been since I stopped drinking on 17 January 2018.
“Why?” many of my friends and colleagues asked with bewilderment as much as curiosity.
Most didn’t like the answer: Because I wanted to change my life.
No one pressured me to stop drinking. When it came to alcohol, I knew my limit and respected it. Alcohol wasn’t ravaging my life. “Then…why?” people continued to ask. [Read more…] about 1,578,240 Minutes and Counting
2020: Imperfectly Perfect
2020 is over. But the gift it gave us — COVID-19 — continues to impact millions around the world. Here in Ontario, we entered a province-wide lockdown on 26 December 2020. The City of Toronto has been locked down since 23 November 2020. Tough days are still ahead, but we will, together, weather this storm. I’m still hanging on to hope because, in the words of Desmond Tutu: “Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all the darkness.” [Read more…] about 2020: Imperfectly Perfect