A list of things to keep telling yourself and to get excited about
Writing is a journey full of all kinds of ups and downs.
One minute you’re riding the high of lots of engagement on your stories, and the next minute, you’re wallowing in the mud, convinced you’ll never be able to write something worth reading ever again.
It can be a wild ride for writers—which is why we sometimes both love and hate the work we do.
I know how hard those downturns can be, but I also know that they can’t and won’t last forever, so the best thing to do is just keep moving forward. …
Here are four reasons why
Some mornings I wake up, get myself a cup of coffee, sit down at my desk and think to myself, I absolutely love that my job is to sit down every morning and write about whatever inspires me.
How cool is it that writers can get paid to write about their interests, passions, knowledge, and experiences? How great is it that we can sit down, create something from nothing, and instantly share it with the world, opening ourselves up to the possibility of monetary compensation at the same time?
But other days, I drag myself to the computer kicking and…
Why we need to stop “trying” and start committing
Let me be completely honest here for a minute.
I’ve been “trying” to be a writer for the past decade.
I’ve seen some success—I’m enjoying the process, people are reading/commenting on/sharing my articles, I’m getting accepted into publications, etc.—but I’m still not at the place I’d like to be with my writing.
The ideal vision of my life as a writer in terms of what a typical day looks like, the income I’m making, the kind of impact my writing has on people, etc. doesn’t line up with my current reality.
And I think I finally know why.
We Want to Try Something New, but We’re Scared
Maybe you…
But it also has one big built-in benefit
“I really don’t understand how some people can just talk nonstop without even taking a breath!” my mom said, sounding incredulous.
We were driving home from a perfect, relaxing afternoon spent sitting by the water at a friend’s cottage.
We’d talked some, of course, but we probably spent just as much time sitting together in silence, both reading our books or looking out at the lake. There were boats going by towing kids doing all kinds of water sports, and we were simply happy to enjoy the beautiful sunny weather.
As we rounded another bend, I was now nodding my…
The universe rewards the generous
Over the years, I’ve struggled with a lot of things about writing, but having the wrong mindset might be the biggest setback of all.
Rather than trusting in the process and putting my best foot forward consistently over time, I’ve flip-flopped between two extreme perspectives or viewpoints.
Sometimes I fully understand that success doesn’t happen overnight and that if I want this to work, I have to be willing to put in time and effort without seeing immediate rewards. It just makes sense. Building an audience takes time, and learning what works also takes time.
But then I’ll go down…
Treat people like humans instead of property and watch what happens
A few years ago, one of my freelance jobs was to transcribe podcasts for a top real estate professional in the Toronto market.
Each week, he’d record a new podcast about a topic that had been on his mind lately. Sometimes it was a rant about something in the industry that made him angry, like journalists reporting incorrect information about the real estate market. Sometimes it was an idea he wanted to share with the public and others in the industry, or information to help realtors excel in their business.
No matter what the topic was, after a couple of…
Travel. Santiago. Western Europe.
Wish me luck!
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t just the slightest bit nervous.
In a few weeks, my partner and I will be walking from Porto, Portugal to Santiago de Compostela in Spain, following a network of pilgrim trails thousands of years old. We’re budgeting two weeks of walking time to cover the 260+ km of the Camino Portugues Coastal Route.
Despite enjoying hiking and our love for being outdoors and in nature, we’ve never done a trip like this before where we’ll be carrying everything we need on our backs as we walk from town to town. That’s the…
The benefits from this simple activity are endless
Lately, I’m all about walking — and for good reason.
My partner and I are setting off on a 260+km “walk” on the Camino de Santiago through Portugal and Spain in about a month — so preparing ourselves for long days of hiking is definitely a strong motivation to get moving more.
But it’s not the only reason I’ve come to love walking over the last couple of years. Walking almost daily has helped me realize the multitude of other benefits that come with this simple form of exercise. …
It might be the lifeline that keeps you going
I just finished reading Celeste Ng’s brilliant novel, Little Fires Everywhere.
The book has won awards, been named “Best Book of the Year” by Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and many more, been translated into more than 30 languages and published worldwide, and is a national, international, and #1 New York Times bestseller.
And if that wasn’t enough proof of its enormous success, it was also turned into a TV show starring Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington, who both also helped produce the series (and which I binge-watched, unable to help it).
It was an engrossing read full of all kinds…
To my surprise, personal finance expert Ramit Sethi agrees
I got the email notification just before lunch.
It was here!
When I first saw the box, though, I couldn’t believe my eyes. The sheer size of it shocked me — and that was before I even tried to lift it!
How can something from the LEGO Store possibly weigh so much? I wondered about this as I struggled up the two flights of stairs carrying the monster.
I placed the box right at the top of our stairs so that it was the first thing Aaron would see when he got home from work that night. …
