The Writing Life

Picture a snapshot of your future, and then you can find a way to get there.

We tend to think of life in moments, as if you snap a photo, and that’s your life.

Fixed, unchanging.

But it doesn’t work that way.

Life is more like a filmstrip. It’s constantly in motion. Wherever you are in life right now, next year will be different. It might be better. It might be worse.

More often than not, the difference depends on what you do today.

Five years from now, most people will be doing exactly the same thing they’re doing right now. Will you?

Or will you come up with a plan to make life better?

A plan doesn’t have to be complicated. You don’t have to have all of the answers right now. All you need to do is start thinking about what you want the snapshot of your life to look like five years from today.

Once you figure out where you want to go, then you can make a plan to get there.

Figure out what you need to build a bridge from today to tomorrow.

You might need training. You might need to enroll in a class or an apprenticeship program.

That’s where a lot of people get hung up. I’m too busy, they say. My schedule is packed. I don’t have time.

The truth? You do have time.

Like everyone on this planet, you have 24 hours a day, 168 hours per week, the same as everyone else. If you sleep eight hours a night, and work eight hours day, that still leaves you 56 hours a week for everything else.

Turn the television off. Spend half an hour a night reading a book. Books will change your life.

The average millionaire reads a nonfiction book every month.

Before I became a full-time writer five years ago, I read hundreds of books.

Not just how-to books about writing, but also all of the novels I could find to use as models for my own writing.

I started reading the Wall Street Journal and business magazines, too.

Take your time. Reread something if you have to. Understand it. Everything you read makes a difference.

Reading will make your life better.

Whatever you read today will give you knowledge that you didn’t have yesterday. And that will help you plan tomorrow.

Changing your life doesn’t happen quickly. It takes time.

Success is a process of getting better.

Changing your life isn’t just one thing, but a series of things.

It’s not easy. If it was easy, everyone would be doing it.

The difference depends on what you do today. Picture that snapshot of your future. And start planning a way to get there.

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