Month: January 2024

For years, I harbored a dream of becoming a writer. However, a significant hurdle stood in my way—my less-than-perfect grasp of English.

This became glaringly evident during a performance review when my boss remarked, “The only thing standing between you and a senior management role is your written English.”

His words hit hard, but rather than letting them dishearten me, I took it as a challenge.

Here’s how I turned things around:
– I joined a writing group
– I enrolled in writing courses
– I mastered the art of composing minutes, reports, and discussion papers
– I honed the skill of storytelling in business writing

These efforts paid off, and I secured the senior management role I aspired to.

Inspired by this success, I decided to fully dedicate myself to writing. In 2019, I left my six-figure management job and embarked on a journey to pursue my dream.

During this pursuit, I:
– Established a website and began blogging.
– Authored a weekly newsletters and articles for online magazines.
– Engaged actively on various social media platforms.

Despite persistent efforts, progress seemed elusive.

Then, unexpectedly, I poured my heart and soul into a manuscript and self-published it. Almost overnight, I transformed from a struggling writer into a published author, gaining recognition as an authority in my field.

Over the next 18 months, I authored four more books, witnessing a substantial shift in how people perceived me. Individuals from diverse backgrounds sought my advice on writing and publishing books.

My journey has been truly remarkable, and I hold a deep appreciation for the opportunities that unfolded since then.

I share my story as a testament to the power of establishing authority through authoring a book.

Here is mine:

6.00 AM – 9:00 AM
– Meditation (15 min)
– Journal writing (15 min)
– Planning my day (15 min)
– Yoga (15 min)
– Gym (1 hr)

9:00 AM – 10:00 AM
– Breakfast
– A Sketch (15 min)
– LinkedIn Post (30 min)

10:00 PM – 12:00 PM
– Adventure of the day
(On Mon, Tue, Wed working on Ghostwriting
On Thu and Fri Memoir Writing on Substack
On weekends filing, and bulk tasks & bringing my inbox to Zero).

12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
– Lunch
– Cooking
– Housework

2:00 PM – 5:00 PM
– Adventure of the day (as above)
– Meditation (15 min)

5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
– Walk

6:00 PM – 10:00 PM
– Dinner
– TV

10:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Notes Taking (30 min)
Journaling (15 min)
Meditation (15 min)

11:00 PM
– Sleep

I only get to have my perfect day once or twice a month.
The rest of the time the chaos prevails.
But having a schedule helps.

What is your ideal day like?
How often you get to have it?

It took me twenty years to find out.

Throughout my twenties and thirties, I lacked self-confidence.

I remember in a self-development course I attended; I thought so highly of other participants and so lowly of myself that I kept my head low and didn’t say a word.

But then the course facilitator did something that changed my life forever.

She gave all the participants a sheet of paper with the name of each participant on each sheet of paper and asked us to write one good trait we saw in each other.

At the end of the exercise, we got to read our sheets.

When I read mine, I cried.

Others thought I was:
– Logical
– Intelligent
– Hard working
– Clear thinker
– Highly educated
– Compassionate
– Conscientious
– Determined
– Smart
– Witty

I never saw those qualities in me.

I only saw my faults.

At that moment, I changed.

I became a person who was all those things that others saw in me.
We all have good-traits and not-so-good traits.

But by nature, we choose to concentrate on not-so-good ones. They make us feel inadequate.

When we don’t respect ourselves, others don’t respect us either.

Try to identify good-traits in yourself. If you are having trouble, ask the people around you to spot one good thing they like in you.

Collect them and put them where you can see them every day.

You are all those things and more.

So, what’s the biggest thing you can achieve in your life? “It is to be comfortable in your skin.”