Marcus Lopes's Blog, page 8

Wake Up

As the end of May rolled around, I decided to do an audit of how I had spent the month. If I did anything well, it was that I made it to the gym or out for a run every day but one. There were days when I didn’t feel like it, or when I was too tired (the one day I missed), but I did it anyway. While I wrote every day, I was constantly distracted by my phone and anything else that vied for my attention. What I realized was that I hadn’t really moved forward, and it was time for me to wake up.

The ...

Do Your Best

It’s been a month since I switched to the overnight shift at my job. With the exception of the last three years I worked as a flight attendant (2018–2020), usually doing the overnight flights to Europe, I’ve told myself that I was a morning person. Creatively, the early morning hours were my prime time to create. It was then that I could focus for an extended period of time. With my new shift, I’m still adjusting. And I’m learning that every day you simply must try to do your best.

Don’t Beat Yo...

Getting Unstuck

A couple weeks ago, I ran out of my asthma inhaler. An unfortunate set of circumstances meant that it would be a week before I could see my doctor to renew my prescription. Normally, if I run out, my pharmacist can give me one refill while I organize to see my doctor, but she was on vacation. And for me to go a week without my inhaler, which I take daily, would—and did—trigger an asthma attack. Pair that with a 48-hour period where I didn’t sleep more than three hours, and all my favourite frien...

Get Organized

I used to think that I thrived in organized chaos. In any office job that I’ve held, I kept a tidy desk. Everything had its place, and everything was in order. But at home, I never saw the top of my desk. I told myself that that was okay because I ‘knew’ where everything was. While I don’t have an eidetic memory, I can easily recall in what box or drawer I’ve placed documents or books that I’m looking for. But now, to increase my productivity and efficiency, I know how important it is to get org...

Master the Self

There are a lot of things that make change hard. The people who don’t support us or believe in us. The discomfort that gives us pause and, consequently, incites us to give up. The disappointment of showing up day after day and not seeing results. Comparing ourselves to those who’ve made it in our field and then wondering why we haven’t found the magic sauce. But if we want to be successful in our change initiatives, or if we want to bring our dreams to life, we must first master the self.

An Exa...

Be Prepared to Walk Alone

When you are working on your dream, not everyone will understand your commitment. Not everyone will believe that you can achieve it. Friends will tempt to you go out for drinks when you know you need to put in time on your goals. Others may resent how much time you’re putting in to make your dream come because you’re ‘neglecting’ them. That’s because they don’t have your vision of the life you’re working to create for yourself. That’s why you must be prepared to walk alone.

A Lonely Road

In 2004...

Your Time is Limited

There’s a quote from Steve Jobs that, when I start to feel overwhelmed, always pops into my mind because it’s cited often: “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life.” But if we go a little further, Jobs adds, “And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition, they somehow already know what you truly want to become.”

Follow Your Heart

It’s hard to follow your heart in a world where there are so many expectations placed upon us from a young age. I d...

Don’t Be Too Hard on Yourself

A couple weeks ago, I requested to switch from the evening to the overnight shift. The last time I worked an overnight shift was more than four years ago, at the start of the pandemic, after my last flight to London (UK). My biggest challenge is not staying up all night as much as trying to get adequate sleep when I get home. At the moment, I’m averaging about four hours of sleep. Some would say that that’s not enough, but I’m working with it. And as I continue to pursue my goals, there’s an imp...

Create a Vision for Your Life

Pursing a life of writing off the grid, I understand the importance of creating a vision for your life. You must be crystal clear about what it is you want your life to look like. If you don’t know what you want, or if you’re wishy-washy about it, it’s quite possible that you will end up exactly where you do not what to go.

Clarity

I’m spending a lot of time journalling lately (outside of my usual Morning Pages). My goal is to get at the core of what it is that I truly want. And it’s not easy. A...

Become Obsessive

It has been a month since I stepped away from social media because I wasn’t where I wanted to be. I wasn’t being intentional about how I was spending my time. As much as I told myself that writing and running were important to me, I let social media steal my time. I accept responsibility for that. And I know I must do better, and be better, to change my life. Because I don’t want to be in the same place, doing the same things, in a year’s time. That means I must become obsessive about change.

N...