The Beauty of Doing What You Can With What You Have

Some five hundred years ago, a 26 year old sculptor was given the task of turning a leftover slab of marble into a work of art. Other artists had tried to give life to the stone and had failed, but the young artist took on the contract, determined to shape the marble that others had discarded.

Early in the morning on September 13, 1501, the artist began to work in order to extract his vision from the piece of stone. He carved and carved until he set his dream free.

Later, artist Giorgio Vasari would describe the process as, “bringing back to life of one who was dead.”

In June 1504, the statue, a depiction of the Biblical character David of epic proportions, was installed at the entrance of the city’s town hall. The name of the artist? Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, known best as Michelangelo.

This story serves as a reminder that we are often wrong in assuming that in order to become successful we need access to resources.

It is quite the contrary. It is not the resources at our disposal that determine our success, but rather our resourcefulness, our ability to be creative in spite of certain limitations and setbacks.

Continue reading

Eight Undeniable Truths That Are Going to Change Your Life

The truth does not change based on your ability to accept it.

I do my best to live life in a way that I am aware of what I do, while also trying not to chase things that are outside of my control.

Here are some of those truths that help me stay in control of my life.

Continue reading

Be Fearless in the Pursuit of Your Dreams

Photo by Amanda Jones on Unsplash

“Don’t ask for guarantees. And don’t look to be saved in any one thing, person, machine, or library. Do your own bit of saving, and if you drown, at least die knowing you were heading for shore.”

Ray Bradbury

Even though it doesn’t feel like it, we spend most of our lives waiting. We find ourselves at one end of a dark tunnel and we wait for someone or something to take us by the hand and lead us toward the light on the other side.

Continue reading

Don’t Try. Be

Photo by pawel szvmanski on Unsplash

“Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”

Steve Jobs

Charles Bukowski almost didn’t become the writer he had always dreamt of being. He worked in a post-office until his fifties, even though he tried and often failed to earn enough from his writing so he could quit his job.

Abraham Lincoln failed time and time again. He lost his bid for State Legislature when he was 23 years old. Six years later, he lost his bid to become Speaker in the Illinois House of Representatives.

In 1848, at the age of 39, Lincoln failed to become Commissioner of the General Land Office in D.C. Ten years later, he failed to become a U.S. Senator.

Continue reading

This is How You Conquer The World

Photo by Jametlene Reskp on Unsplash

“It seems to me that if you or I must choose between two courses of thought or action, we should remember our dying and try so to live that our death brings no pleasure to the world.” 

John Steinbeck

We are born soft. Not weak, but with a certain sweetness deep inside our souls. As kids, we feel invincible in our desire to discover the world, to conquer it, to become who we want to be.

Nothing seems impossible. Nothing is out of reach.

But then we grow up and most often than not, we grow weary of others. We try to be like them, we want them to like us…

Continue reading

The One Question You Should Always Ask Yourself Before Pursuing a Goal

Photo by Content Pixie on Unsplash

Goals are essential to our happiness. Working towards a worthy goal ensures that we live a life that is meaningful and fulfilling.

If so, why do we fail at most of our goals? Why do we struggle with motivation?

If our vision of the future is so compelling, if we know why we want it, if we know how to get it, then why do we struggle to do it?

I believe it all comes down to the fact that we never ask ourselves this simple question, a question that perhaps you don’t even want to think about, let alone answer.

Continue reading

The Key Difference Between Successful and Unsuccessful People

Photo by Grant Ritchie on Unsplash

“Most of the challenges that we have in our personal lives come from a short-term focus”

Tony Robbins

The Stanford marshmallow experiment was a series of studies conducted by psychologist Walter Mischel in the late 1960s and early 1970s. In these studies, a child had to choose between receiving a small reward immediately or two small rewards if they waited for a short period, during which the tester left the room and then returned.

Continue reading

You’re Not Supposed to Love What You Do

Photo by lasse bergqvist on Unsplash

You are supposed to be so good they can’t ignore you

If I had a dollar for every time someone told me how lucky I was to be doing what I love…

Look, do what you love, love what you do, follow your passion, all of it is terrible advice. It just is.

We often struggle to figure out if we truly love doing something or we just love the idea of it or the rewards we imagine.

And that’s why it gets tricky.

Continue reading

Whether You Can or Can’t, You Can Always Try

Photo by Moritz Mentges on Unsplash

Do or do not, there is no try.

Yoda

This is one of those clever quotes that get passed around quite often.

When it’s do or die, most people tend to do.

But what if it’s not? What if you won’t die if you don’t write the blog post if you don’t send the e-mail?

Continue reading

Are You Addicted to Self-Help?

Photo by bongkarn thanyakij on Pexels.com

The obvious issue with self-help is this: its ultimate goal is to reach a point where you no longer need it.

Think about it: The whole goal of personal growth is to build yourself to be the person you’ve always wanted. The whole point of pursuing happiness is to reach a point where happiness no longer has to be pursued.

Continue reading

When It Hurts So Much You Can’t Even Turn It Into Words

Photo by Nick Fewings on Unsplash

I only ever experienced real writer’s block once in my life.

March 2014 was the worst month of my life. My grandfather died, my girlfriend broke up with me, my father decided to never speak with me again, and I had to struggle with quite a few serious health issues.

Not the end of the world, but the closest thing to my world ending I had ever experienced until then.

When it comes to writing, my mantra is, “Punch the damn keys.” I once wrote that, “if done right, tears turn into gold.”

Continue reading

Introducing: raconteur

This is crazy, in more ways than one.

I started this blog in April 2012 because I wanted people to read my fiction. I wanted to write books, sell books, and then make movies from those books.

That was the goal, and that was my plan ever since I wrote my first story fifteen years ago. Or was it sixteen years?

No matter.

And, even though I never shared this, any project I ever embark on is flavored by a bit of regret. I could spend the time, the money, and the energy writing stories, working on my novels, and so on and so forth.

I do not want to regret not sharing my stories with the world anymore.

That’s why I am launching raconteur.

It’s simple. A story every week. Just like Ray Bradbury used to do.

One story every single week, no matter what.

This is the first story:

Click here to read

You can also find the stories (and a bit of extra stuff, such as eBooks, exclusive behind the scenes, and an opportunity to spend some money and support me) both on patreon and on substack.

For as low as $4 a month you get access to every story I publish, and get to download every novel I ever published.

That’s about it.

I’ve got a few stories to write.

Cheers,

Cristian