Read time: 5 minutes
"My practice of writing allowed me to go from crippling grief in a mediocre life to living inside of a dream come true. I want the same for you! I want everyone to capitalize off the incredible change that a journaling practice can inspire without the need for a motivating crisis!!!"
Can you think of a time when you felt so motivated and enthusiastic that in that moment, nothing could bring you down? Maybe you just watched a really good motivational video. Maybe it was right after a solid workout when all those hormones and endorphins are still flooding your system. Maybe it was completely random when you woke up on the right side of the bed one morning. That's when you think "I can't wait to get started on that, maybe next month when I have some time off" and move on with your day.
That moment passes and so does the day. Then a week goes by and then a month and somewhere down the line you forgot what that feeling felt like or what it was even about. It came in a bang, it had some tea, then it left in a whimper.
My name is Mykhaylo and I know this feeling all too well. Lofty thoughts and big dreams, residing solely in my brain for most of my life. Months passed and years disappeared with barely a handful of memories as evidence that I was alive.
You ever heard the saying "never waste a perfectly good crisis"? It comes out a lot in politics but the idea applies to everyday life in the following way. Times of peace and comfort breed complacence. “Things are okay right now, I’m getting by”. When nothing is "broken", there is no motivation to "fix" it or change it. The powerful idea here is that:
Crisis inspires change.
My crisis was the sudden death of my closest friend. To anyone who has experienced this kind of devastating grief, you understand all too well the days, weeks, and months of not being able to function. Not being able to work or play. Not being able to clean and feed yourself, let alone keep your space clean. In those despair-soaked days, I couldn’t shake the heart-shattering thoughts that my friend’s ideas stayed in his head and will never make it into the real world. Naturally, I found myself thinking more and more about all my ideas that I never worked on. A brush with death in this way is sure to make anyone start to question their life choices. So, I had 2 options. I can stuff these feelings and memories down and manage the attacks of grief as they came up. OR I could completely re-orient my life in a direction that gives profound meaning to my experience of loss. This crisis will not be wasted. The death of my closest friend will not be meaningless. Not when I’m still breathing the air that he no longer can. I decided that I was going to do a little bit more than the nothing that I usually do.
I started writing things down.
At first, it was whatever came up. I wrote about my anger, my anguish, my disappointment, and fear. I kept writing and writing so that the storms in my mind had a release valve through my pen. Long story short, no longer trapped in my brain, my words began to take the shape of plans to actually do something other than stare down my nose in thought. First order of business: drop out of my Masters program and quit my job to travel and live in my car, documenting everything along the way, of course. I gathered a small following on Instagram at the time as @thewanderingmike. After that 4 month adventure, I started a small business and it was so good to me that only 1 year after launch, it allowed me to write in my journal “where do I want to live”? In Ontario at the time, I made the choice to pack up my car and start driving to beautiful British Columbia. I had no job lined up, I had no friends to help me get settled, and I had no idea what I was going to do when I got there. All I knew was that I wanted to live in the mountains that I’d been fantasizing about for years. All I had to my name was whatever I could fit into my car, a short-term room rental in a house, a little pile of cash I saved up, and an almost surreal feeling of intuition that this is exactly where I am meant to be.
I started my business in BC and it was a huge success. Soon enough I caught myself in a familiar place, thinking “things are pretty good, I’m getting by”. Stagnation. Complacence. Unacceptable. My business carried no meaning, it is just a means for me to feed and house myself. I deeply wish to use my time on this earth to brighten up the world, to help others find meaning and happiness. This drive is what brings me here today with all you beautiful centers of the universe.
My practice of writing allowed me to go from crippling grief in a mediocre life to living inside of a dream come true. I want the same for you! I want everyone to capitalize off the incredible change that a journaling practice can inspire without the need for a motivating crisis!!!
Please, please, please here me when I say: you do not need a crisis to begin creating the life of your dreams. All you need to get started is a pen and some paper.
Begin a regular journaling practice and take it seriously.
This website is designed to do exactly that!
- Dance around the "learn" section and teach yourself how to take control of your life, 1 word at a time.
- Invest in our journals. Having a special, divine place for the contents of your beautiful mind is an important part an effective journaling ritual.
- Share this website with your friends! The power of writing things down is for everyone!
- Begin today! You don't have to change your life by tomorrow, but starting your practice of writing things down will surely play an important role in the building of your best life.
As long as your lungs are working, “later” is always too late.
No matter where you are in life or mindset, you’re right on time.
Rise up. Write it Down.
Get going.