3 Valuable Life Lessons I Learned From Writing My Book

I started writing “Blank Canvas, How I Reinvented My Life After Prison” in the Otisville Federal Prison library.

I wrote 1M+ words over 6 years to arrive at the 52k words in the book.

There were many lessons learned over those 6 years; here are 3 crucial ones:

✔️ Consistency is King:

It’s not sexy or glamorous, but it’s damn effective.

Every day, for 3.5 years straight, I’d write for 2 hours (I still do this to this day).

Even if I didn’t want to, even if it felt like I had nothing to say.

I’d sit my ass down and connect with one of my favorite Hemingway quotes:

“All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.”

I battled crushing self-doubt, fear, shame, and insecurities every day, and when the 2 hours were up, I was still standing.

And I was better for it.

We don’t stumble accidentally into purpose, mastery, and meaning.

We must show up consistently and intentionally.

The days we don’t want to, but still do, are the days that expand our lives exponentially.