Embrace the Mud: A Veteran Poet on Discipline and Craft

When I was younger, about 12 years old, I was 230 pounds, and I'm only 5 foot 3 inches tall, so I'm rather short.

And at that height and at that weight, I was considered really obese.

So I slowly integrated then.

Bodybuilding at the age of 16 is when I first walked to the gym into my lifestyle.

And then I saw through bodybuilding how they try to teach a discipline of integrating small cohesive meals throughout the day so you don't overeat.

You don't eat too much.

You don't eat too little.

You have the right amount of protein.

You might watch your macros and your macros.

And it worked for me.

But then I thought, okay, what if I integrated that more into my other aspects of my lifestyle? So then I have a set time for poetry writing.

I have a set time for music writing.

And then I'm able to get it done every day.

Even if it's 15 minutes, it's 15 minutes of progress.

So I was able to then take small steps and allow that into my lifestyle, starting with bodybuilding and then the poetry and then the music.

And it just took off from there.

One of my guests who is a writer recently said that to be a writer, you don't have to write for pages.

Even if you write for 10 minutes a day, that's fantastic.

Even if you write for two minutes, keep that discipline.

Write a little bit and it can add up.

People tell me a lot of times, like, I don't have time.

But then normal people work a nine to five job.

So then they have normally a one hour lunch break.

Could you take 15 minutes on a notes app on your phone or 30 minutes and start writing that novel that you want to write? Think about it.

How important is it? If it was important to you, if it was a priority, you would start it.