Chapter 9: Write and live like Ernest Hemingway

Ernest Hemingway is THE legend – obviously. When I was teenager, I dreamed that I would have exciting life as he had. I mean, living in Paris, Cuba, writing all day long, meeting interesting people, drinking coffee and mojito, what´s not to like, right? And being Pulitzer and Nobel Prize winner doesn´t suck either.

And what does MY life look like? I´m 27 years old, I live in the small town in the middle of nowhere, I´m struggling to make a living as a writer – I live from paycheck to paycheck and I don´t have money for literally anything and I´m as far from Nobel Prize for Literature as one can be. Great, I´m living the life of my dreams!

Well, not really. But I´m sloooowly getting there. And I wouldn´t have it any other way! As time went by, I realized that Hemingway´s life wasn´t as idyllic as I´ve aways imagined (Especially the ending was very sad). However we can´t deny that this man lived his life to the fullest. And that´s what I would like to achieve as well. I don´t want to have life like Hemingway. I want to LIVE life like Hemingway. Enjoy every second of it.

When you are trying to become a writer, it´s only natural that you look up to the greatest writers of all time. But everything you see are amazing careers and success stories. And it´s not what you can expect right away. Don´t write for money. Don´t write for fame. Write just for yourself. When you are writing just for yourself you can call it pure passion. And if it is meant to be, success will follow.

And when you want to write exactly like the great Hemingway himself? It can be done! Did you know that there is app that can make you write like Ernest Hemingway? Cool, right? :) How does it work? Throw couple of sentences in the app and in a minute you´ll see how Hemingway would have written it differently. If you don´t believe me, try it for yourself (and have fun!).

Chapter 6: Lazy Sunday

Today I don't feel like doing anything

I just wanna lay in my bed

Don't feel like picking up my phone, so leave a message at the tone

'Cause today I swear I'm not doing anything

Chapter 5: Why Procrastination Doesn´t Get You Anywhere

I´ll do it first thing tomorrow. I´ll start on Monday. Or next month. Or even on New Year´s Day. Does this sound like you? Well, good news is that you´re not alone. Almost everyone procrastinates.

There are many reasons why we put off things we have, need or should do. It´s part of being human. Nobody is perfect. But when you want to achieve success, you simply gotta fight this nasty habit.

When it comes to procrastination, you can see it pretty much everywhere. Do you have to work out? It´s there! Do you have to make important call that makes you uncomfortable? You put it off! Are you going to foreign country and you have your chance to actually speak the language you´ve been learning for many years? You procrastinate again! Or do you have to publish your first article and face criticism? You move your „publish date“ to another day. If you are putting off small things like washing the dishes and it doesn´t bother you at all, it´s no big deal. Who cares, right? But when procrastination is seriously messing with your health or with your career, it´s time to do something about it.

Why do we do that? Everyone has its own reasons. I procrastinate because I hate to make mistakes. I want everything to be perfect. And I´m afraid that I don´t meet those high expectations. When I don´t know how to make something flawlessly, I simply don´t do it. And it´s the worst mistake I´m making in my life. Making mistakes and not being perfect is part of learning. And when you are not willing to make mistakes, you´ll never be able to deliver results. If you are anything like me, please, don´t be so hard on yourself. Most of procrastinators tend to be self-critical. Self-criticism is good but don´t over do it. It´s natural that you are afraid of failure but when you think about it procrastination is in fact definition of failure. When you procrastinate, you fail to do what you´re supposed to do. What you always wanted to do. What you need to do.

How can you fight it? It is easy and it is difficult at the same time. You can fight it by taking baby steps. When it comes to writing write every time you have a minute. Or five. Or ten. You don´t have to write for five hours straight. Just write down what you have in mind and don´t re-read it. Just leave it alone. When you´ll have a time again, try to squeeze couple minutes of writing among your other activities. Before you know it, you find yourself doing things you usually put off on daily basis and procrastination won´t be part of your life anymore.

Chapter 4: New Year - New Beginnings

Hey everybody! First of all, I want to wish you Happy New Year and may it be your best year yet! :)

When old year´s ending we simply can´t help it and we start to think about our life. Was that year good? Were our relationships with people good? Did we have fun throughout the year? Did we lose any weight? Did we make our dreams come true? New years is our way of starting fresh. It´s about forgetting (or learning from) old mistakes and trying again. I have couple of New Year´s resolutions as well. Let me share them with you.

Eat less, exercise more and therefore lose some weight. I know. That´s the obvious one. I bet there is only tiny group of people who are satisfied with their bodies. If you feel like you could/should lose ton or two, let´s do it together! 2014 will be year of sexy and healthy bodies! I know we can DO IT! 10^th time is a charm (at least for me:))!

Write everyday, so I get my first novel finished by the end of this year. Period!

Speaking of writing, I want to improve my signature because the one I use right now is just horrible!! Who knows, maybe I´ll become really famous someday and I don´t want to be unprepared. Truth is, I don´t want to be known as writer with worst signature ever.

Be more excited about little things in my life. Learning how to appreciate small miracles is part of enjoying life in general and being grateful.

Learn new things. Learn new language, master at least one great party trick... Learn how to make an evil laugh, because at this very moment, my evil laugh sounds like cute giggle of little girl and that´s not scary at all!

Do ballet everyday! Ever since I saw Black Swan I wanted to do ballet just for fun. But somehow I´ve always managed to find excuse why I shouldn´t try it. But not now. Not this year! I know that picture myself that I would look like this

but instead of that I will look like this

but I don´t care. I´m having fun doing ballet and that´s what matters, right? :)

How about you? Let me know what your New Year´s resolutions are!