What Am I Gonna Do For The Rest of My Life

Photo by Fabio Comparelli on Unsplash

Hi

I just turned 70 years old this past May. In the night's stillness, I ask myself this question. What am I going to do for the rest of my life?

Will I sit still and focus on watching Netflix or Facebook?

No, I don’t think so. I love watching Netflix, especially the series, but I decided that’s too passive for me and too much of a waste of time. I may watch a series once a year…maybe. Facebook…well, maybe I’ll participate in a writer’s group if the group moves forward and I learn something from it. Time is something that we can’t buy with money or get more of as quoted by a famous person. I don’t remember their name right off.

Who really enjoys spending time on Facebook? It’s truly a time-sucker. Who enjoys seeing pictures of food or what someone is going to eat for dinner? And who can afford to watch mindless homemade videos of stupid human acts with dogs and cats or strange animals?

I know if I want to hone my writing craft, I can’t afford to spend time on Facebook unless I’m benefiting from learning a new skill or improving on my writing. Can you?

Writing is my future

I’ve been writing and blogging since 2012 on various platforms. It’s difficult to manage these social platforms and to build up your following. The hardest part is managing yourself and time. Even though it looks simple, it’s not. Learning how to write consistently takes some managing and setting priorities.

What works for one may not work for another.

But here is a general list to pull ideas from.

1. You must read often.
2. You must write everyday, even if you just write an email or journal.
3. It helps a lot to read what other writers did to find their writing path, but ultimately you need to find your own. What works for one person doesn’t always work for another.
4. Invest in your craft by taking courses to motivate you and learn from others. I read various works here on Medium and choose 3 or 4 people that I really resonate with and read their articles daily. I invested in digitalbusinessschool@ dariusforous.com.
5. Relax and take your time. Create a daily to-do list. I like using Notion.
6. It’s not important to check your stats everyday. Just write something.
7. Just do it, don’t worry about making mistakes. You will learn as you go.
8. Do the things that build your confidence.

Since I’m a visual learner, I like to create tasks and write them on colored paper, decorate them up with images and washi tape. Maybe I will doodle also.

Writing is a way of talking to yourself. It helps to solve problems, dream of the future, and enjoy communicating your thoughts to others. Writing is a learned skill and habit. It takes hard work and practice. I love writing and reading works by others. I’m convinced that I’m pretty ordinary when reading what other people have to say.

I’m going to leave you with this song written by Merle Haggard, titled “What Am I Gonna Do For the Rest of My Life”.

Life is short. What are you going to do for the rest of your life? Do you know? Do you believe in planning or just roll with the flow?

Thanks for reading.