When I started writing, I thought each article should be brand new. Even when I stayed on the same topic, I tried to avoid repeating myself. Later on, I realized the importance of reading other people’s work to get more ideas.

My problem was that I misunderstood inspiration and creativity. I thought inspiration was something you took from others and creativity something you took from yourself, as a skill.

In reality, you can be your own inspiration.

The more I write, the more I revisit my old content. The more I revisit my old content, the more I find holes…

The Alright Writer

Great writers are too idolized.

The Stephen Kings or Tolkiens of the world seem like unbelievable creatures. Beasts with a flourishing imagination. It’s easy to think they are special. They aren’t. They’re just as human as you are.

I used to think amazing writers relied on magnificent ideas. They don’t. “Alright” writers do. Good writers may as well. Most great writers are systematic. They have their own system. A system nobody can copy exactly.

If you want to become a great writer, you’ll need to develop your own system.

I’m not a great writer (yet), but here’s what I’ve found…

Positive self-talk feels wrong.

I’ve heard and read about it countless times. I even tried it. “You can do it! Don’t despair, this will be over soon,” I’d tell myself. Only to look at myself and think about how stupid that felt.

There are three positions on the topic of positive self-talk:

• You love it, do it all the time, and praise it all day long
• You spit on it, dissing it as some kind of pointless voodoo
• You have doubts. You don’t think it hurts but you don’t think it’s useful either.

I was in that last category.

Why is positive self-talk important

A…

It’s easy to look down upon bad habits. It’s much harder to accept good habits’ negative impacts.

I spent the past 3 years trying my best to follow good habits. I’ve failed countless times. I’ve skipped my morning gratitude pages. I’ve skipped working out. I’ve missed meditation. These mistakes have destroyed more days than I’d like to admit.

Positive habits feel great when you master them. You’re proud to have kept a streak. You’re happy for accomplishing what you set out to do. You feel your life getting better. And then life happens.

When you become addicted to good habits…

You’re not alone in getting overwhelmed by the amount of vocabulary to learn in a new language.

Everybody does.

Learning our native language’s vocabulary takes decades. I even recently learned the word for the part above a fireplace, the mantle, in my native French (manteau). At 30 years old.

Trying to learn a new language’s entire vocabulary is a mind-blogging task. That’s why it’s important to choose carefully what to actively learn and what to let go of.

My best friend recently started learning Japanese and he’s been saving words like 像 (elephant) or 松 (pine) because he wants to…

Learning a new language isn’t hard. What’s hard is fighting through the questions we ask ourselves.

After learning languages for over a decade, I’ve fought through the struggles countless times. I’ve found ways to keep learning and improve despite the doubts and challenges I faced.

If you’ve been learning a language for a while, you’ve asked yourself these questions. If you’re about to start your journey, you will ask yourself these questions sooner or later.

Either way, I hope knowing the answers will help you on this magnificent journey.

1. How can I stay consistent?

Learning a language is an ultra-marathon. It’s not about who’s going…

The Alright Writer

When I started writing online, in October 2018, I knew it’d take time. I had no idea it’d take that long though.

When I first began, I read articles saying you could grow quickly in 6 months. I read articles from people who made thousands of dollars within their first year. When it didn’t happen, I had to reflect on my journey. I had to consider whether writing was really the way to go for me.

I’m glad I didn’t give up. My slow progress showed me the true face of online writing. …