One of the things that has occurred down the years here at StandUpRight.ca is a continuous development, an evolution, in the things that interest me and that I write about.
I’ve moved from posture blogging to
- Exercise, to
- Healthy living, to
- Success, to
- Ergonomics and working from home, and finally to
- Living with depression
Along the way I’ve always kept in the back of my head that this is ultimately to be a business. I have acquired certain knowledge and skills, and I think I can package some of them up into things that are both useful, and valuable.
One of the things I’ve looked at along the way is copywriting. How do I improve my writing, how do I learn (in the words of the incomparable Ray Edwards) “to write the words that sell.”
As I’ve pursued that particular knowledge, I’ve stumbled upon some truly gifted and skilled writers, among them the aforementioned Ray Edwards, along with Ben Settle, Troy Broussard and Mike Kim.
On the off chance any my maunderings ever get back to them; gentlemen, I try my damndest to always give credit where due. If it ever seems that I’ve stolen your words, it is only because I failed to give that credit and doing so was not done maliciously, but by oversight.
Anyway, in today’s email, Mike made the statement, “If you’re not defined by the vision of your future, you remain defined by the memories of your past.”
Bongggggggg
That sound was ol’ Andrew getting smacked upside the head. Mike distilled my struggle, to overcome a lifetime of inertia, childhood programming the effects of depression, and to move on with this little entrepreneurial venture of mine, into 19 simple words:
If you’re not defined by the vision of your future, you remain defined by the memories of your past.
Every time I start to get a bit of traction, I seem to get bogged down in my depression. Lately I’ve been working (and writing) on strategies to combat that. In short, I’m struggling to break free of the chains of my past, and to define my own future.
Well, Mike just gave me another strategy. If in doubt, just ask myself one simple question:
Do I want to be defined by the vision of my future, or by the memories of my past?
Thank you Mike.
So what is my future?
Hell if I know, I’m still working on that. But the one thing I know for sure is that I’m trying hard to break free from the chains of my past so I can choose that for myself.
