Follow Your Passions and Make Your Dreams Happen
Roughly 4 years ago, near the end of 2013, I decided to leave my job of 20 years as Director of Computer Operations at Trader Joe’s. I had some money saved up, and I wanted to fulfill my lifelong dream. I mean, how often in life are you in the position to achieve your dreams, or at least give it a good, solid try.
When I was nine, I bought a few books by Isaac Asimov from a used book store called Arts Books.. I loved that place, and often crawled through it’s shelves looking for treasures. Books and more books! Science fiction, fantasy, World War II, history. I had so much fun in that store.
Anyway, Dr. Asimov could and did write about anything, and he wrote in such a way that even I, only nine years old at the time, could understand. Isaac Asimov wrote science fiction, including the Foundation series and the Robot series (the one that the movie I, Robot is based on), history and science, among other subjects,
I decided I wanted to be a writer like Dr. Asimov. I wanted to write about a variety of subjects and genres, and I managed to write some papers for school, a few stories and one manuscript that was rejected.
Unfortunately, life got in the way, I had to earn a living, raise a family, care for a very sick wife until she passed away, and so on. Because of that, the writing went on the back burner. Oh, I did lots of writing for work, technical manuals, user guides and so on, but not the kind of writing that I wanted, and nothing that would sell.
The technical and proposal writing gave me experience on how to write and make any subject interesting. During my 33-year long computer career, I wrote hundreds of manuals and proposals, thousands of letters and memos, and hundreds of specifications. I learned to interview and to write fast and furious.
In 2013, I decided to take a chance and become a professional writer. I had some money saved up, enough to last a while, and the stress of the work was causing physical and medical problems. I felt like I was “working for the man” instead of achieving anything important.
In the 4 years since, I’ve:
- Published 63 books of my own
- Ghostwritten 16 books
- Updated Cyberheist, a book about computer security
- Edited and help with a major Internet of Things book, Digitize or Die
- Written hundreds of articles for my blog
- Written hundreds of articles for other blogs, as guests posts and for pay
- Watched 2 of my books, Focus on LinkedIn and How to Sell on eBay, climb up to Amazon bestseller status on Kindle (top 100)
- Written over 150 LinkedIn profiles
Finally, I am achieving my dream. How many can say that?
You too can achieve your dreams. Sure, you might have to work a job while you are doing so, and you might have a family to support, but you should always leave room in your life to get further towards your goals and dreams.
Leave a comment. I want to hear about your dreams.
Richard is the Owner and Senior Writer for The Writing King, a bestselling author, and ghostwriter. He’s written and published 63 books, ghostwritten 40+ books, as well as hundreds of blog articles.
