Posted in Asides, tagged momentum, random tip on April 11, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Keep moving. Don’t let yourself settle in before it’s time. When I get home from a crushing day at the office, I immediately change and hit the gym, at least 5 days a week. I know that if I sit down for 1 minute or make 1 innocent phone call, I’m toast; there’s no way I’ll make it to the gym after that. So it is with any endeavor that begs discipline.
I once read that over 80% of the fuel consumed by a space shuttle is used up at the time of lift off–do you understand?
Posted in Asides, tagged car ride, journey, random tip on April 10, 2014| Leave a Comment »
The hardest part of writing, as fellow writers on here can attest, is actually parking your butt down and moving your hands across that keyboard. Whenever I think too much about the grand plan, I get stultified. So I make a deal with myself to write for a short while, say 30 minutes or until my cup of coffee is finished, and I don’t worry about how much gets done or even how good it is.
I remember one road trip my family and I took when I was a young teenager. I don’t remember if we were going to Hoover Dam or the Great Salt Lake, or some other unordinary landmark, but the drive was long. Every so often, like whac-a-mole automatons, someone would pipe up and ask my Uncle Tim how much longer we had to go. “We’ll get there when we get there,” he said, smiting one of us back into his hole of patience. At some point, at some lonely gas station in the desert, we stopped talking about how much longer we had to go. We began sharing jokes, stories, riddles–and we had a blast.
When we got to where we were going, we spent 30 or 40 minutes, no more, taking pictures before hopping back into the SUV. As I said, to this day, I still don’t remember where we went exactly, but I do remember that rare car ride–when we had all surrendered to the journey. And I came to realize later in life, that like writing a book, it’s the car ride itself that you need, not the disembarkation.
Posted in Asides, tagged evernote, random tip on April 9, 2014| Leave a Comment »
EVERNOTE. Get it. It’s amazing. I don’t even use Microsoft Word anymore (especially since you have to pay for it). Everything you write on Evernote gets stored on a cloud and can be accessed from anywhere. I typically scribble short notes by phone and login later on by laptop to do my more “serious” writing. Also, I use the export-to-HTML function after each session so that I have a local copy in case my account gets hacked or their server goes down.
Posted in Asides, tagged decisions, writing on February 26, 2014| Leave a Comment »
Friends and family ask why I spend so much time writing. They either ask:
Why don’t you open up your own practice and make some real money?
Or
Why don’t you just take it easy?
To the first question: Actually, I drew up a business plan a long time ago. It includes everything from how much starting capital I would need to which cities contain the best patient demographics for my intended style of practice. But I realized that running a successful business takes all the time one can spare–time that I could spend writing.
To the second question: Actually, I do “take it easy.” I make time for work, but I also make time for play.
Ok, they say. But why write in the first place?
Posted in Asides, tagged views on February 7, 2014| 2 Comments »
Hey guys,
I’m proud to announce that I’ve just reached 25,000 views–almost exclusively through word of mouth! I could probably attract more views if I wrote about alkaline paleo diets or how to make “bank” while you sleep–but I would rather not prostitute my writing for the sake of views. I know some high-profile blogs out there might gather 25,000 views in a single day, but I’m just happy to make progress.
I still remember when I was averaging 10 views a day and I suddenly got 26 views on the day I posted “Why Not to Be Racist.” I was as high as a cloud. I even told my girlfriend at the time, “I can die happy now.”–no joke. Later, when I received 248 views on the day I posted “Peace and Fulfillment,” I felt that same high–but no better than before. One day, when I receive 1,000 views in a single day, it’ll probably feel similar to the day I got 26 views. It’s all just part of the journey baby.
I want to take this opportunity to thank my friend Adrian Manzano who encouraged me to start a Facebook account in order to have an initial audience for my blog (I used to be anti-facebook). The first few views trickling in kept me going, especially when my self-doubt was at its strongest. If you like my blog, the best compliment you can give me is to refer a friend or share your favorite post on facebook.
Thank you all, dear readers, for your support!
Love
A. T. Bui
Next milestone: 50,000 views
 | Athena B. on brb said she #7 |
| Sol Ulbricht on How to Not Be Self-Consci… | |
 | Alexandra Z on Summer Rain |
 | M on The Jealousy Cure |
 | A. T. Bui on The Vortex |
| A. T. Bui on The Vortex |
Choose to Take the Journey 