How To Enjoy The Process

The only times I can really remember crying, aside from deaths, is when I’ve had to move from one thing to the next: at middle school graduation, at high school graduation, at college graduation, moving from my first NYC apartment to my second.

The funny thing, in retrospect, is that each thing I cried about moving on to became a thing I cried... See more

When I’m in writing mode for a novel, I get up at four a.m. and work for five to six hours. In the afternoon, I run for ten kilometers or swim for fifteen hundred meters (or do both), then I read a bit and listen to some music. I go to bed at nine p.m. I keep to this routine every day without variation. The repetition itself becomes the important... See more

When I go into a situation, I try to keep a mindset of baseline optimism.

• When starting the day: It’s going to be a good day.


• When meeting someone new: I’m going to like them.


• When trying something challenging: It’s going to work out.

Problems will inevitably arise and I’ll deal with them as the situation demands, but my preference is to assume I’m... See more