Being broke is the ghetto. Let’s just get that out of the way first of all.

However, it’s useful.

Now I just know your eyebrows are furrowed. Ren, is everything alright? Are you feeling good?

Stay with me now.

I’m not advocating for you to empty your emergency fund, sell all your shares and stocks, and obliterate your bank account. That’s far from the point of this article.

But, if you’ve ever experienced being strapped for cash, or if you’re there right now, I’ve come to help you transform the way that you think about your time of lack.

Being…

Renee, what do you do?

The perennial question always used to bring me great anxiety. My brow would furrow, followed by a sharp intake of breath and an apologetic smile.

“I err, I do a lot of things.” I’d manage to stammer, usually followed by a confused smile on the part of the person who asked the question. Even some of my friends and family can’t pinpoint exactly what it is I do. One, because I do many things and they’re often still nascent. Two, I’m quite selective about what segments of my life I share with whom. …

I get it. We’re in a pandemic.

Money needs to be made. Bills need to be paid.

I’ve been there. Shoot, I’m still there and working it out.

So it must seem a bit stupid to pose such a question. And yet, it’s an important one, because the answer isn’t a clear cut yes or no. We’ve been coached into thinking that we need to turn every single hobby we’ve ever written into a multi-million pound empire. We’ve been hoodwinked into believing that our passions are our tickets out of financial insecurity. …

I have a love-hate relationship with writing.

Yes, I know. I sound like the typical 21st-century artist. Woe is me and my relationship with my gift.

Some days, I love writing. It brings me great comfort, allows me to articulate my thoughts, gives me the creative outlet I need from the humdrum of everyday life. And yet, there are some days I come to despair when I must sit down and write. Those are the days when my mind is blank, my hands are cramping, and my brain all but tries to shut down.

The conventional advice writers often receive…

That’s all folks. We made it out of 2020. Alive. Barely. Others were not so fortunate, and many of us have had to deal with the ill effects of their impromptu departure. We’ve dealt with job losses, economic crashes, draconian lockdown and mental health break downs. 2020, for many of us, has created the impression that we were wrapping up a new instalment in the Black Mirror series. No, that’s just real life, my good friend.

In the spirit of the classic, pensiveness brought on by the end of such a whirlwind year, I have spent some time reflecting upon…

Don’t let anyone fool you into thinking entrepreneurship is fun. Or easy. Or the greatest experience you could ever have in your life. Being an entrepreneur certainly isn’t for the faint-hearted, and if your heart isn’t in it, it’s not for you.

Now, I’m not saying you need to have some kind of grandiose, incredibly gratifying social mission to be able to be an entrepreneur. Hell, you could be in it just for the money and that’s just peachy.

What I am saying, is that if you don’t have an inner resolve strong enough to get you through the ‘winters’…

It’s 6 am.

You wake up to the sound of your alarm going off, albeit softly in this case. You yawn, stretch, and take a couple of moments to really commit to getting up. Then, you glance over at your phone. You’ve started this new thing where you try to meditate as soon as you wake up. The problem is, the notifications from yesterday and early this morning start to pile in.

One by one.

Your WhatsApp notifications — you forgot to turn off. And your work emails — it seems like someone's 6 am scheduled send did not, in…

Everyone is so fake.

There, I said it. Someone had to.

We are bombarded left, right, and centre by people telling us how good they are. Yet, amongst so many character flaws, we often block our own blessings by feeding our flaws.

Can you take a guess at what is your most harmful flaw right now? Don’t worry — I’ll help you out.

Jealousy.

The green-eyed monster of envy has reared its head in our lives at least a few times. With the unparalleled rise of social media in the modern era, it’s not surprising when we grow even more…