Month: March 2024

There will be those for you and those against you.

Either way, it doesn’t matter.

Nothing can stop you but you.

It’s your decision.

It’s your mission.

It’s your life.

All you have to do is believe in yourself and get the job done!

Stop looking for permission from people.

Give it to yourself.

I like swearing when people aren’t expecting it.

I like having a posher accent in my area and relating to anybodies

I like shocking people out of the stupor by not walking at 1 billionth of a mile an hour.

I love dressing in my own way and confusing people.

I have to admit, I like getting strange looks from people. They can’t quite figure me out. You won’t believe me but it isn’t deliberate, it’s just who I am.

I encourage you to do the same.

Start living a life where you’re authentically who you are and little to nothing ‘bothers’ you.

It’s easy to look at symptoms and think you’ve got to the root cause of something but the truth is, most peoples’ thinking is shallow.

I’m all for exercise, going to the gym, getting out into nature, etc. but the idea that it’s the cure all for your worries is crazy.

We humans are universes of past traumas, to be fair, maybe I am more hung up on things, I’m not sure but I know you can’t ignore your past because it affects your behaviour right now.

I love getting to the bottom of things. I love freedom and I still have a longing desire for peace.

It’s the steps you take, no matter how big or small, that make the difference – take these posts. I started blogging daily in February 2020 and I have now surpassed 250,000 words! Quarter of a million by writing for basically a few minutes a day. It seems impossible but I’ve done it.

Don’t be shallow, don’t be surface, be so curious about your nature that you unlock your true potential.

Yes, okay, bumpiful isn’t a word, well, I’m making it one.

Any quest of self-discovery is going to uncover shocking truths, days when you don’t feel like getting the essential things done and bumpiful sections of the road.

Now, why bumpiful? Full of bumps yes, but clearly I’m also doing a play on words of beautiful. 

Life would be very boring if there was no variety, no opportunities for growth and that’s what the bumps are for.

I recently started uploading shorts to YouTube. Within days, I’ve had my first negative comments and guess what, I take it as a sign of progress. Clearly something is striking a nerve otherwise why would they feel the need to leave their thoughts for all the world to see?

The key is to realise there will be people against you and people for you. Get a negative comment? Probably not ‘your people’.

Learn to have a laugh with it all!

This morning I saw someone tweet that you should be a humble narcissist in order to be successful – that you should always think you’re numero uno but learn from people better than you?

Trying to get attention so hard does weird things to peoples’ psyches, it makes contradictory terms clickbait and it screws with peoples’ heads. I’ve seen it so many times.

Humble and Narcissist do not go in the same sentence.

Be the best version of you.

Learn skills and techniques.

And always remember that comparison is the thief of joy.

Have you noticed how people really hate themselves?

They’ll never give themselves a break.

Maybe it’s because I’m observing much younger people and maybe with the wisdom of age, my perspective is very different.

I see this phrase A LOT – “if the work you did six months or a year ago doesn’t make you cringe, you’re not doing things right.”

Nooooooooo! Honestly.

Life doesn’t happen all at once, you know?

Life happens in stages and every stage is necessary. You had to go through all the different experiences in order to get to where you are now and where you want to go.

Maybe it’s flexing to appear like you’re making massive progress.

Maybe it’s simply unresolved ego but not only do you have to start out weaker before you get stronger, you also have to accept that this is just how the game goes. Accept yourself at every epoch and, speaking of ego, learn to let things go.

99% of the stuff you think matters really doesn’t. Live every day in the name of progress and play with it.

That’s the other thing I see a lot – people taking things SO seriously.

Nah, nah! Have fun, do the work, be successful!

My name is Martin.

I am a writer, author, dancer, pianist, composer, singer, artist, great cook, a walker, a jigsaw-completer and, of course, an aspiring businessman.

You are a man of many parts.

And it is critical you nurture your natural gifts.

I’ve made the mistake of ignoring a lot of these things for quite some time! And honestly, I managed to escape London in time for the countryside to be able to indulge these things again.

However small the steps, make sure you’re doing the things you love. It’s not how long it takes, it’s doing the important stuff that counts!

Do you seek permission?

Do you need peoples’ approval?

Do you have to wait for others to decide your life?

Yeah, stop that.

Yes, you feel anxious.

Yes, it’s scary to step out into the unknown.

Yes, it feels like you’re going crazy sometimes.

But life is for living.

Observe other people. They do things, they move in the world, did they stop and ask you if it was okay for them to do that? No, am I right or am I right?

Stop asking if you’re allowed.

Start asking what you’re waiting for!

Getting to where you want to be is scary!

BUT!

Determination is a wonderful thing, it allows you to do remarkable things and push yourself beyond the limits of your expectations.

Are you ‘allowed’ to do these things?

Yes! You are.

Does it feel weird? Yes.

Does it feel ridiculous? Yes.

It’s unfamiliar but if not you, then who?

Inspiration is one thing.

Perspiration quite another.

Changing your life, like the building of Rome, does not happen in one day.

I’ve produced a YouTube video every single day of 2024. I started with diddly squat subscribers on the channel.

For a while it grew to 18 followers, sat there apparently unwilling to budge. The other day, I checked my channel to see it had jumped to 20 (a nice round number) and this morning I checked to find, my mighty channel had jumped another two special people to 22.

A lot of the time, you will feel you are screaming to an empty hall, the progress not really visible but the project is noble nonetheless. 

Be brave, be consistent, remember that inspiration passes and the real work begins. It’s a lifetime’s work and, my friend,

It is so worth it!!!

If you want to find stress you can find it.

If you want to create stress you can create it.

I have certainly done both of those!

How? By being impatient and by being judgemental actually.

Here’s a question. What’s the hurry? What are you racing towards? Who are you racing?

I remember my ex always SAYING that he wanted peace and serenity but in the next breath wildly criticising someone or stressing over some tiny event.

I went on a massive walk yesterday and on my way back I stopped at a particular bench I love to sit at, there is an absolutely stunning view over the hills and farmland on the other side of the brook from it.

I heard marching footsteps and turned to see a young lad walking the path very very fast and I realise it was an opportune moment to see what I must have looked like when I was hurrying along, not really taking in the surroundings. It was a wakeup call and a reminder of how much progress I have made in the last few months.

That is what peace is truly about – being able to take in where you are, being present and being in a state of calm to appreciate the beauty around you.

I recommend it.

We really get some things wrong.

Or maybe I have a different definition? Who knows?! Getting people to agree even on facts is very difficult.

But when people hear the word humility, I believe a lot of people think of weakness or meekness – they should know their place and not take on airs and graces.

I see it slightly differently. 

We assume we have all the answers. I won’t say who it was that I was talking with last night but it got somewhat heated! I asked this person to stop, so desperately, clinging to this God/Satan narrative.

It’s clear the version of history we’ve been sold is misleading at best and totally false at worst. History to me seems a loyalty test to the regime, accepting what they call facts for brownie points.

Humility, to me, though would be best characterised as a desire for the truth, to see what is real, and never assuming anything.

Are there some things we cannot prove? It’s certainly possible.

I remember watching the film Contact growing up, where the main character, Ellie, was an astronomer, who had lost her father when she was very young. The film becomes a dichotomy between science and religion but actually ends on a rather positive if ambiguous note “our goal is one and the same, the pursuit of truth, I for one believe her.” Great film.

Never profess to have all the answers and never be so sure in yourself you alienate yourself from reality.

We lack humility frequently out of the fear of not knowing, of being afraid to say “I don’t know.”

There is great nobility in humility, to being open to things we don’t know yet.

It’s all an adventure.

Have a great day truth-seekers!

You’ll see it everywhere. People believe whatever they’re told or are fed what’s convenient to the powers that be for them to believe.

They’ll get emotionally involved in Harry and Meagan, or William and ‘where the fuck is’ Kate. They’ll believe news reports. If it weren’t so funny it’d be tragic.

No one wants to go down the rabbit hole and figure out actually what’s real and truthful. Except a few noble exceptions off course.

You’ll have heard the phrase ‘there are two kinds of people’ with various examples. Here’s one example.

There are consumers and there are producers. The latter is the more virtuous path if you had to choose.

Naturally, there are certain things that we need to feed ourselves but, to live an independent and powerful life, allow not yourself to be led so much. 

Question everything.

FOMO is real.

People can’t stand being left out and when you start refusing to share every tiny detail of your life, take it from me, they get angry.

Make no mistake, everybody wants a piece of you.

People stare, through cracks in their living room curtains.

They want a piece of your action but won’t work for it.

They can’t stand being excluded.

They have no lives of their own.

They want to ‘look out for you.’

Nah!

They’re fat.

They’re bored.

They don’t know what their cocks and vaginas look like anymore.

They want to shake you by the hand and say “I understand” and take the moral high ground.

It’s bollocks.

They’re jealous of you.

They see you doing stuff.

They want to pull you down.

They’re resentful you’re younger and better looking.

They desperately want to tell you their histories like it’s relevant.

When you step out into the world, a lot of people resent it.

Lift yourself up. That’s what you’re alive to do.

No one can tell you what is right for you.

They can listen and advice at best.

You know what makes your heart sing. You know the things you love doing.

So why aren’t you doing them?

You lack worthiness.

You lack confidence.

Knowing what to do is never the problem. 

Fear is holding you back.

Start living the life YOU were meant to live.

Wherever you can, make life as simple as possible. You have to get the basics covered to focus in on the harder stuff.

Let’s face it, we all have our struggles and things to sort out in our heads, you and I are no exception.

For ages, I have been recording different videos for different platforms and, like magic, it came to me. Sometimes the glaringly obvious can take a while to come to you. 

So I decided to change my mind and record one video and then clip it for different social media accounts, simple, integrated – creating a brand.

Let who you are shine bright.

And, of course, start living BIG!

I had an epic clearout of old photos last night. Pictures of holidays that I hadn’t looked at for years, holding onto things, wondering why my life was cluttered with this stuff.

What I also did was hone in on the dream state I truly desire, the beautiful home that I want to build and I am talking massive castle in the countryside, totally private, totally epic! 

You can spread yourself too thinly, thinking you can ‘make do’ with a house here, maybe a flat there, some cars. The universe will only deliver you meagre results if you go in half-heartedly.

You have to dare to dream big and then to match the aspiration with prolific action.

Remember, you are allowed to take up space in the world and those that will tell you you’re crazy are the ones who will go to their graves regretful and dissatisfied.

That’s not you. 

Stop Living Small.

Start Living Stratospherically!

There are things you know you just have to do.

Cooking, cleaning, washing

Building businesses 

There are always going to be things to do that are harder that you cannot avoid.

I was reading an e-mail from a chap I follow on Twitter and he reminded me of a great lesson you might have heard before.

STOP saying “I HAVE to do this.”

START saying “I GET to do this.”

You can try and avoid things but you know you feel wretched in your soul for not doing them. You try to circumvent, you try to negotiate. Up and down and over and under simply don’t work, do they!

No, my friend, the way is through and you put it off because it sucks as my therapist said to me the other day. Getting better at things often involves some pain but the simplest way forward is just to start, focusing not on getting it ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ but on getting it DONE!

Thoughts and feelings and declarations and intentions mean absolutely fuck all if you’re not taking action.

It’s essential to question what you’re doing in life and if it truly blends with your personality and the outcomes you dream of.

That being said, most overcomplicate things.

No matter what you’re doing, mixing with new people and developing strong, reciprocal relationships will boost you on.

Don’t try to do a million things at once.

What are you drawn to right now – yep, you guessed it, do that and let the next step reveal itself.

It’s easy to let things get you down. These days it seems it’s harder to live a normal life without getting into some kind of ‘trouble’.

There is stuff you want and you want it for good reasons.

And again, it seems like there are more and more obstacles these days to transcend.

Don’t give into despair, nothing is ‘the end’.

Let the knocks fire you up to show the world how unstoppable you are. You have it in you to overcome any adversity.

Find excitement, adventure and growth in everything. Test the limits.

Today’s another day to be great!

Over the last few years, I’ve had a baptism of fire with friends.

When I finally woke up to realise these people didn’t care about me and never did frankly, I had a cull.

It’s left me in a state of starting over again, fresh.

An old adage that many will have grown up with is “quality over quantity” – this is how I see relationships now.

If you’re in traditional work, this is harder. I had a nightmarish time with work colleagues which I also eventually gave up on. I’ve been kind of drifting since and I’ve basically found being on my own more relaxing but, naturally, it can get lonely at times.

There is a balance to strike.

And making the choice as much as you can to be around the right people is critical. You can bond over various things, hobbies/interests, how physical or intellectual your lifestyle is, how intimate you wish to be with people, these sort of things.

Find people you have an affinity with, this can be both online and offline. After you meet with various friends and acquaintances, how do you feel? Uplifted? Relieved to be on your own again.

Test the waters. Trust your judgement and be in relationships, as much as possible, that lift you up and don’t accept any shit from anyone.

Are you one of those people who thinks that saying “No.” has to be this dramatic thing? 

That you have to shout and rage at people in order to get out of something?

No.

Saying no is just as simple as making a decision that whatever you’re being asked to do or that’s an option for you that just doesn’t fit with your principles or your mission.

It is that simple.

The nobility of no lies in the power that you hold to control over what you want to do, what works for you – what will make your life better.

Again, that simple.

I’ve always said the problem in life is not knowing what you should do, it’s the confidence to stand up for yourself – the latter is where most fail. 

Don’t just do things because other people do them.

Do them because they’re the right thing to do.

Principled! Wonderful.

I’ve had a lot of very quirky friends.

Creative, intellectual, intelligent, talented – ‘out there’ friends.

Unfortunately, they were all, to various degrees, sociopathic and pathological in their habits e.g. alcohol, drugs, co-dependency in relationships. Not pretty and, in the end, rather explosive!

But, I will still stand in praise of the freaks but a different kind of freak now – the ones that get things done, solutions people, the outliers, those making a real difference by helping others.

Let’s face it, there are so many social media platforms and search engines with millions or even billions of people on them and a multitude of ways to befriend them.

Let’s start lifting the great personalities more and express our own unique voices.

It’s time to freak out – in a fun way!

Don’t we love a good plan! 

Yes, I’m going to do this at that time and that will leave me with this time to get that done and once all of that is done, I can relax because everything is fucking perfect.

Yeah, not so much.

You know the most important thing is this…….getting the work done.

When you have built your empire in five or ten years, will you even remember let alone care that you got your writing done at 11.15? Will it matter that you recorded your YouTube video at 12:45?

No, it won’t.

You’ll be satisfied that you got your daily work done and you went to bed happy.

Have a framework but, for goodness sake….

Give yourself a break and just be productive.

Here endeth the lesson.

For the whole of February and up to 5th March, I drank no alcohol.

Guess what? I felt great.

On the way home from my walk yesterday, I thought I really want some wine. I went with it.

This morning, I can feel the cloud. Fortunately, I know it will clear.

We learn through experience. Don’t beat yourself up, experiment and, after the fact, ask yourself this one question…..

How do I feel and trust the evidence of your intuition and your body.

Do I feel I succumbed to the urge? Yes.

Will it affect the whole course of my life? No.

Do I feel a little disappointed in myself? Yeah, perhaps a little.

Every now and then, you’ll need reminders.

Keep going and do it healthily. Do it joyfully.

Yep, it’s this old chestnut again.

The amount of times I see on X, 

“Gym or Therapy? Which one?”

Does it have to be a choice? Do you have to cut off a great avenue just because you think it looks weak or pathetic?

The funny thing is, the men who talk about forgetting therapy don’t realise they’re worrying about one hour a week. That’s literally it.

I know that everyone who has been in therapy, including myself, has seen their lives improve.

Is there a study I don’t know about which shows therapy lowers testosterone? Do great athletes not have personal coaches? Is a therapist not a personal coach for your emotional and mental states?

Of course, the real point here is why are you letting others decide the direction of your life. It’s up to you to decide and however you make your life freer and more joyful is good in my book.

Where it’s feasible, I am definitely an advocate of ‘both’. Get the benefits of everything at your disposal. Doing anything significant can be lonely as fuck.

Live life abundantly!

When you finally start to figure things out…….

Governments are not there to protect and represent their citizens.

Health services don’t want you well.

History is totally inaccurate.

Many people do not have your best interests at heart.

It’s quite easy to go a bit kamikaze, to start mouthing off and get angry with people.

Let’s try this.

When you have conversations, ask genuine questions in search of what people genuinely think. LISTEN. Find out what’s holding people back and you’ll start to formulate ideas of how to move through the world openly AND peacefully.

There are some morons you’ll encounter but for the most part, people have good intentions, they’re just sleepwalking.

You get to be awake.

The last few days, I have been extraordinarily tired. It’s like a second adolescence where I need loads of sleep, things feel a little disjointed.

When you break free from traumatic situations, it’s inevitable you’ll have productive days and others where you don’t get as much done.

I find it near impossible to completely relax, I’ve realised. It’s something I am working on.

Beating yourself up for it is pointless.

What point are you trying to prove?

And who are you trying to prove it to?

Make every day balanced with productivity, rest and enjoyment!

This really is my theme right now and my mission.

Have you found you often don’t know where you end and other people begin? Never let yourself give over to other people so completely you forget who you are.

What do you want?

Where are you going?

What do you enjoy doing?

Are you willing to define boundaries?

When will you set aside time for yourself?

Don’t avoid these questions because you’re afraid to admit you don’t know the answers. It’s fine. Pull yourself to a quiet corner, wherever you can and just ponder.

Don’t make a stress of asking but do take it seriously because it’s your life.

Everybody these days has a take on everything. So intrusive.

People will demand that you know it all about every issue. So invasive.

Decide what you think on things and anything else, discard. Focus on making your life enjoyable and when you share this on Social Media, speak as YOU speak, share your own opinions and if people don’t like it…..

THAT IS THEIR BUSINESS. Do not make it yours.

Express yourself freely, be open (when necessary) and honest and decide who you spend your time with based on whether they judge or accept.

Let’s bring the sparkle! The world needs your light!

And hell, don’t just pepper, positively pour pleasure!

What you tell yourself repeatedly will be your reality. If you keep telling yourself that your life will be difficult, then it will be. If you focus on being satisfied at the end of the day and you’re fulfilling your passions, your life will be fantastic.

Notice how most figure influencers will tell you that life is hard, life is a struggle, life is cruel and unfair? Also notice the results they get – prison, cancellation and also notice how they have to have millions and millions of followers – the massive need to do everything in public.

That’s not what I want and I doubt it’s what you want either.

Fame is a need to be liked. Plain and simple.

If you’re enjoying yourself, share it with your followers if you wish but make sure you’re keeping some stuff aside solely for yourself.

Ask yourself what you enjoy doing and do it, let it glisten on the tapestry that is you and please ignore people if they say “that’s for losers”.

No one knows you like you know you.

Be a seasoned lover of life. Go pepper my friend and pepper far and wide.

Go to bed earlier! Ha ha, this much is obvious.

But in seriousness, why are you going to bed later?

Searching for something are you?

The truth is, most search for answers outside themselves. They think that the next opportunity will be the thing to transform them.

Do you believe this too?

No, no, my friend. You have to start concerning yourself with YOU, who are you? What do you want?

You are either giving yourself away with both hands or, with other behaviours (drinking!!!) you are numbing yourself.

What are you afraid of? That’s a great question to ask.

You don’t have to have all the answers yet.

And also, want to wake up fresh? Have a purpose. Guaranteed that something exciting and meaningful to wake up to every morning will get you energised.

I am on a mission to buy back my family home in the village I’m now living in again. I have a picture on my wall opposite my bed so I am reminded every morning of what I’m working towards and………

WHAT IT WILL MEAN TO ACHIEVE IT.

The great Jim Rohn once said. “Set a goal to make $100 million not just for the amount of money but because of what it will make of me to earn it.”

Start asking yourself what YOU love.

Start asking yourself what YOU can do.

Start with you and let the answers come up when the time’s right.

Have a wonderful day.