Marcus Lopes's Blog

Sometimes, to achieve your dreams, to focus on what matters, you must disappear. Go off the grid. Be alone with yourself. Not everyone will be able to handle that or understand why, but it is important for your becoming. Because you are sacrificing who you are today to become who you want to be tomorrow.

Disappear

Shut it all down. Your phone. Your Netflix account. Everything and anything that takes you away from your dreams. Disappear so that you can do the work and get it done.

And, yes, oh, y...

If you want to change your life, it’s more than telling yourself, “No more excuses.” It’s more than discipline and willpower and having a positive mindset. And it’s more than just believing in yourself when no one else does, when it feels like everything is going against you. Change requires—demands—that you ask yourself, “What are you willing to sacrifice to get where you want to go, to become who you want to become?”

What is hard about change is that you must st...

Disappear…

Go off the grid.

In silence.

No one needs to know.

Just do the necessary work to become who you want to be.

Your results will speak for themselves.

Yes, just disappear.

And remember: You are loved, you are worthy, and you matter. And, best of all, you do not need anyone’s permission to be—unapologetically—who you are.

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Begin where you are. Do not wait for inspiration. Do not wait for the right moment, the right circumstances. And, above all, do not wait on someone else to give you permission. Waiting holds you back, holds you hostage to a life you don’t want and that does not belong to you. You may be afraid, and the future may be uncertain, but you must just begin where you are.

Over the past eleven months, I’ve written a lot about change, because I wanted to change me and my life. And th...

Sometimes we make a choice that, deep down, we know isn’t in our best interest. It is contrary to who we want to be. And we do it over and over because it keeps us comfortable. We’re afraid of facing all the things in our lives that are bothering us. That would mean “identifying what in your life can be fixed, changed, and transformed.”1 That is why the choices we make drive who we can and cannot become.

The past week was hard. Because I made the wrong choices that sabotage...

How many promises have you made to yourself? Tomorrow I’ll go to the gym. Tomorrow I’ll start writing the business plan. Yes, tomorrow I’ll start eating better. It’s that tomorrow syndrome that enables us to put off our dreams and watch others succeed. I know. I’ve been there. “No more sugary treats,” I tell myself, “once I finish this package of Twizzlers.” Until I’m in the grocery store and Twizzlers are on sale again. When you’re in a battle against who you are and who you want to be, ask you...

I was looking forward to the Family Day long weekend in February. My partner was heading out to spend time with his family, and I was excited about a couple of days alone to rest. But instead of enjoying a couple of truly restful days, I ended up sick with the stomach flu. And as I lay prostrate—sometimes on the sofa, other times on the bathroom floor thinking that this is the ‘end’—I couldn’t help but think about life. Specifically, I thought about how, for months on end, I’d tried unsuccessful...

It’s rare for me to get sick, or at least sick enough to call in to work to say I’m staying home. The last time it happened was during the pandemic when COVID finally caught up to me. And I can ‘easily’ deal with a head cold, but when I recently contracted viral gastroenteritis (stomach flu), I got knocked down for the count. Despite what I thought I knew, despite what I expected of myself, I had to acquiesce to it.

The day started like any other, wit...

The past ten months have taught me a powerful lesson: change is hard. Even if you committed to doing what was necessary—what you knew would make a difference—a bad decision can change everything. It sends you back to your comfort zone, back to the bad habits that keep you stuck. And it’s not, then, that change is hard, but that it also feels impossible. Until you realize that the obstacle is the way.1

Lately, overwhelm has ruled the day, and I let that take away my power. Whil...

I thrive on routine. A routine grounds me and creates the momentum that keeps me focused on my goals. Over the past few years, though, my routine has been disrupted—completely upended and turned in on itself. For many years, I woke up around 3:00 am to write and run. It was the one time of day, in that stillness, where I felt most at peace. I could hear myself think and focus for an extended period. Now, staying focused is a daily battle that I don’t always win.