9. Read a book

Imagining yourself as an underdog out to prove the naysayers wrong is a great motivator. The key to sustaining your motivation is to use your imagination and reframe the mundane, uninspiring activities or situations into something that gives you a sense of purpose.

Wherever you go, take a book with you, unless you know you definitely won’t be reading (like at a movie). 

If there is a time when you have to wait (like at a doctor’s office or at the DMV), whip out your book and read. Great way to pass the time.

Most of what gets described as “good writing” is so described because – one way or another – it sounds right. It flows and slows when it should, the stresses fall naturally on the words that the writer wants to emphasize and the reader doesn’t stumble over unintended internal rhymes or clumsy rep...