In his book, Kitchen Confidential, world-renowned chef Anthony Bourdain described his mentor asking him if he had any enemies.
“You know Anthony,” he said. “I have many, many enemies. It’s good, sometimes, to have enemies — even if you don’t know who they are. It means you are…important.”
I hate it when people don’t like me.
I hate it. I feel awful. I want to call them immediately and make up. I’ll do whatever it takes — just please take this awful feeling away.
After 4 years of writing, I had nothing to show for it — no followers, no views, seemingly no progress of any kind.
But finally, I started taking myself (and my work) seriously. Around year five, my writing exploded:
- I gained 20,000+ new email subscribers
- I received around 200,000+ views a month
- I signed my first book deal
- I made thousands of dollars/month from my writing
These incredible triumphs have also come with terrible lows, however.
I was publicly accused of plagiarizing and reported for it (it was an accident — I wish I could have explained my mistake privately).
