Look Within follows a boy who meets a stranger that he wants to be like when he grows up; the stranger helps him make a plan and sets him on the right track to achieve his goals. What was the inspiration for your story?

The Inspiration for “look within” came from a moment of reflection. I remembered a writing exercise I did in a business program I enrolled in many years ago. The assignment was to draw a picture of yourself 5-10 years in the future. After my best attempt to draw my future self, I explained my drawing in front of the class. All the details of the picture and how it related to my goals for the future. This always hit a core with me because I never really saw or knew anyone personally who looked like me or came from my background who achieved what I saw myself doing in the future. Since that time I’ve dealt with a lot of adversity and loss, but also hit many milestones and achieved a lot of the goals that I set out for myself. When given the time to reflect on my journey up to this point, I see a noticeable resemblance between myself and the drawing I made all those years ago. This realization was a very profound moment for me, and it set the stage for what I believe to be a timeless story with a message that can benefit anyone but most importantly young people discovering and setting out their goals. In the same way, these principles and values helped me.

Are there any emotions or memories from your own life that you put into your character’s life?

I think remembering a time when I was at my lowest point. feeling lost and unmotivated. It was a feeling like I’m wasting my life, I’m not where I want to be, and I don’t know what to do. I want to achieve things but I don’t know how to get started. These are the emotions that created the lost boy character in the beginning. And the time it took to learn myself, identify my values, who I wanted to be, and realize that my failure and success are ultimately my responsibility. and just the process of digging myself out of that dark place. Inspired the journey and relationship between the boy and his mentor Kim. I now see the importance of having a mentor and a support system to help guide you in life, I know I can’t go back in time, nor would I want to. But writing this book ” Look within” and exploring the relationship between The main characters is really me having a conversation with my younger self, just saying “it’s okay” and sharing what I know currently that I wish someone was there to share with me during those hard times. I hope to reach as many people as possible who might be dealing with the same adversity and feelings of self-doubt or hopelessness that I experienced as a young person. And ultimately experience the joy of accomplishing a goal that you set out for yourself.

What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?

The beautiful thing about this book is it’s simply written as ”A story about discovering the key to success”. Breaking down this concept as plainly as possible was the goal. three steps were described to act as a guide so to speak. 1) identify your goal. write it down so you have clarity of purpose 2) write a plan. actionable steps to take to achieve your goals. Asking questions and searching for answers to clearly create a path to achieve your goals 3) creating a routine. Establish good habits that will carry you through the hard times and days where you lack motivation. It was also important that we explored the environment because the three steps become increasingly difficult When your environment and friend groups don’t align, and vice versa if your environment is positive with like-minded people who uplift you it becomes easier to achieve your goals.

I will say the underlying theme of the book is a philosophy adopted in my life, which is the ideals of stoicism or being stoic, which is simply described as Calm under pressure. Understanding We can’t control what happens to us, but we can control our actions and reactions when things don’t go our way. Focus your energy on finding solutions and self-belief that anything you want in this life can be achieved. It all starts with Mastery of self.

What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?

Well, I’m very much dedicated to screenwriting currently, can’t disclose too much at this time. I do hope to have stories shared on the big screen soon. But, I am finalizing a graphic novel called “IM A ROCKSTAR” that will be released tentatively in December. Very excited about this next project!

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