Writer Mark Eglinton doesn’t wait around, hoping for work to come his way. He hustles. He goes out of his way to find work. In my interview with him, he said:
“I don’t sit around waiting for life to happen to me. I want to make sh*t happen.”
After Mark’s father passed away and his marriage fell apart, he decided it was time to figure out what he wanted to do with his life. He always liked writing. He remembered the words of one of his teachers from high school: “You’d make a good writer.”
Instead of wishing upon a star, he started to hustle. He didn’t wait around hoping for inspiration to strike. He didn’t create a five-year life plan. He got a job as a caddy! It was a job that he had always enjoyed. From his job as a caddy, he learned he was good at connecting with people. He was good at asking questions and learning people’s life stories.
Mark has since put that skill to use as a ghostwriter and co-writer for famous people like John McAfee and KK Downing of Judas Priest.
Mark made the midlife career switch by begging low-grade websites (his words) to allow him to write for them. He posted a few articles for various websites, then used his connections to get a crack at writing a book.
I was amazed at the transformation. If you listen to my interview with Mark below, you can hear me stumble over my words, trying to think of where to go next. The dude literally just started writing because he thought he’d be good at it! And he made it work. People now pay him to write!
I wanted to know all the details, how did he do it? How did he write that first book about someone else’s life with no experience? In Mark’s words:
“You just do it.”
I love Mark’s story. I love his enthusiasm and hustle.
What are some ways that you can hustle to make a change in your life?
Go make sh*t happen.
If you want to listen to Mark’s story firsthand, check out the interview I did with him on my podcast below. You can also listen to a more in-depth interview about his writing and life story on the Infinite Pie Thinking Podcast below.
This post originally appeared on aaronolson.blog.
