Becoming Yourself

Developing a Better You

Author: Matt McMann (Page 15 of 94)

Matt McMann writes books for children and the personal development blog Becoming Yourself (becomingyourself.net).

A Reflection on Vegetables and Candy

January 20, 2024 / / 0 Comments

And now for something completely different.

This week, I’m pausing my personal development focus to update you on another part of my writing life. THE BEAST OF SKULL ROCK, book four in my spooky monster mystery series MONSTERIOUS (Penguin Random House), just published. MONSTERIOUS books are short, can be read in any order, and are great for fans of Goosebumps, Stranger Things, or Five Nights at Freddy’s. While geared for ages 8 to 12, they are a fun read for anyone who enjoys a fast-pasted thriller with lots of action, humor, and heart. THE BEAST OF SKULL ROCK is about twelve-year-old twins who try to save their grandfather’s spooky museum from a rampaging werehyena. 

If you only know my personal development writing, the topics of my published books may seem strange. I think of the distinct parts of my writing life like vegetables and candy. I love to eat both. This personal development blog is my “writing vegetables”, while my published books are my “writing candy.” Both are a part of who I am.

This blog has always been free, and I’d like to keep it that way. If you find Becoming Yourself helpful, one way you can support me and this blog is to buy my books for yourself or a spooky story lover in your life. Your support would mean so much to me! All four current books in the MONSTERIOUS series are available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and e-book wherever books are sold. For more info and buy links, visit my website MattMcMann.com.

My author wife Lisa McMann and I are heading out on a national tour in Feb & March 2024. If we’re coming to your area, I would LOVE to meet you! Check the graphic above for dates and locations. You can find more info here.

Thanks much for your time on this diversion. I’ll be back next week with a personal development post. I appreciate you sharing the road with me as you work toward Becoming Yourself.

How to Be Happy

January 13, 2024 / / 0 Comments

After twenty-six years, I was tired.

Being a professional musician was my dream. My focus. My passion. I’d fought, scratched, and clawed to make a living doing something I craved. Something I believed in. I loved it.

Until I didn’t. The passion faded, and I found myself going through the motions. I still had the skill, but I’d lost the heart. So I made one of the toughest decisions of my life. After thousands of performances, I walked off the stage for the last time.

Being an author was something I’d dreamed about since I was a kid but never pursued. When I chose the music path, I left the writing path behind me. 

But decades later, life led me back to that fork in the road. Walking away from music gave me the opportunity to walk toward writing. Tentatively, fearfully, I took my first halting steps toward my long-delayed author dream. It was hard. It was scary. It was daunting.

And I was alive again. It filled my thoughts, made me bound out of bed, and lit my heart on fire. The passion that once fueled my music career burned bright for my new creative pursuit. I went from a high level in my first career to the bottom rung of my second. And I was happy.

If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes.

andrew carnegie

Are you happy? Fulfilled? Do you have passion? Excitement? If not, follow Carnegie’s advice. Set a goal that commands your thoughts. Liberates your energy. Inspires your hopes. If you do, you’ll feel alive again, and you’ll take another step toward Becoming Yourself.

The Only New Year’s Resolution You’ll Ever Need

January 6, 2024 / / 0 Comments

Sometimes the simplest things are the most profound.

That’s what I thought when read my friend Tom Leveen’s recent author newsletter. He’s a fabulous writer and an insightful thinker. I hope you’re as inspired as I am by his words, and that they help you take another step toward Becoming Yourself.



You only need one resolution. THE ONLY NEW YEAR’S RESOLUTION YOU’LL EVER NEED:
  
Do one pushup, with a straight back, chest to ground, perfect form.
 
Can’t do that? Do one pushup from your knees.
 
Can’t do that? Do one push-off from the wall.
 
(Can’t do that? Call your doctor and make an appointment now, you are in a bad, bad way.)
 
Then tomorrow, do it again. Do it every day until you get comfortable. Then do two. When two becomes comfortable, do three.
 
Can you already bust out 50 pushups? Cool. Bust out 51.
 
Can you walk comfortably 10 minutes? Walk 11.
 
Can you jog for 60 minutes straight? Jog 61.
 
Do you need to reduce your added sugar intake? (Spoiler alert: Yes.) Total up all your added grams of sugar on January 1, and on January 2, eat 1 gram less. When that’s comfortable, eat 2 grams less.
 
You do not need to join a gym. Save your money. You do not need expensive running shoes. Save your money. All you really need is your body, and a clear space on the floor about the size of a prison cell.
 
The only resolution you ever need to make is to get 1% better every day. For the rest of your life.
 
Do that, and I swear to you you’ll be stunned at how many goals you’ve crushed this time next year. Physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, financial, creative. Whatever.
 
That is how I went from weighing 120 pounds and in the worst depression of my life to weighing more than 150 pounds (lean muscle!) and completing 13.5 hours of a physical crucible coached by retired Navy SEALs.

 

When a 60+ year-old retired combat veteran Master Chief who just an hour previous was screaming in your ear to GET OFF YOUR KNEES, LEVEN! shakes your hand, looks you in the eye, and says, “You did it! I’m proud of you!” you feel that shit in your soul, and it lasts forever.
 
The first time you bust out a Murph (1 mile run, 100 pull ups, 200 pushups, 300 squats, and another 1 mile run) in 75 minutes, you realize your old way of thinking about limitations is over.
 
The first time you bang out 50 pushups in 2 minutes, you start to re-evaluate your creative, artistic, and business goals.
 
The first time you knock out 5,000 words of a novel in one day, you realize the old paradigms don’t apply anymore.

 

Do not compare yourself to anyone else. You are only competing against your own baseline to get 1% better today than yesterday at your goal. 

That’s it. You got this. 1% better than yesterday.
 
Thank you so much for being here. I’ve got some great stories to tell you in 2024, I can’t wait to share them with you!

Take care, 
~ Tom

P.S.
My linktree is the best place to keep up with all my projects – YA novels, comics, horror stories, audiobooks and podcasts…all of it! I’ve started two new serials as well.

linktr.ee/tomleveen

Tom Leveen is an award-winning novelist and Bram Stoker Award finalist who has written for the comic book series SPAWN and fiction for the BattleTech RPG. For Tom’s YA, horror, and more, check out linktr.ee/tomleveen

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