Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Justin Meyer. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Justin, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. What do you think matters most in terms of achieving success?

To determine what it takes to be successful, you must first understand what it means to be successful.

Modern society has asserted response: strictly financial. You are as successful as your bank account, assets, and spending power say you are.

This easy answer is quickly popped with perspective.

I have known people with more wealth than necessary, living in comfortable-to-lavish homes, with multiple cars and other expensive toys. They were all successful in society’s simplistic terms. By my estimation, some of them are the least successful people to ever enter my life.

Cambridge defines success as, “the achieving of the results wanted or hoped for.” For how many people on this planet does that include a life of solitude, of misunderstanding, of weak connections? Of time – our very limited time – spent on things and people that don’t move you?

Humans are social creatures. Our brains aren’t big fans of long-term isolation. We crave connections. Crucial connections. You know, love.

And that love is wider than friends and family. It extends to work. It extends to purpose. It extends to how you spend the 24-hour blocks you have available to you, for however long you have them available to you.

To be successful, you must understand yourself. You must understand what it is that pushes you, that eats at you, that drives you to wake up. Is it art? Is it math? Is it writing? Is it helping people? Is it competing? Is it leading? Is it providing the best life possible for your family? More than likely, it is some combination of things.

Once you have that answer or answers, then throw your energy into it. Give you best, always. Try, always. Grow, always. Embrace mistakes and failures. Listen to results. Keep it pushing.

Money is a fact of our current paradigm. We all need it, to some degree. Many of our definitions of success will involve some amount of it. But all definitions of success come at a price.

Nothing worthwhile in life is easy, and nothing at all in life is free. To be successful in what you deem that to mean, you will be required to make sacrifices. Success comes through investment. Investments have costs. They also have risks.

It might be a physical toll. Maybe it’s emotional. Maybe it’s spiritual. Maybe you will have to give something, or someone, up. But it will not be free, and when you are faced with the decision – likely a daily one – to continue on, you will do so with knowledge of your collateral.

This is what it takes to be successful. You must accept the costs, put your head down, and grind. It could be on a business, at a job, in a discipline, on a craft, on a relationship. The details may differ, but the steps are the same.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I have been a professional writer since the Clinton administration. In 1999, someone thought it was a good idea to pay a 4-year-old to write book reviews – at least they were children’s books.

I have honed my craft since. I’ve co-founded two publications, served as editor-in-chief of six, spent time at USA Today, The Columbus Dispatch, and the San Antonio Express-News, and reported all across the world. I have covered events from the presidential inauguration to strongman competitions. The pen and passion have paved my path at every step.

After a successful exit from my first media venture in 2021, I launched my freelance career in 2022. I have provided my clients with a vast range of writing work: reporting, blogs, white papers, website copy, SEO content, ghostwriting. The list goes on. If it can be written, I do it.

Sports have been at the core of most of my writing. For as long as writing has been my objective, sports have been right there. Sports writing and reporting are responsible for most of my international experience, have introduced to me to countless people who have changed my world, and taught me so much of what I know about writing, connecting, and life.

This is what sets me apart from others. No matter what I write, it has a personality underneath. My writing encompasses my lived experiences and the many lived experiences others have gracious trusted me with.

That is how I have grown the publications I have, gained the access I have, and achieved the results for my clients that I have. I understand how to create written content that resonates with people while still ranking well on Google and making waves on social media.

Potential clients, followers, and fans should know that my writing is a piece of me. I take great pride in my work but know I will always have room to improve. I am forever chasing a ceiling that doesn’t exist.

Is there a particular goal or mission driving your creative journey?

If you want to build a life for yourself without a creative pursuit, you have to be prepared to give yourself over to it. That means long days and nights honing your skills. That means pushing yourself to produce even when creativity isn’t bursting from your seams.

It also means not making much money, if any, for at least a while. Doctors have to grind hard, too, but they do get paid for it (eventually). Creatives have to hustle for every dime, usually forever.

That’s the way it is. If you can’t handle that, then go find something else to do. Law schools are open for enrollment applications.

Submitting yourself to creative work with the goal of money is a fool’s errand. If it is how you’re spending most of your time, then it does need to provide a living. And it is possible to get rich off the arts. But if wealth is the aim, then get a finance degree. Don’t do this.

So, money is not my goal, nor my mission, beyond the required amount I need to provide a comfortable life for my family. My goal and mission is simply to do it – to write, to create, to share, to improve. Life is not a game, it is a process, and that is wonderfully true in creative pursuits. The satisfaction of growth within your craft is immensely gratifying. Stepping back after years of anguish and seeing how far you have come is not something of monetary worth.

I also want to make my family and friends proud. I want them to be proud to know me, proud to have me in their life. The best way I can think to do that is to be the best person I can be, and the way I know to do that is to write. When I’m writing, I’m myself. When I’m not, I’m not. How can I be the best version of myself for the people I love if I am not myself?

This is what motivates me. This is why I do it. Yes, making money is nice. Up to a certain amount, it is imperative. I don’t reject it. And when I need it, that motivates me, too. But that is temporary. It is not why I write. I write to live.

For you, what’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative?

There is no template, no blueprint. You either do, or you don’t. It either resonates, or it doesn’t, If it does, try that more. If it doesn’t, guess again. A blank piece of paper becomes a beautiful work of art, all from an image in your brain. You solve a puzzle that doesn’t even exist. A challenge of that magnitude is a rewarding conquest.

Life isn’t supposed to be easy, and so art is not, either. Accomplishing or improving at anything hard is rewarding. Writing is generally done in solitude, making it a solo art. In some respects, this makes it more difficult, and that is rewarding.

Writing is among my main avenues for personal expression. This makes the act of doing so rewarding in of itself – putting my thoughts to paper clears my mind like few things do. Writing gives me a voice that reaches people and places my larynx never could. That’s pretty cool, in my book.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://justinmeyerwriter.com
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinmeyerwriter/