7 Ways to Overcome Your Writer's Block and Finish Your Book

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1. Read an inspiring book

2. Yoga

3. Fitness

4. Walk in nature

5. Listen to music

6. Meditate

7. Write a letter of gratitude

Reading Louise Hay’s I Can Do It, I finally removed all my doubts and fears about claiming my genius as an author.

I love reading books that inspire me.

My favorite books feel like something within myself and speak to my soul.

Instead of using my brain to analyze the information, I feel a profound sense of peace and resonance.

When I was searching for love, I couldn’t find it anywhere.

It felt so distant as if there was an “ACCESS DENIED” sign in front of this desirable thing called love.

When my lover left, I was in deep grief.

I thought it was the loss of love from others that made me sad.

However, it was the lack of consistent self-love that created the emotional drama and the separation.

Before I understood the laws of the universe and the spiritual principles, I lived my life as a physical being, fully identified with my ego.

I woke up and thought about how to have more:

More validation from my peers, more recognition from my career, more possessions that built an illusion of my superiority.

But this ego-centric pleasure was fleeting.

After the initial feeling of novelty wears off, I was back to exactly the numb, unsatisfied, and mediocre state where I started.

There must be a way out of this mental prison.

I couldn’t repeat the same action and expect different results.

I remembered the quote from Einstein that the solutions could not come from the same level of the mind that created the problem.

One morning, while I was roaming Changle Road in Shanghai, I was attracted by an indie bookstore Garden Bookstore. I had an espresso and flipped the pages of the book The Vortex: Where the Law of Attraction Assembles All Cooperative Relationships. I was in awe the moment I read the first page because it illustrated all the sufferings and hurt in relationship patterns. This was my first moment of spiritual awakening.

I have always loved books since I was born.

I loved reading about the beautiful vast world out there and imagining myself one day traveling and experiencing various cultures and expanding my horizon.

My first book adventure came with the simplified versions of the world's classic literature.

I started with simple grammar and sentences from a condensed version of Alice in Wonderland. The entire book was less than 50 pages.

But I savored every single new word I learned from the book.

I consider reading an incredible experience because our amazing imagination empowers us to read the thoughts of a great author who constructed a virtual world and the fantastic experience with just 26 letters from the alphabet.

Reading an inspiring book to me is as satisfying as eating at a Michelin 3 Star restaurant because I could experience all the nuances and details the talented chef has created from his imagination after decades of mastery of his craft.

We, humans, have around 60,000 thoughts every day.

And if we do not proactively change those thoughts, we will end up thinking the same thoughts day after day. And that is why our life can become stuck when our minds are closed off to new ideas.

With a tiny change of one core belief, we could create a quantum leap and paradigm shift.

That is why you could be the Mozart of our age and compose great music.

You could be the genius artist who inspires the world into new ways of self-expression.

You could be the Michael Jackson who dances like nobody else has done before.

You could write your own novels and nonfiction because the divine genius is craving an outlet to flow.

When I first studied in the US, I knew I had a lot of opportunities to improve my English. So I took every chance to become better.

I chose a dorm room with two American roommates, Chelsey and Sarah.

They turned out to be the most loving and compassionate people I have met in my life.

As an only child, I felt as if God is blessing me with two sisters for the first time in my life.

We chatted about anything in life every night. Boys, parties, greek life, academics, family, sex, shopping, thanksgiving, jobs, etc.

Chelsey has tremendous energy and love inside her heart. She laughed out loud in her showers and always gave me a tight hug for more than five seconds whenever she saw me on campus.

Every morning, it is either a “GOOOOOD MORRRRNING, Meixue!” Because she woke up early and ready for a shower and a nice breakfast.

Or a “FUCK my Life, I am late. FUCK. FUCK. FUCK my life.” Because she had a paper due for a 10 am class but she overslept and needed to fabricate some excuses to ask the professor for a late extension on her deadline.

Sarah has a sweet and caring nature as if she were Virgin Mary. She is a genius in literature who received a full scholarship that allowed her to study at any university in Indiana. Even the toughest professor Andrea Sununu gave her an A, which happened less frequently than the solar eclipse. And her mother Cathy frankly told me she had no idea how she gave birth to such a genius daughter because none of Sarah’s family members live up to her intellect.

When I met Sarah, I felt immediate love and peace. She always asked me whether I needed something from Walmart or Kroger because I didn’t have a car and she treated me like a family. And I enjoyed going shopping with her in the gigantic Walmart in Greencastle. When I first lived in Indiana, everything seemed so cheap and gigantic in size. It was a cultural shock that the Hershey's Kisses I used to buy in Hangzhou in small pocket size cost the same as a 3lb version. And the 7 dollars layered haircut with cute bangs in Hangzhou was what I missed the most.

To give me an authentic American experience, Sarah offered to cook something delicious for dinner one day. She asked me casually whether I had Mac n Cheese before. I told her no and was curious about the taste. And she was like as if I were an alien

“How could you never have had Mac N Cheese in your life before???

It is the best thing ever!!”

I have a soft spot for food. And her excitement for Mac n cheese made me look forward to having this amazing dish with a weird name called Mac and cheese.

So we bought the ingredients and headed to the kitchen downstairs in our Longden Hall.

The smell of Mac n cheese quickly spread across the entire common area. And several of our floor-mates dropped in with big eyes and hungry stomachs waiting to have some divine Mac n cheese.

To me, it was an eye-opening experience. Because I was not appreciating cheese that much at the early stage of my life in the US. I thought they smell like feet and fart.

But it was against my Asian nice genes to say how I really felt about the cheese. And I just wanted to show my appreciation for Sarah’s precious time and cooking skills.

So I forced myself to bite into that Mac n Cheese.

It looked like yellow poo from my perspective. And to my amazement, all of my floor-mates were exhilarated by the taste and told Sarah she was the best cook ever.

I couldn’t go that far to make that exaggeration but I ate to my greatest tolerance several bites of the yellow smelly poo-shaped "gourmet home-cooked Mac n cheese".

That was my first experience of American style optimism and “flattery”.

Fast forward, I was in New York City and during my lunch break while interning in Chambers Fine Art in Chelsea. I was an adventurous foodie by this time.

And every day, my happiness derives not only from learning something new in my internship but also from the numerous options to have lunch during my 1hr break.

I love the various options at Chelsea Market.

Every day, there are many tourists visiting the meatpacking district in NYC. The Highline Park and the Chelsea market are the best places to enjoy a peaceful view of the energetic city and the best gourmet food created by talented chefs.

I love the fresh and buttery lobster roll and ate it at the park or people watching while savoring a cup of hot, thick Wicked spicy chocolate on a fall afternoon.

But what I loved most was a tiny cute patisserie & bistro called La Bergamote.

The first time I visited there, I was so curious about everything on the menu because of the French words and I had no clue about what to order. I took time googling what the dishes might look like because the menu was written in letters.

After 10 minutes of googling, I decided to have a Quiche Lorraine Cheese & Bacon Quiche, Greens. I wanted something I had never had before, which is quiche. But I also wanted to have a good experience which was “Cheese”.

And I was delighted by how delicious the quiche tasted. It was fresh and fluffy and full of love. I wasn't feeling lonely when I ate alone at La Bergamote because I found that it was normal to eat solo in New York City.

The waiter gave me plenty of time and space to feel comfortable. I immediately fell in love with the idea of treating myself to different gourmet experiences and exploring what this city had to offer.

I moved to Shanghai after my father passed away and started a new job at Societe Generale as a relationship manager. I was new in my role and in Shanghai, I felt inspired by the energy of this city which seems like a sister to NYC in its rich culture, diversity, financial center, and creativity.

Because of the flexibility of the job, I have enjoyed many lunch meetings and explored my own roots. One of my favorite experiences was roaming through the French concession in the early mornings and having a cup of coffee with a croissant at Farine in Wukang Road.

Though the cafe is closed now. But I remember the happiness of sharing breakfast with my roommate Frida. She is an academic genius and an avid reader. She told me what inspired her about the book Zen and Motorcycle Maintenance.

I always planned to read more and go to the library someday but life just seemed so busy on the surface with my spa treatment, beauty appointment, and workouts. Just having a chitchat about the simple pleasure of life.

And the kind and beautiful barista remembered what I ordered the day before. When I reflect on my life, the most precious things have always been the simplest moments and feelings.

Now I am sitting in an airy room filled with light at the Tamra Library in Jeju Island, South Korea. I have just finished a series of affirmations from Louise Hay to remove my resistance to creativity and let my ideas flow.

Who knows? I can be the creative genius I have wanted to be for a decade.

When I let go of my self-doubt and ego’s need to compare itself to others to feel superior, life becomes a spontaneous journey filled with meaning and purpose. I love to share all my insights with you:)