Meet Michael Mohr

We were lucky to catch up with Michael Mohr recently and have shared our conversation below.

Michael, so great to have you with us and we want to jump right into a really important question. In recent years, it’s become so clear that we’re living through a time where so many folks are lacking self-confidence and self-esteem. So, we’d love to hear about your journey and how you developed your self-confidence and self-esteem.

I was always a cocky kid. But cocky isn’t the same as confident. I found confidence through getting sober, working the 12-steps, doing therapy, getting into meditation, and, for the first time in my life, being with what is actually here in this exact moment.

Great, so let’s take a few minutes and cover your story. What should folks know about you and what you do?

I’m an author with five published books. I also write essays and fiction on Substack at Sincere American Writing.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

1. Inherent self-belief
2. Life experience
3. A lot of book reading

Well, if you’re a young aspiring writer, first: Expect no money. At all. Ever. Especially in 2025. Second, be honest with yourself about your talent, skills and drive. How talented are you? How driven are you to succeed? Finally, read as many books as you can. All genres. Fiction, nonfiction. Then mimic it in your own writing. The best thing you can do, really, is to write every day, even if it’s just for 15 minutes, and read every day. Gain some interesting life experience: Move somewhere new, take a risk, date someone who intimidates you, risk being rejected, quit your job for a new one you like better, travel Europe solo for a month, etc. Life is material for a writer.

Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?

I’d spend it doing exactly what I’m doing now: Living abroad (in Madrid, Spain) with my wife and our three cats and writing every day whenever we’re not traveling. Can’t complain!

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