 |
|
A Weekly Letter With Tips and Ideas to Improve How Your Life and Business Work - and Other Interesting Things that Catch my Eye!
|
|
September 23, 2017 - Issue 17-39
|
|
|
 |
|
Good Afternoon.
Several times in the past weeks I've mentioned the AWAI (American Writers and Artists, Inc.) program I've taken on to help me take my copywriting business to a new level. One of the things we're (I'm one of six people in an accountability group) working hard to instill in ourselves is the internal trust that we'll do the unfamiliar (to me) hard work that must be done to develop a serious marketing program. It's interesting, demanding, and sometimes frustrating.
There are times when it's tempting to just go back to my old ways of poking around in various places without much focus in my effort. The trouble with that is, it wasn't bringing the results I want. The accountability group is a huge factor in keeping the goal in mind when it's difficult to go on.
The contributor's article I focus on this week is by Benjamin Hardy, wherein he examines what it takes to build internal trust and live beyond the fear that you won't do what needs to be done. Since I want to go into a bit more depth along this line, I'll save the link to the article for a bit further on.
So please indulge me, read on, and enjoy!
John Stevens at Unity Copywriting
Marketing Support for the Business Coaching Industry
Office and cell phone: 814-590-3854 or 603-835-3215
In Argentina: +54(country code) 9 3868 459586
Skype: johnbstevens1943
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Please Help me Spread my Message Where It's Welcome
Please remember to pass this letter along to anyone you think will enjoy and benefit from it, and/or might like to receive my messages every week. Just click the "" link at the bottom of this one, or here. If this message was forwarded to you, and you'd like to join us regularly, please click on the "SIGN UP FOR EMAILS" link below or here. You'll be automatically added to my mailing list, and I guarantee that will not generate other promotions. Your privacy is of the utmost importance to me. If you'd rather not receive these messages any more, you're welcome to click the "UNSUBSCRIBE" link here or at the foot of this message. I'll miss you, but I'd rather send these ideas to those who find benefit in them.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
What does it Take to Change One's Direction?
Much research has shown that we as adults are pre-programmed, either during childhood development years, or through our own development of habits, to do things in certain set ways. This programming determines how we interact with our spouse, how much income we attract, what our attitude is toward our friends, etc., etc. The "files" or "blueprints" which regulate our behavior to match these norms reside in our subconscious minds, which function largely independent of our conscious minds. The subconscious mind directs the things we do without conscious thought or intent.
For example, when you drive somewhere you haven't previously visited, you think consciously about where you're going, when to turn, etc. - that's done with your conscious mind. The tenth time you go there, you follow the route subconsciously, while your conscious mind is thinking about what you'll have for dinner or what you should have said in this morning's argument with your teenage son. The subconscious mind is now directing your driving, independent of what your conscious mind is doing.
We may say, and we may believe, that we want to change these attitudes and behaviors, and that can happen. However it happens only as the result of convincing our subconscious minds that we genuinely seek change, and that we're willing to undertake the necessary, and often very difficult, actions to develop new habits and establish new norms. Pretty much always it requires giving up something we feel "entitled" to, and is therefore very difficult to let go of.
So, What do I Have to Give up?
I've been drifting along enjoying myself as a semi-retiree, working some but not in a very focused way, and mostly allowing anything I wanted to do - social activities, golf, reading, etc. - to take precedence over work. So what I'm giving up is my "retirement mindset", and refocusing on a diligent effort to develop my writing career into a serious business. That, of course, was impossible under my old M.O.
Benjamin Hardy, ever the student of self-improvement and entrepreneurship,
discusses the work one must do to accomplish this difficult transition. First off we must establish self-trust, meaning we must act congruently with our stated desires, in order to convince our subconscious that we really mean it and are prepared to make whatever sacrifice is necessary to achieve the new result we say we want. Otherwise our subconscious mind will say, "You aren't really serious about this, so the old norm still applies" and then, however hard you think you're "trying" to establish the new routine, you'll gravitate back to your old ways.
Being Accountable to Another Person is
Enormously Helpful
Any time you have some difficult discipline to apply to anything, being accountable to someone else is one of the best motivational influences you can employ. In my case, we have a group of six people who work together, meeting weekly in a Mastermind format, to help one another advance in this program. In particular, each of us is further focused on a single accountability partner, with whom we discuss progress and plans every day. Having someone to report to in the morning is tremendously motivating when, at the end of the day, you feel like letting something slip!
Writing about this to all of you and publicly stating my intent to stay this new course creates an additional incentive for me to keep on keeping on.
If you have some important new direction you want to take your life in,
Benjamin's article is excellent reading, as are some of the other books I've been reading to fill my mind with resolute thoughts about this endeavor:
I hope you'll examine some of this material, especially if it's new to you, and think in a new light about any changes you'd like to make.
|
|
Do More of What You Love Doing -
and What
You Get PAID For!
Do you coach business leaders on ways to improve their businesses? If so, when you're face to face, or on the phone, with your clients, that's the work you signed up for, that you love...AND that you get paid for.
Writing effective promotional, or even just conversational, material - very important in staying top-of-mind with your prospects and clients - to attract new business takes hard, focused work. If you're doing that writing yourself, it diverts time and attention from your work with the clients you're already helping. Your coaching work, also very demanding, distracts you from your promotional writing, likely making it less effective. I can focus on your promotional pieces while you put your time and effort toward your most important work.
Call Unity Copywriting today and learn how I can eliminate this distraction for you, and keep you in touch with your important sources of business. Let me help you with a regular e-newsletter (similar to the one you're reading - these are my specialty) or other pieces to help you build relationships with your prospects and clients. I'll go to great lengths (not necessary the length of the message, unless you want it that way!) to describe how you serve your clients, and how prospective clients can benefit from working with you.
Put My Experience to Work for You...
As a business coach for several recent years, and before that having worked in various operations management roles during a long and varied career, I've been practicing and studying leadership and teamwork for over 45 years. With that background, I'm uniquely qualified to explain the benefits you offer to your clients and prospects. I love writing about this work and I'd love to talk with you about how we can work together to promote your business most effectively. Please let me hear from you!
|
|
I Welcome Your Thoughts!
Do you fully trust yourself? I suggest you read
Benjamin Hardy's article before you answer that with conviction. You might discover you have some work to do. When you've explored some of the material I've referenced here, I'd be most interested in hearing what changes, if any, are triggered for you.
Do the ideas in any of my messages contribute to making your life and business more enjoyable and effective...or, do you have some reservations about them? I very much look forward to hearing your thoughts and experiences and learning from them.
If you email or text me whatever's on your mind, please give me a phone number or a Skype address, or send me a Skype contact request (see my Skype address below), and mention that you read my newsletter. This will allow us to have a real conversation about your thoughts. It's really important to mention this - with all the spammers, phishermen, etc. out there, I'm very selective about my connections on networking services. If your name is unfamiliar to me, I'll consider your contact request when you tell me the reason you want to connect with me, and...
Conversations are often necessary to discuss complex ideas, and conversations occur only in real-time, two(or more)-way exchanges; hence my request for your call or the information I need to call you. Email and other forms of one-way communication are data transfers, and very useful for many types of communication. However, they are extremely limited in their ability to convey the ideas, emotions, and inflections that characterize conversations (it's estimated that words, which are the total content of an email, convey only about seven percent of the total import of a message - sure, you can add emoticons, which help marginally, so maybe the percentage becomes 10 or 12 - still very limited). So please call me or tell me how to call you.
Just dial 603-835-3215 or 814-590-3854 if you're in the United States or Canada. Of course, if you call from outside North America, you'll need the +1 prefix. If you're calling from Argentina, you're welcome to call my Argentine number, +54 9 3868 459586.
Help me Spread my Message Where It's Welcome...
If you know someone you think will find value in the ideas I discuss each week, I encourage you to forward this to them, using the "
" link here or at the end of this message. If this was forwarded to you, and you'd like to hear more, please click the "
SIGN UP FOR EMAILS
" link below, or here. You'll be automatically added to my mailing list, which I
never
sell, rent, or even add a name to without permission.
Your privacy is enormously important to me.
On the other hand, if you'd rather stop receiving these messages, simply click the "
UNSUBSCRIBE" link here or at the bottom of this message. I'll promptly remove you from the list...and I promise you won't hurt my feelings. It's my desire to send these ideas only to people who find them valuable.
Join me here again next week for more unique ideas on life and business...and
thanks for reading this week's letter.
Have a wonderful week
, and contact me
to discuss how we can join forces to add value to what
you
do. Our investigation as to how we can mutually benefit from working together is totally on me - no obligation or cost will arise from that conversation. You won't pay me a dime until you hire me to write something for you.
Be well, my friends.
John Stevens
Marketing Support for the Business Coaching Industry
Office and cell phone: 814-590-3854 or 603-835-3215
In Argentina: +54(country code) 9 3868 459586
Skype: johnbstevens1943
|
About John
Throughout a career spanning over 45 years my management style has been one of building teams to bring several competent people together to focus on a common objective.
As I transition to life in the Argentine outback, my focus will shift to helping other business coaches and advisers get their message out to their prospective clients. With my first-hand knowledge of the benefits of effective business coaching, I am uniquely qualified to work with business advisers of all stripes convey their message.
Read More >
Contact Info
John B. Stevens, Freelance Copywriter
Phone: 814-590-3854
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
