"A Copywriter's Deepest Fear..."

Dear Reader:

I love the river.

It reminds me of my own heartbeat. It is pulsing life's very blood every minute without any thanks at all.

Not a very original observation, but nonetheless, there it is.

And...like my heartbeat, I must slow the normal distractions of life and shift my focus to appreciate the river for its gifts.

Break the surface of the water with the right bait, for instance, and you'll find fish of every size and description. Or they'll find you.

But you do have to break that surface tension of the water to get anywhere.

Odd as this may seem to you, this being my birthday -- well...the 17th was -- and having just returned from a river cruise, I thought I could get away with asking you to join me for a little focused quiet time.

If you want to that is...

Appropriately, I think, let me show you (again for some) a favorite piece of writing. It's by Marianne Williamson, from her book, A Return To Love.

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are all meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And, as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

(Suggested protestations include: "No, I'm not that good of a person" ... "But I can't write that well" ... "As long as you don't develop expectations of me based on this -- your bar is too high" ... "GOD! This calls me to action" ... "Let's drink beer, instead" ...)

Shhhhhhhhhh.

May I suggest we relax and take a breath.

Quiet the noise.

And notice.

Please.

Go ahead and read it, again.

Thank you.

--Peter
P.S. Michel, I received an email from a reader of your forum saying you had started a thread wishing me, "Happy birthday". Thank you. You and others are always welcome here.

Comments

[Elizabeth Purvis]

Ah, delicious. Thank you, Peter! I'll keep this up in my browser window today so I can sneak peeks when I'm "supposed to be" doing something else. :)

[Copywriter :: Peter Stone]

Elizabeth,

I'm glad you find it so worthwhile. I'm working on a presentation that I hope will address questions you and others have posed off-blog.

--Peter

[Kyle Tully]

Hey Peter,

Happy birthday!

That's one of my favourite pieces of writing, thanks for posting.

Regards
Kyle

[Copywriter :: Peter Stone]

Kyle,

Thank you so much for your kind wishes.

--Peter

[Kevin Francis]

Peter,

Ah yes, the old "I'm not good enough" issue that plagues so many people. Where does that come from, I wonder?

Anyway, this is a wonderful piece and although you've quoted it before it is a welcome reminder.

Best Wishes

Kevin Francis

[Copywriter :: Peter Stone]

Kevin,

I'm going to post a vid (soon) that speaks to your desire for a way to make a quarter mil/year.

If you take it more as a way to think than a literal 'plan', I'm hoping you'll find value in it -- enough to justify your investment of time enough to watch it.

Speaking of time ... I'll get the vid up ASAP. At one end of the spectrum, I'm working on a project to save a client's business. On the other end, a different client just received endorsements from Michael Jordan, Oprah and others.

It's all very grand, but time is a bit of an issue at the moment.

--Peter

[Kevin Francis]

Peter,

Look forward to the video. Time spent reading, hearing or watching you (hey, am I doing some sort of NLP thing there?!?) is always worth while, in my experience.

I think you're right about the importance of mindset and look forward to what you have to say.

In the meantime, I'm not waiting for things to happen!! I'm booked to the end of the year and I'm attending a seminar in a couple of weeks that should further my connections with the DR community down here. The "Master Plan" unfolds! Your video will put that on "Turbo Charge" I'm sure.

Hey, sounds like you are having a great time with your clients. I don't mean to make light of the problems your first client is having but it can be very stimulating to be involved with something like that.

And when clients do well, that's just a huge buzz. Nothing I like to see more than the "Cash register" ring (well, apart from seeing Moolah roll into my account, of course!).

Best wishes and thanks as always for what you provide here.

Kevin Francis

[Copywriter :: Peter Stone]

Kevin,

Thank you for your interest and generally positive comments.

Emotions are running a bit high with the first client, as you might imagine.

Here's a portion of his initial letter to the powers (and financiers) that be.

"Peter basically told me to just give it up to God and everything would work itself out.

That helped a lot! So did what he told me after I told him about my feelings of obligation to the people that had supported and believed in me so much.

He said that my problem was an emotional one and that it was a good problem.

I said “are crazy this feel horrible!”.

He said, “I’m sure it does but the fact remains that you feel like you are part of a COMMUNITY and that is a positive thing.

In fact you see that you have a role in that community and are probably good at helping others to see theirs.” He went on to point out my feelings about STEWARDSHIP and ACOUNTABILITY.

Peter said 3 words and sparked the paradigm shift I was looking for. My prayers were answered. Instantly.

The path is clear.

God wants me to build an affluent community of light.

This paradigm shift solved every problem I was facing as well as many that are faced by networkers in general."

1. I gained the ability to put OUTSTANDING CONTENT back online.
2. Sent my web conversion rates through the roof!
3. Set up a plan to virtually ELLIMINATE ATTRITION!
4. Ongoing hands on training for EVERY MEMBER OF YOUR TEAM

--------------------------------------------

The other is emotionally high from the endorsements, fast growth, power players lining up, etc.

It's just wild.

--Peter

[Karen Scott]

I love that Marianne Williamson quote-- it's one of my favorites. I often tell myself that when I'm out on the tennis court. As a new business writer, I'll have to remind myself of that when I'm facing a new assignment.

Billie Jean King once said: "A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning."

And happy birthday!

[Copywriter :: Peter Stone]

Karen,

Thanks so much for visiting and for your birthday wishes.

Yes, I think that's a perfect use of the quote -- one of my favorite, too -- Bump it in where fear might otherwise occupy space and simply release...

Again, welcome.

--Peter