How To Be Highly Successful At ANYTHING – By Being Insecure

Summary: You know how motivational books say... “To succeed you must have self confidence." … and “you can’t just believe you can do it, you must KNOW you can do it.” And so on. And yes, while these statements have a level of truth… In my opinion self help books focus way too much on the virtues of winning and nowhere near enough on the value of losing. Here’s an example… During my copywriting mastermind call last week, the group and I were talking about the mindset of a certain world-class copywriter. Like many “top shelf” advertising pros, he’s read almost every book on the subject. He’s an awesome writer. And a great lateral thinker. But then I heard about how he approaches the criticism of his sales copy. I was surprised to discover that he is very insecure. Yes. Insecure... about his work! This is vastly different than most copywriters. Because most copywriters think they’re God’s gift to the written word. So when their work is critiqued they usually just want to hear how great their copy is. (I know I’m generalising but this has been my experience critiquing many copywriters' work) If you don’t believe me, give a copywriter “negative” feedback and see what happens. Anyway, this world-class copywriter is insecure about his copy… but it’s a healthy insecurity. That’s the rub. Because his mind stays open to notice the feedback. With this open mind, he objectively assesses the merits of this feedback. That is, whether this feedback is useful or not. Just like a great scientist, he puts his own emotions and biases to the side. Funnily enough, this is a trait I’ve found in many highly successful person. For example… Over the years, I’ve known more than a few professional gamblers – poker and blackjack players and stock traders. And this objectivity is a trait that ALL the greats have. This objectivity is the product of many reasons, but one of them is this… Like the world of human psychology, professional gambling means making decisions based on possessing less than all the facts. This is what making an educated guess is all about. But this educated guess scares the living crap out of them because they know they don’t have ALL the information. Worse than that, they know their own biases are skewing their thinking! (Ever wondered why so few people make money in the stock market?) Here are the main reasons! Copywriting is the same. It’s impossible to know everything about your market and your product. It’s impossible to write a perfect piece of sales copy every single time. If only... Because we miss the trees for the forest! We do NOT see the details. This is why it’s so important to research, research and research. And it’s so important to escape your biases and use the value of other people’s perspectives So if you’re struggling in any area of your business (doesn’t matter what it is), get the perspective of someone whose opinion you value and trust. Go for it… today! Then send me an email about your results. Until next time, Alexi   If you want to learn more, check out this cool page...