Challenge Yourself Beyond Your Own Limits

[Steven Wagenheim]

Just today I made my 9000th post to this forum. I've had a bunch of lovely
comments. I've had people tell me what an inspiration I've been to them.
I've been told that they're looking for more of the same from my next 9000
posts.

And now I'm sitting here thinking to myself...

Am I right? ...am I wrong?
My god!...what have I done?

No offense to Talking Heads David Byrne. Man, what a talented guy.

I am now confronted with my worst nightmare...living up to my own
reputation.

It's kind of like Dan Brown trying to top the Davinci Code.

Good luck with that.

Yeah, being better than what you already are is never easy. It means you
have to improve. With some things, it's almost impossible.

Look at Roger Federer this year. He looks almost human. And the truth is,
one day, he'll be unable to play at the level he plays at today.

But we're lucky. As marketers, the only thing that's going to stop us from
getting better is our minds. For some, that will mean the sadness of some
terrible disease. But for others, and what I think is even sadder, it will
mean the loss of spirit...or as my mother used to say, "laziness has set into
your butt my boy".

I've had my periods where I'd just want to give up. It was too hard. I
didn't want to do it anymore. It wasn't worth the effort. The rewards
weren't big enough. I wasn't seeing the point of it all. And when that
happens, you slack off. It's normal. Discouragement is probably one of the
worst diseases in this world.

In "It's A Wonderful Life" Clarence asked Joseph is George Baily was sick.
Joseph answered, "Worse, he's discouraged."

How many of us haven't been there?

I think if you ask every successful person who's ever walked this planet,
they'll tell you that at one time in their life, they were discouraged, at
least a little.

That's when you really have to challenge yourself beyond your own limits.

It can start small. You don't have to climb Everest in one shot.

If you've been thinking of getting into Bum Marketing and writing articles,
but just can't motivated because everything else you've tried sucked wind,
start small. Write just ONE article a day. That's all. One. Then work your
way up to two. Before you know it, you'll be writing 5 to 10 a day with no
problem at all.

Can't get that first ebook started because every other product you've
tried to create has ended in failure? Start slow. Write just ONE page today.
That's all...one. Then tomorrow write another page. Maybe after 7 days of
writing one page a day and you're sitting there staring at 7 pages of text,
maybe the next day you'll write 2 pages. Before you know it, even if it
takes a month, you'll have a 50 page ebook that you can sell.

What about that first Adwords campaign that you've been deathly afraid
to start because you're petrified that you'll lose your shirt. Fine, start your
daily budget at $1. Hey, at 10 cents a click, you can get yourself 10 clicks
to your site. If your product converts at 1% even, after 10 days you'll
probably have your first sale. You'll actually see some progress. Then when
you see that your product is selling and you won't go broke, raise your
daily budget to $2. Before you know it, you'll be at $25 a day and making
some real money.

What about that first sales letter that you've been trying to write but
you're so damned afraid that it will tank on you, so you keep putting it off.

Write the headline today. That's all, just the headline. Come up with 4 or
5 good ones and pick a couple to split test against each other. Then,
tomorrow, start on the intro. Write one paragraph and come back to it
the following day. Before you know it, you'll have a whole sales letter done.

But this is just the start.

After you've taken your baby steps, the next time you have to put
together a product or a sales page, see if you can't do your whole product
and sales copy in less than a week. And then the next one, in 4 days.

Keep pushing yourself to think faster. I'm not saying to work harder. I'm
saying to think faster. The faster you can think, the more you can get
done. After a while, you'll find that the whole process of running a business
is almost second nature.

Then, when you've become an authority and people respect you, push
yourself even more.

How?

Give more. It's called moving the free line by a lot of the big boys. I used to
think it was just a sound bite, but it's not. Take a look at some of the
stuff that guys like Frank Kern and John Reese are GIVING away. It's
almost frightening. I'm still working on moving to that point, but I'm not
yet at that stage where I can push beyond that limit of myself simply
because these guys have more knowledge in their backsides than I have
in my head. So I have to keep learning and keep improving in order to
reach where they are.

Today, I sealed another deal with a fellow Warrior. At one time, this
arrangement would have been something I would have never committed
to out of fear. But I've pushed myself over the last couple of years to do
things that I normally wouldn't do.

Do I still get scared? Hell yeah. I sometimes wonder if I can pull something
off. And what if I can't? Will people think less of me? Oh, I know. I
shouldn't care what people think of me. But I do. As far as I'm concerned,
your reputation is all you have. If the Internet community as a whole
respects you, you'll have an easier time being successful. If they don't,
you'll have a harder time. That's why when people say, "It's none of my
business what people think of me" I have to respectfully disagree, and I'll
take the heat for disagreeing. For if the whole world thinks you're scum,
what chance do you really have? To me, my reputation is everything. And
while there have been times when I have done some damn stupid things
that could have killed my reputation, I've been lucky. It hasn't happened
yet.

So today I'm challenging myself to be better in certain areas than I have
been.

I know that my work ethic is about as good as it can get and will be hard
to improve upon, but there are areas where there is room for TONS of
improvement.

The main area is my attitude, especially when others don't agree with me.

Boy can I get defensive and I know it. Think I'm kidding? Ask Andy Henry
and John Taylor. They'll tell you sometimes how easy it is to push my
buttons. So I know that I have to work real hard to change that. So any
shots I take for this post are going to just roll off my back.

Anyway, I'm challenging everybody reading this thread to better
themselves TONIGHT in one area of their life. It doesn't matter what area
it is. But I want you to make a conscientious effort to make one area of
your life, marketing or otherwise, better. Push yourself as hard as you can
to be as good as you can.

Because let me tell you something. The Joe who sits on his butt on his
couch, drinking beers and watching the tube, who's never even lifted a
finger to do something with his business, his life, his whatever, is going
to probably die on that couch, beer in hand, TV blasting, waiting for
somebody to turn it off.

This life is too short to blow it off for another round of "Space Invaders"
(Okay, I know...I'm dating myself) or whatever it is people waste their
time on. If you want to have some meaning in your life, if you want to
be successful, then YOU have to make it happen. I can't do it for you. All
the IM related books on the planet can't do it for you.

I've given you something to think about tonight. If you think you're doing
enough to make your business successful, think again.

You can NEVER do enough.

[Thomas Wilkinson]

What a great post. I'm posting in another thread about
a market I was afraid to get into FOR A FREAKIN' YEAR.
What a waste. One day I did a little and the next day a
little and for almost six frustrating months I made no progress
at all. Then one day I checked my email and got a two line
inquiry. The next week it was two and that has continued.
It is still a small but growing part of my total income BUT it
is growing.

T.W.

[rocker123]

Thanks for posting. Now i have nice idea on my mind.

[Hugh Fraser]

Hey Steven,
What a great post, you have certainly made me think, why, because to me I hate keywords but as of tonight, here is my claim too you and too all that read this, I will not be again frightened of keywords. I am going to get some (at least one keyword) done tonight! Thank you for the kick up the backside that I knew I needed!

Take care,
Hugh

[jhongren]

Hey Steven, You have been one of my role models in this forum and I would definitely want to follow your footpath = to give back to the Warriors.

Interestinly, I Gain more while Giving because it forces me to think of the best way (from what I know) and how to explain to the members in the post.

It is definitely and I am sure you find it fun and enjoyable helping others.

Thanks alot, Steven for giving us so much of your time and knowledge!

"Clap clap clap!

John

[Paul M]

I don't know how you do it,

I think you have out done yourself twice in one day.

P.S. Good look with your next 9000 posts.

paul