#success in 2018 (and also how not to fail)

[The Writer’ s Life]( January 1, 2018 Hi {NAME}, Happy New Year! Do you want 2018 to be your most profitable year as a writer? If so, I'm excited to help you … I'm pulling out all the stops this month to set you up to meet all your goals this year. We're going to kick things off with business-building and client-getting expert Joshua Boswell … This week, he'll share his simple five-part formula for achieving the writer's life. And today it all starts with the first ingredient … To your success in 2018, Rebecca Matter President, AWAI P.S. If one of your goals is to generate a passive income stream this year … Income that requires no clients and comes in whether you're writing or not — [go here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- A Simple Recipe for Winning By Joshua Boswell [The word success representing a bridge for a person walking across a valley] My name is Joshua Boswell. Like you, I'm a writer. I spend 3-6 months a year on the road with my family. My family is #1 in my life. But, I also love working hard for my clients because a job well-done has its own rewards. During the past decade, I've also had the opportunity to coach, train, and motivate thousands of other writers who are seeking the writer's life. Writers like Robin Borchelt, who recently wrote me and said … "Joshua, I want to let you know that I landed my first client, a boutique web designer and Google Partner. I sent the assigned homepage draft to him yesterday, and will receive a check Friday! "Thank you for helping me to be prepared for my new career as a B2B web copywriter!" And writers like Eric Buensuceso, who posted this online: "Joshua's course [The Simple Path to Success]( has been instrumental in getting my copywriting business off the ground and running. I now have three clients and counting in just three months, with more on the way. Thank you Joshua, you continue to inspire and motivate me to make my copywriting something I can be proud of." I have noticed that there is a pattern among my successful clients. They have five things in common. These five things are key ingredients to success. They're the same five things I did when I started my writing career and really, really, really wanted to land clients. I'll show you how they work … But first, let me start by sharing this story with you. Once upon a time, there was a young father who was terrified of heights. But he wasn't terrified of being a daddy. In fact, it was the most important thing in his life. He really wanted to help his children succeed in life. He thought, "If I can let them see and experience wonderful things, they will be able to do better in life." So, he took his family all over the world. One day, they were at the Grand Canyon — a place with lots of heights. That day, a camera crew was there from a reality TV show. They were offering a $1,000,000 prize for anyone that would walk out on a narrow, rocky ridge that shot out into the canyon. No safety net. No railings. No fence. Just a mile straight down. Walk out and back and you get the million bucks. The camera crew approached the scared daddy and pitched him the idea. As you supposed, he didn't even hesitate. "No way!!!" He hated heights and no amount of money was worth that terror. About 20 minutes later, this same daddy realized his little three-year-old daughter was missing. Frantically, he and his family searched everywhere … until finally, they found her … you guessed it again … out on the narrow ridge. She was sitting down on about two feet of dirt, with a sheer drop-off on either side. Crying, "Daddy, help me! Please Daddy!" Without thinking, the daddy jumped the fence, braved the ridge, and rescued his daughter. What changed? The same thing that must change for you if you are going to succeed as a writer: Facing your fears. Every writer has some fear that holds them back from reaching the writer's life. Fears such as "I'm not sure my writing is good enough." "What if no one uses freelance writers?" "How am I going to balance my time to do this, I'm already stressed to the gills??!!!" "I have no idea how to market myself. It terrifies me to approach people!!" But as I asked … What changed for the daddy in our story? Purpose. Seeing his daughter on the ridge gave him a purpose that was more powerful than his fear. If you haven't hit your stride yet … if you sense that something, somehow, somewhere is holding you back from really crushing it with this writing thing … then you need the first ingredient to success: Purpose. Not motivation. That comes from purpose. Not willpower. That flows from purpose too. Not better organization skills, writing skills, or any other skills. You get the right purpose and you'll whip up all those skills in no time flat. So, how do you find your purpose? Here's a simple exercise that will help. If you read this next part and think, "Oh, I already knew that!" or "Yeah, yeah, heard it before!" or "That's too simple. Can't be that simple!" Then just humor me and do yourself a good deed … read the questions and answer them. Deal? Okay, here we go … Three questions. Read the questions. Set a timer for three minutes. Hit start and write as fast as you can. Go from the gut! Don't worry about grammar or spelling or formatting. Just write like the wind. Cut a vein and bleed. Get vulnerable. Get real. Let your inner voice take over. Cut loose. No one but you will read this. Open your heart and give it your all. Here we go … Question #1: "Self, tell me about me. Who am I and what value do I bring to the world?" Read it. Time it. Write! Question #2: "Self, if I don't achieve my dreams as a writer, what pain will I and the loved ones in my life experience?" Got it? Go for it! Write!! Question #3: "Self, when I achieve my dreams, what joy will I and the loved ones in my life experience?" Last one … give it your all. Write!!! Here's the thing about these questions … Somewhere inside the answers is your purpose and passion. Find it. Honor it. Live it. If you wrote something that surprised you, spend time thinking about it. Begin shaping your life around this purpose. All of us have intrinsic value as human beings. And all of us have a purpose to relieve pain and bring joy to others. Find out how you're going to do that and get on with it. No fears, no doubts, no hesitation can withstand the brilliant light of a burning, real purpose. Purpose. That's the first ingredient for success. Without it, you fail. With it, you win. Courage, commitment, willpower, skills, focus, learning … all of it flows from purpose. Get this right and you get everything else right. So, go for it!!! I'll be back tomorrow with Ingredient #2 … But in the meantime, if you have any questions about defining your purpose let me know in the comments [here]( so I can help ensure you keep moving forward. Editorial Note: Joshua has helped thousands of people build their businesses and get their first clients, and he's ready to help you next. [Check out the details here.]( Create Your Own Money-Making Website Starting January 9, let Nick Usborne walk you through the process step-by-step through a completely interactive training program … And turn something you love to do in your spare time into $400, $1,000, $3,500 and upward per month. Take advantage of the BEST DEAL ever offered on Nick Usborne's How to Write Your Own Money-Making Websites program. [Enroll by January 2nd and Save $150!]( Kick-Start the New Year with THIS 3-Hour LIVE Copywriting Crash Course Begins Jan 10th Enrollment is now open for our LIVE Smart Start LIVE: Copywriting Crash Course training. Copywriting is the most IN DEMAND job for writers right now. Give us 3 hours and we'll teach you the basics of writing great copy and how to land the best assignments. We'll introduce you to the copywriting industry … show you where the opportunities lie … and get you writing. Please note: Special discount available if you enroll by January 8th. [Get all the details now before the doors close on this unique, one-of-a-kind training.]( --------------------------------------------------------------- Trouble viewing this email? [View in your browser, here](. For questions or requests: [contact us online](. --------------------------------------------------------------- ©2017 American Writers & Artists Inc. Do you know of someone who would benefit from reading The Writer's Life? Simply direct them [here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------- American Writers & Artists Inc. 101 SE 6th Avenue, Suite A Delray Beach, FL 33483 (561) 278-5557 or (866) 879-2924 Ensure your subscription delivery. AWAI Whitelisting info available [here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- You are subscribed to this newsletter as {EMAIL}. To unsubscribe from any future issues of The Writer's Life, please click here: [Unsubscribe from The Writer's Life](. To unsubscribe from all AWAI broadcasts click here. [I want to permanently unsubscribe from all AWAI emails](.