A quick trick to beat any fear

This is astoundingly easy [The Writer’ s Life]( April 7, 2022 "He who is not everyday conquering some fear has not learned the secret of life." – Ralph Waldo Emerson Hi {NAME}! I'll try almost any new technique that promises to help me achieve the things I want. I'm what you call a habitual achiever. 😜 So yes, I read a LOT of self-development and business books. (I'm currently reading The 80/20 Principle by Richard Koch — which I HIGHLY recommend for writers and entrepreneurs. Or really anyone looking to do more … with less!) My good friend Guillermo Rubio, or G as we lovingly call him here at AWAI, shares my obsession … He listens to books at 2X speed to get through as many as possible. (!! My personal best is 1.7X.) It's amazing how many insights he shares every time we meet. No matter what project we're talking about, I always learn something new from him. Which is crazy when you consider that when I first met him, he was a barista and dance instructor who really wanted to become a copywriter. If you met him NOW — with the immense writing success he's achieved — you'd never know how afraid he was at first. Since we've been talking about "running towards our fears" this month with Ted, I asked G to share how he overcame his fear to become one of the highest-paid writers I know. Take it away G! *** Hi {NAME}, Around AWAI I'm usually seen as the "fear" guy. Search AWAI's site for my name, and you'll see why. A large majority of the articles I've written deal with fear. In my defense, there's a good reason for it. Fear is something I've always battled with. It's something I had to overcome to get to where I am today: An in-demand, six-figure copywriter. Of course, it wasn't a quick journey. In the beginning of my path to success, fear ruled literally every aspect of my budding career. Learning how to write copy? SCARY! What if I totally sucked at it? Having to go out and find clients? Up there with skydiving for me — absolutely terrifying. Finally getting the nerve to go out and actually land a client … … but now I have to deliver an 8+ page sales letter that beats the control?? Uh … where's the exit!? Actually sitting down, writing, and delivering said sales letter … but now it's going to be reviewed, critiqued, and sent back to me swimming in "red ink"? Nervous breakdown here we come! I'm exaggerating a bit, but not by much. Name any part of the journey to becoming a successful writer. I was terrified of it. I imagine you might be where I was on my journey all those years ago. So, I write about fear, in hopes that it will help. After all, I know how paralyzing it can be. And how it can cause you to stay stuck in procrastination and avoidance. So today, I want to offer one tip I haven't mentioned yet in all those articles. And it's something that's helped me a lot. This one tip will get you unstuck, making steady progress, and can be the "thing" that changes everything for you. Now, I've got to give credit where credit is due. I learned this strategy from a fantastic book I read years ago by Stephen Guise, called Mini Habits. The premise is very simple: Instead of trying to change your behavior by making big, grandiose changes that are hard to stick to … … instead commit to doing stupidly simple, tiny habits on a regular basis. For example — If you have trouble going to the gym for a full workout, start by doing 1 pushup a day at home or at the office for the next 30 days. If you can do that consistently, increase it to 2 entire pushups for the following 30 days. Another example: Can't get yourself to write on a regular schedule? No problem. Break it down into something that is stupidly simple to do. Just open your word processor every day for 30 days. You don't have to write anything. Do that successfully, and then up the ante by opening the word processor and writing one (1) solitary word. Want to find clients but it's scary? Start by finding one potential client you'd like to reach out to. Write down their email. Do the same thing the following day, and the next. Do it for 30 days without missing a day. Yes, literally write down their email every day for 30 days! Now, before I go any further, let me address the elephant in the room. You're probably thinking: "Ummm … that sounds wonderful, I guess … but if I only do such a small habit, it WON'T MATTER. I NEED BIG CHANGES FAST!" It's okay if you're thinking that. It's what I thought at first. But over time, I've learned that the longest road to where you're going is typically the fastest. Why? Because when you go extreme in the very beginning — before you've developed the habit — it's unsustainable. So, what happens is you end up starting and stopping. Starting and stopping. And the cycle continues for weeks, months, or even years. Sure, sometimes you'll make fast progress in the beginning. But eventually, things stall because you haven't yet built the stamina and energy to sustain the habit. The result is you end up having to start back at the beginning. It's the same with your copywriting career, if fear is stopping you. Instead of thinking you've got to achieve something HUGE right now … Start with "small." Something that is so stupidly easy, you think it's laughable. Here's what happens — after a week, two weeks, or even a month of doing that silly little habit … You start to naturally want to do more. So you let yourself do just a little bit more. And eventually, you find yourself wanting to do even more. The cycle continues until you've built huge momentum — and look back and see you've accomplished something that, for you, is amazing. So how can we use this in terms of you living the writer's life? Well, instead of trying to learn how to write an 8-16+ page sales letter when you're just starting out (like I did 😳) … … start with something much smaller … something much easier. If I had to go back and do it all over again — knowing what I know now about mini habits — I'd start with writing emails. They're short. You already know how to write them. And, they pay very well. Truth is you could make a multiple six-figure living writing emails alone. It's why today I spend the majority of my writing time creating emails for my clients. They're that lucrative. Plus, you already write emails all the time to friends, family, colleagues, etc. Learning how to write them for clients is a matter of making a few tweaks and understanding a few universal principles of persuasion. Do that, and you're off to the races. Much simpler than trying to learn a much more complex project at the very start. This is not to say you shouldn't learn how to write sales letters or anything like that. Not at all. I still write sales letters for clients to this day. I'm just saying that if you — like me — tend to suffer a lot from FEAR and you're just starting out … … then going small is the way to go. It's why I 100% believe email is the perfect vehicle for building up your courage muscles. Especially if you're tired of setting the same goal to live the writer's life, year after year (if you're like me, you know what I mean). That's why [I'm hosting a mentorship]( in the next couple of days on how I write emails for clients (and get paid six-figures per year to do so). It's five weeks long and I'll share everything I know. You can then take what you learn and practice everything step-by-step, until you've landed your first client. If you're interested, you can [get all the details here](. And no matter what — try and implement mini habits in any area of your life you want to improve. I promise, you'll see BIG results! ;) G *** Curious what mini habit you'll try, {NAME} … This is how I built up my daily meditation practice — something I tried to achieve for years. I would meditate for one minute after I brushed my teeth. Stupidly simple, right? I'm happy to report I now have a daily practice of 10 minutes, and have maintained it for months. I still do it right after I brush my teeth. 😁 Whatever habit you try, I'd love to hear the results. Share over in our Copywriting Insiders group on Facebook — or simply reply to this note! We'll celebrate your win in a future issue. 🙌 [Rebecca Matter’ s signature] Rebecca P.S. If you'd like to meet G personally, join us on Facebook tomorrow at 2pm ET! We're going to do a Facebook Live with him and get some more fear and motivation tips … as well as ask him questions about his email writing. [Grab the details here!]( "I QUIT!" Find out how a former high school English teacher left what he thought would be his job for life … Only to DOUBLE his income and discover a life of freedom he never thought possible. If you've ever thought "I want more than this" … [Check Out His Story Now]( What's Hot at AWAI … 😊 There are SO many ways to make a living writing emails! [Here are 6 of them.]( 🚀 Here are [7 Subject Line Formulas Guaranteed to Boost Your Email Open Rates]( 🤔 What are some of the biggest opportunities for email writers? [Check out this past Inside AWAI session with G.]( 💰 Want a chance to win $200? [Check out this month's writing contest!]( You Asked, You GOT It! [Social media post about overcoming self-doubt as a copywriter] You've GOT this, Dianne! I'm so proud of you for putting yourself out there and making this happen! Now just like you said: OWN it!! 😁 Have your own story to share? Email us at mysuccess@awai.com, or [post it over in the Facebook group](, so we can celebrate your win too! Full Access for Just $1!!! This free blueprint shows you how to make $2,500 to $8,000 a month as a writer. And for just a buck, you'll gain access to every resource you'll need to execute that blueprint. All the roadmaps … All the articles … All the how-to videos … All 320+ training webinars … The member forum, the job board, the tutorials, the tools … All of it! [Check It Out Now]( Featured Writing Jobs Marketing Copywriter – Monro Full-time, Rochester, NY The Marketing Copywriter is responsible for the creative interactive copywriter with ability to develop concepts and content for web-based initiatives including website, content features, email and promotions. 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