Put THIS down

CopyHour Late Night ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ Hey {NAME} -- This morning I did something radical. I'm talking over-the-top crazy... I didn't look at my phone. I got up and made breakfast for my son. Got him ready for school. No phone. No media. No check-ins of any sort. Zero inputs. On the way to school (my son's school is ~15 mins away now that we've moved) I didn't turn on Spotify. We just talked to each other. He asked me why I didn't honk at someone who was driving slow because of traffic and we laughed together. After I dropped him off, I had a 30 minute drive downtown. I stopped for a coffee. I drove along the coast. I didn't look at any media or listen to Spotify. "What the hell did you do?" Well, I just thought. I thought thoughts for over an hour total. And it was delightful. My brain often drifts back to the year 2017. In that year I was cycling a ton. Exercising for hours each day. My wife and I travelled to Mexico City, the East Coast, Italy, France. We had that baby I took to school this morning. I was doing a whole lot of not-working that year. In 2018, I had a pretty bad business year. We didn't get out much. I didn't exercise all that much. I stopped riding bikes. Since then, I've always blamed it on kids (because isn't it always their fault?) and a lack of exercise. As in, I need to exercise in order to be a successful human. I still think this is very true. However, after this morning's whacky experiment I think there's more to it. I need space to think in order to be successful. Since we've had our second kid I've found myself on my phone more. Consuming more. Exercising less. One of the main benefits of me riding bikes (exercising) was getting time away from my phone and media. In other words: exercising is not just amazing for your body and mind, physically... it's amazing because most of the time when you're doing it, you're not checking your damn phone. I started thinking about the really great copywriters I know. They all have exercise routines where they're away from their phone with time to think. As an example: Dan Ferrari, Austin Lee, Ning Li... these guys CRUSH and they all surf a ton. Look at any business person you admire and I can basically guarantee they exercise (and that that exercise gives them space to think). I then started thinking about why it's important for me to think (versus doing some other business activity). I realized: I get paid to think. I used to get paid to write or deliver a website. Now I get paid for my courses, knowledge, and connections I make for my customers. A lot of people get paid just for the thing. Plumbers get paid when they plumb. So if a plumber wants to make more money he needs to plumb more. If I get paid to think, I need to think more. 2017 was great because I was thinking a lot. Think about what you get actually get paid for. You need the space to do that thing. Maybe you're a writer -- you need time to write more. As you start working your way up, you'll need to think more -- that's how you raise your rates. To free up that space: try going the entire morning without your phone. That's what gave me time to make this realization. Pretty cool. Have a good night! - Derek  Sent to: {EMAIL} [Unsubscribe]( CopyHour.com, 340 S LEMON AVE, 5007, WALNUT, CA 91789