In an earlier post this year I provided some simple advice about email. I wrote it as a simple afterthought in the PS… it took me less than 30 seconds, but I’ve been approached about that advice by dozens of friends, colleagues, coaching students, and more.
So I thought I’d expand on it a little today.
If you didn’t catch the post, here’s what I suggested:
Let’s resist the compulsive urge to check email first thing in the morning, and instead take 20 minutes in the morning to do a little journaling and stretching, make a nutritious breakfast, or more generally engage in constructive self care.
I pointed out that it’s only natural to feel compulsive about your email in the morning… and that what we were seeking was MONEY, LOVE and INSPIRATION whether we know it or not.
And we actually CAN find these things in our inboxes:
Money in the form of new order notices…
Love as notes from friends and loved ones…
And Inspiration in the form of new ideas to change our lives.
BUT… there’s also POISON in our inboxes. Lots of it!
Every marketer I know is besieged by problems which come to them first in the form of an email. (There’s just something about the medium which makes it seem less significant to share upsetting news)
Then there’s spam. (I don’t know about you, but for me, there’s nothing better than starting my day with the oh-so-important reminder that my penis is too small… I’m not saying it’s not, mind you… I’m just saying!)
And the constant onslaught of offers… to which we’re eager to respond impulsively looking for guess what? Money, love and inspiration!
My suggestion wasn’t to stop checking your inbox… but rather to put yourself in the right mindset before you went there.
To care for yourself first, rather than blindly “looking for love in all the wrong places”
Because as corny as it sounds… if you give yourself love BEFORE you face the myriad of email adventures you’re much more likely to make the right decisions.
If you feel less empty when you get to your email, you’ll have more to GIVE all the people trying to connect with you through it.
And make no mistake, every last dollar you’ll ever make from here forward will come from PEOPLE…
And the more you can help THEM feel settled, full, and nurtured, the more likely it is you’ll find a way to exchange value for money…lots of it. And you’ll deserve it, too.
A few more thoughts to help you implement this.
First, if you wait until it “feels right” you’re never going to do it. In fact, it’s going to feel downright wrong for the first few weeks.
It’s because human nature wants to move quickly away from any feelings of emptiness (“I don’t have enough money, love, or inspiration”) towards the easiest–not necessarily most effective– source of previous gratification.
That’s OK, do it anyway.
You’ll also probably feel some variation of “I can’t afford to wait… there are dozens of urgent things I’ve got to attend to in my email”
Remember, that’s only natural too, so try to dismiss that voice… you’ll probably find you attend to MORE of the RIGHT things, even if you have less actual work time to do it. (But you could also set your clock 20 minutes earlier to get started)
Last, here are TWO critical questions to ask yourself each morning when you journal:
- What did I do right yesterday, and how can I improve?
- What’s the single most important thing I want to accomplish today, and why might I want to RESIST getting it done?
OK, back to marketing tomorrow. (But the savvy amongst you will realize today’s post is just as profitable a marketing tip as many others we’ve discussed!)
Before I sign off, I wanted to let you know that Ryan’s getting excellent results with his coaching students. Ryan is the ONLY person I allow to represent me and take people through my marketing method… because he’s built his own $250,000 business using it, and approximately 40% of his students have now launched profitable businesses the same way.
Since you can get Ryan’s services for just a little more than half what coaching with me personally costs…Maybe 2011 is the year for YOU to get it done?
Food for thought,
Glenn 🙂