You’ve been lied to — by every movie and every copywriting guru who ever caught your attention.
Let me explain.
Today I watched a Guy Ritchie movie about King Arthur. I was surprised to find I liked this movie… but I want to warn you about it nonetheless.
At the start of the movie there’s a montage as Arthur, orphaned, goes from a boy getting beaten up, living in a brothel… to a slightly older boy, still getting beaten up, still living in a brothel… to a young man, still living in a brothel but no longer getting beaten up… and finally to a full-grown man, muscular and handsome, who runs a criminal gang in medieval Londinium, while still living at a brothel.
The entire sequence takes maybe 45 seconds.
And that’s what I want to warn you about.
It’s not just this one movie. All movies, TV shows, documentaries, anything you see on a screen… they collapse our sense of time. And along with it, they collapse our expectations of the boredom, frustration, pain, and doubt we will experience during that time.
I bring this up because the past six months have been pretty wild for me and my copywriting career.
I’ve broken through long-standing earnings plateaus, and I’m finally earning the money that copywriting gurus promise is possible.
Potential clients now contact me each week — without my pitching them at all.
Even my daily emails are getting traction. A number of people wrote me over the past month to say they like and appreciate what I write… and some have even bought the little offers I put out.
But maybe you’re curious what happened six months ago to make my life so brag-worthy today.
The answer is nothing. At least as far as I can tell.
For years, I’ve been trying to do a good job each day, and to get better through practice and study. I guess my internal and external assets finally built up to some critical level, and results followed.
And if it’s starting to feel a little stuffy in this church…
Let me say I’m not trying to give you a sermon about hard work.
All I want to point out is that you’ve been lied to, by people who meant to lie to you, and by those who just wanted to entertain you.
Real life isn’t a montage. There’s nothing wrong with you if you experience boredom, frustration, pain, and doubt on the way to accomplishing any goal.
Success requires time, effort, and patience. But that’s something nobody in the copywriting (or entertainment) world is selling.
So watch King Arthur. It’s a fun and inventive movie. But don’t believe it for a second — or 45.
Speaking of entertainment and lies:
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