Given last night’s “Lockdown” announcement, it’s my opinion that you should move to Portsmouth, marry a man called Roland, sell your grandmother, and invest 86% of the proceeds into back issues of “Bunty” magazine…
The overwhelming need to come up with a contrarian angle is a constant battle for me.
It’s what comedians do – they take a subject you’re familiar with and look at it from a new angle in a way that causes you to violently snort and cause others to think you might be choking.
I was thinking about this while watching BoJo last night.
Firstly, why wait till 8 pm to make a sodding announcement?
If you know at 2 pm that we’re going into “Level 5”, why not just bloody say it:
“Heads up, you’ve all been shit at this “not licking each other” thing, so we’re going into Lockdown. I’ll give you more details at 8 pm, but, for now, just know that I’m really disappointed in you all…”
Anyway, as I was watching the news, I was thinking of an angle I could use for my email…
… second-guessing how everyone else would be “zigging”, so I could “zag”…
“Other copywriters will probably use this as an excuse for a ‘you should focus on what you can control… you can’t control the news, or the infection, like you can’t control Apple’s decision to destroy FB retargeting, or whether your TikTok account gets closed…’”.
So I tried to come up with something different…
…
Turns out, I couldn’t.
You know why?
Focusing on what you can control IS great advice for the hell we’re in now.
Not only that, it’s great advice for GOOD times too.
Focusing on what you can control is ALWAYS the best advice.
You have no control over BoJo.
(I’m not entirely sure that BoJo has control over BoJo)
You also don’t have control over whether FB approves your ad or not…
… or whether that client who was REAAAALYY interested in your high-ticket service before going quiet is going to book you or not.
But here’s some stuff you DO have control over – you can always:
- Create new products and freebies for your audience.
- Spend time with your customers, interacting with them.
- Think about new problems you can solve or ways you can be of service.
- Build relationships with customers and suppliers
- Learn new and valuable skills.
- Practice your craft.
- Build an engaged list of subscribers.
Turns out the best advice for dealing with a Tier 5 – Level 18 – Platinum level lockdown is the same for when everything is fine and dandy…
… focus your attention on the stuff you CAN do – the things you can control.
The best part?
No matter how shit you think it is, there’s ALWAYS something you can do to move you in the right direction.
John
P.S. You can see not one, but TWO of the presents I got for Christmas in this video.
Not only that, but I also reveal the silent script I discovered as a magician that made my life as a freelancer a lot easier.
Click here if you want to find out what it was and use the secret for yourself.
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