Been on a Steve McQueen movie kick.
The dude was the quintessential “anti professional.”
(That’s a term I invented to explain the type of entrepreneur who makes his own rules and lives by his own code of ethics — the guy on his horse who never tries to impress the customers but always gets the sale…)
Anyway, just watched his movie:
“Nevada Smith”
A LAME title for such a cool movie.
It’s about this young, naive man whose parents are brutally skinned, tortured and killed by bandits. And he goes after the killers on his own, without any training, education or idea what he’s even doing.
All he knows is he wants revenge.
And, he does whatever it takes to get it.
Including getting himself thrown into a brutal bayou prison (full of man-eating snakes, reptiles, etc) just to ice one of the murderers.
Now THAT’S dedication.
In fact, as the main bad guy says:
“He’s not a killer… he’s an EXECUTIONER!”
Which brings me to the point:
There are very few people with that kind of “executioner” mindset — doing whatever it takes to achieve their goals. They may be “killers” in as much as they know what they want and pursue their goals.
But there are scant few *executioners*.
Entrepreneurs who ruthlessly go after what they want.
And, won’t stop until the job is done —
Regardless of if they’re scared, or how many failures they’ve had or if they’re rendered temporarily penniless. (As Gary Halbert used to say: “Nothing is impossible for a man who refuses to listen to reason!”)
So, what are you?
Are you a mere killer in business?
Or an executioner?
Do you give up because sales suddenly drop off?
Or because you lost all your money in a bad deal and would have to start from scratch again?
Or because you have to work impossible hours?
With the economy about to tank to the point of no return at any time… with customer skepticism at all time highs (can you blame them?)… with all the strangling rules, regulations and anti-business politicians getting elected… you can’t just be a killer in business.
You gotta be an executioner!
You gotta be systematically ruthless in pursuit of your goals.
Even if you’re naive.
Even if you’re scared.
And, even if you don’t know what you’re doing.
Alright enough.
The October “Email Players” issue goes to print next week. It explains (with examples) a special kind of email that I believe most people can profit immensely from, especially if you feel “icky” pitching and selling.
It also explains email retargeting.
And, some other cool “tricks.”
Go here to subscribe in time:
Ben Settle
