Not that it’s a huge deal anymore…
But I am no longer married these days.
Yes, the Nerd Girl and I parted ways 6 months ago.
(So no emoting or sympathy necessary, it’s old newz.)
And while everyone is doing 100% fine, there are also some extremely valuable lessons you can gleam from my experience that apply directly to business if you are looking for them.
In fact, that’s the “warm-up” lesson:
Always keeping your “antenna” up.
Every email marketer should do this.
And, in my case, I knew the minute it happened I’d end up writing about the experience eventually.
Anyway, enough warm up.
Here are a few lessons to think about:
Lesson #1: Negative experiences are profitable
I’m going to write about this later in more depth.
But for now:
Most people never take advantage of their negative energy — and instead use it to mope, overeat, and do other “self medicating” (i.e. self destructive) things to themselves.
Screw that.
Sac up and USE bad experiences to your advantage.
How?
Turn them into emails that make you more sales.
That way, even if something REALLY sucky happens then at least you’ll cry all the way to the bank.
I even taught this in this month’s “Email Players” issue.
If you want it, I kept a few extra issues in stock.
Subscribe today and I’ll send it to you:
Lesson #2: Get a REAL edu-ma-cation
Most people avoid challenges.
Avoid pain.
And avoid making tough decisions.
Thus, they avoid REAL education.
The kind you can’t find in a book or at a school or at a goo-roo seminar or whatever. It’s only when you make hard, unpopular (even impossible) decisions and push through the fear and anxiety when you REALLY get your learn on at the street level.
You can’t buy wisdom.
You can only earn it.
And it’s rarely an easy acquisition…
Lesson #3: Embrace the unknown
This is a strange (in a good way) time for me.
You see, when I was married, my entire life was basically mapped out. I had a good idea where I would be living and what I’d be doing and who I’d be doing it with.
Now?
Well, now my future is a big fat flashing neon “?”.
I have no clue where I want to settle down.
Where I belong.
Or, where I’ll end up.
I just recently moved, but I’m already plotting my next move. The beauty of owning a business online is it doesn’t really matter. As long as you have an Internet connection, you can do your thang anywhere you want.
Where will I go next?
I really have no idea.
But I must admit, it kinda EXCITES me, babycakes.
The unknown is fun once you embrace it.
And that, my friend, is the greatest lesson of all:
Seizing the unknown.
Not avoiding it, but clamping on to it.
In my case…
My recluse days are pretty much over.
My marketing posse and I are already plotting a small intensive training in Las Vegas this year (details forthcoming). I’ll be going places I used to have no desire to go to, probably dabbling in speaking and maybe even doing in-house email marketing training for entrepreneurs and companies who want it.
To paraphrase my boy Samuel Jackson in “Pulp Fiction”:
I’ll be like Caine in the TV show “Kung Fu”…
Wandering the earth.
Getting into adventures.
And helping people double sales with email along the way.
Anyway, so that’s that.
Those are a few lessons from my divorce.
Read ’em.
Use ’em.
And (most importantly) PROFIT from ’em…
Ben Settle
P.S. And of course… if you’d like to join my inner sanctum of email marketing badasses… and “divorce” your bad self from all the wannabes out there (and there are many)… then check out the “Email Players” newsletter at:
