A corny little glimpse into the palantir of elBenbo’s past:
Back in 2001, before I stumbled into copywriting, marketing, and direct response (and email marketing wasn’t even on the back burner of my pea brain) I remember watching the movie “The Fellowship of the Ring” when it came out on opening day.
I loved every minute of it.
Props to Peter Jackson & Co.
They managed to strip out all the boring stuff from Tolkein’s books (didn’t really dig on reading 4 pages of what the hobbit’s ate and countless songs inserted into the narrative) and added even more action. To those who whine about it not “being pure to the books!” quit being a dumb ass and simply read the books then. Same goes for The Hobbit movies. Yes, those 3 movies are about 20% the book, but they are also 80% more fun than the book.
Back to the tale:
When Fellowship of the Ring came out I was going through some not-so-fun times.
Not life-threatening stuff or anything I didn’t bring on myself. Certainly nothing worth crying about on flakebook like the drama-queens and kings do about the dumbest things just for likes and attention and validation.
But, in context, it wasn’t fun and I basically was a loser, with a marketing prole mindset, with a destiny of being a two bit MLM distributor without a pot to piss in, or a window to throw it out.
Enter the movie.
There is a part of the movie where the wizard Gandalf The Gray is talking to Frodo in the Mines of Moria. Orcs and demons of the ancient world could kill Frodo and his companions at any time. Gollum was hot on their trail. And they were more or less despairing.
Frodo says:
“I wish the Ring had never come to me. I wish none of this had happened.”
To which Gandalf the Grey replies:
“So do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”
That scene stuck in my psychology at the time.
It made me get my head out of my arse, sac up, and start thinking more clearly about getting things done.
It also made me understand the value of time.
We all — rich or poor — have the same 24 hours each day.
We can waste it surfing flakebook and social media, watching people kneel or not kneel at football games, or get seduced by the talking deads on cable news.
Or, we can work.
We can claw our way to our goals.
We can put pencil to paper (or fingers to keyboard) and create.
Time is passing regardless of what you do.
I once heard a story about a guy who wanted to get his Masters degree. He was complaining about how it would take 5 years of night school, and that’s such a long time, yada yada yada.
His friend said:
“So? Time is passing anyway. Five years from now you can have your masters degree, or you can be sitting around doing nothing wishing you’d gotten it. Time is passing no matter what you do.”
Anyway, something to think about.
I don’t care what you do with your time.
But, if you are looking at building your business and thinking “this is going to take me forever!”, realize time is passing whether you use it or not. Six months or a year from now, you could be building and profiting from your own business, or you could be stuck in the same situation you are now, waiting for whatever ducks you think you need in a row to get started.
It’s all up to you, you’re in charge.
Everyone has an hour a day.
Or, even a half hour per day.
Hellz… even 15 minutes per day.
Show me a man who consistently puts 15 minutes per day into building his business and I guarantee he will wipe the floor with the bloke who has 2 hours per day, but spends his time arguing on flakebook or watching TV.
Okay, enough of this drivel.
You either get it or you don’t.
If you get it, and if you’re ready to take your business towards success and prosperity, I can think of no faster way than email. If you have an offer and a list, my “Email Players” newsletter could be the magic staff you use to obliterate the gates to get what you want.
Here are the details:
Ben Settle
