Got your attention right?
And I bet you’re expecting some kind of a bait and switch…😉
Where I go, “Just kidding, I’m talking about soda!”😜
Nope…
This email is really about my coke dealer…
And it’s also about a huge mistake that the least successful humans make, but that the most successful tend to avoid. 🤷
Let me explain…
From the age of about 19 to 21 I worked for a record label startup.👨💻
There were insanely long hours, it was stressful, and it ultimately failed.
I’m thankful for that failure because it gave me a ton of valuable lessons…
Because during this window of my life, I got really addicted to cocaine.
It started pretty innocently, doing a line with friends at a party…
But before long, I was doing it EVERY SINGLE DAY…
Spending almost all of my money on it…
And it was having a very negative effect on my health and my life.
“Not good,” as the Donald would say…
And fortunately, I was able to break my addiction slowly but surely…
At first, I went from using every day, to once a week…
Then once a month…
And then eventually, I got to a place where it had been years.
I’m proud of myself for that…
“What does this have to do with your coke dealer?”
“And why the hell are you writing to me about all of this Stefan!?!”
Well, check it out:
My main coke dealer back in the day was a guy we’ll call “Mike” (not his real name).
He was just a kid, like my friends and I…
And he was a good guy – he’d come hang out with us sometimes, he’d party with us, etc.
I always liked him…
But of course, after I stopped doing cocaine and moved on with my life…
I fell out of touch with “Mike”…
Which was, of course, for the better.
But recently, “Mike” added me on Facebook.
I didn’t realize it was him at first, because I never knew his last name (he was probably in my phone as “Mike Blow”)…
But then he messaged me to say hi…
Told me about how he’s doing stuff in eCommerce and IM…
And shared how he was finding all of my writing and content highly valuable.
“Mike” is also married and has a beautiful baby boy…
Writes posts on his Facebook wall about how grateful he is for the things in his life…
And he’s even hired a few of the copywriters in my orbit and given them good-paying jobs.
How f***ing cool is that?
I used to be a cokehead, but today I’m one of the most successful copywriters in the world – someone who writes, teaches, and shares with others.
“Mike” used to be a coke dealer, but today he’s thriving with digital marketing and is a devoted family man who is creating jobs and helping to make the world a better place.
And my point behind all of this is:
Seems obvious, but it’s important.
You see – I’m sure there are people from my past who still think of me as this 21-year-old kid doing lines of cocaine off a bathroom stall…
And I’m sure there are people who will always think of “Mike” as a drug dealer.
But those people, the ones who don’t accept that folks can grow, change, or evolve…
They’re fools…
They’re ignorant…
They are stuck in their ways…
And frankly, they’re almost never going to achieve a high level of success in their lives…
Because success requires mental flexibility…
Not a rigid, unbending brain.
So yeah, I just wanted to share all of this with you…
Hopefully, you enjoyed…
And here’s to having a great day as well 🙂
– SPG
P.S. This post originally came from an email I sent to my private list. If you want to see more stuff like this from me, you can apply to join my list using this link.
