Direct Response Marketing Copy & Strategy
Humans have the unique ability, so far as we know, to think abstractly about the future and make plans around those possible outcomes.
Abstract thought is a driver for human growth and ingenuity. Without it, you wouldn’t be able to plan for the future. You wouldn’t be able to tease apart cause and effect. You wouldn’t have scientific advancements and would be forever stuck in a world of superstition.
Continue reading “How to Stop Worrying”Yesterday I wrote a bit about Ralph Waldo Emerson’s essay, Compensation.
In the essay, Emerson argues that everyone is compensated, for the good or the bad, in relation to the good or bad they bring to others in the world.
Good, or bad. These are relative terms, of course, defined by their polarizing nature. You can’t have one without the other.
Emerson’s Compensation opens with a discussion of the polarity of nature, Continue reading “Ralphy Emerson’s ideas on duality and contrast”
“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
The world is trying to change you. You, reader of PRL, may be trying to change the world.
Good luck.
I don’t mean this in a dismissive or negative way. I sincerely wish you luck in motivating the world around you. Think big and act fast. Create. Add value.
Change the world and change your circumstances. Just don’t expect other people to change much. Continue reading “Build Your Inner Fortress”
Last week we discussed Luck. Is an event that happens to us Good Luck or Bad Luck?
In the new Star Wars: The Last Jedi, a film filled with references to the balance of the universe (tao), a character is asked that exact question.
Was this event good luck or bad luck?
Once there was a farmer whose frail old horse ran away. The farmer was unable to plow his fields without that old horse. All the people in town were concerned for the old man and his family, asking how he’d be able to handle his bad luck.
The farmer responded, “Bad Luck? Good Luck? Who knows?”
Later in the week, that horse returned with a pack of wild horses. The townspeople were excited for the old man’s fortune.
The farmer responded, “Good Luck? Bad Luck? Who knows?”
The following month was spent breaking the wild horses to work the farm and to sell. During this time, the farmer’s son fell off a horse and broke his leg.
By then everyone knew the farmer’s answer. “Bad Luck? Good Luck? Who knows?”
While the son was healing, the nation went to war. Every able-bodied male was conscripted to fight. The son with the broken leg was allowed to stay home while the neighbors’ sons went off to war.
“Good Luck? Bad Luck? Who knows?“
Photo “Changing a Tire” by Don O’Brien, Flick, CC-By-2.0
We often see life’s events in terms of Good or Bad (or maybe even Good vs. Evil). Continue reading “Good Luck? Bad Luck? Who knows?”
You probably already know how easily life flows when you’re happy. Would you be surprised to know that some people choose happiness? You might even know someone who chooses unhappiness. It’s a lot easier. For the people around them, however, their constant complaining is draining.
Yep, it’s a choice to be happy. It’s not always easy.
We don’t get to choose what happens in the world.
We do get to choose our reactions. As the Tao Te Ching puts it: Continue reading “Creating Your Happiness”
The Secret calls it Living in Bliss.
Tony Robins calls it Living in a Beautiful State.
Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi calls it the Flow.
Lao Tzu wrote about Tao, the Way of the Universe, in the 4th century BCE.
Whatever name you give it, when you are happy your life is much better. Time disappears. Everything seems easier.
Imagine a pleasant summer morning. The world seems a bit lazier today. You hear the birds singing as you make your way to work. The sunlight warms your head. You hear your favorite song just before you arrive. Your smile is mirrored back to you by a coworker.
You know it’s going to be a great day. Confirmation bias will help to ensure it. Continue reading “Living with Happiness”
True, simplicity is not proof of truth. But since we can
never understand true reality, if two models both explain the
same facts, it is more rational to use the simpler one. It is a
matter of convenience.
Scott Adams’ book God’s Debris introduces us, the reader and first-person narrator, to the world’s smartest person sitting in a rocking chair, Avatar.
You (the narrator) and Avatar hold a wide-ranging conversation about God, religion, science, and probability.
And it’s persuasive.
Join us for a book summary on PRL!
“The Secret” is a documentary and book from 2006. The central premise is “The Law of Attraction,” which attracts what you think about the most.
“Thoughts Become Things.” –Mike Dooley, dude from this movie
Most people focus on their problems and the negatives in their lives. Whatever we think about becomes manifest. Whatever we focus on, the Law of Attraction will provide. It’s to our benefit to think positive thoughts.