The Power of Pain

Some of the most valuable, career-transforming words I’ve ever heard were also the most painful to hear.

When the great Maurice Saatchi scolded me for failing to properly attribute a statistic I had referred to, it was very uncomfortable.

Yet from then on, I was far more careful about sourcing facts.

When Dan Rosenthal told me a piece of writing I had done was “soulless”— ouch! But you can be sure I never wrote another piece of copy that wasn’t brimming with personality.

And it sure stung whenever Jim Rutz told me my copy was “putting him to sleep.” But to this day I hear his voice in my head inspiring me to make every sentence interesting and engaging.

Nietzsche may have gone a little too far when he said, “What doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.” But it is often true that where there is pain, with the right attitude, there is gain.

Our self-image as writers is a tenuous thing—constantly under siege from honest critiques and results that are even slightly less than expected.

Yet the greatest leaps forward I’ve made as a copywriter came when I set aside my self-image and my ego, letting the pain serve as a reminder and spur to improvement.

I’m always gratified to see this in the members of my Inner Circle. I see how my feedback stings a bit yet inspires and guides them to reach for new heights.

And how they keep coming back—and even beg—for more, because they can see how, bit by bit, it’s transforming their writing, careers, and businesses.

If you have a passion to get to the next level of skill and earning power with your copywriting—and you don’t mind a little discomfort along the way—you just might have what it takes to join my Inner Circle.