Why I Focus on Big Goals

 - December 28, 2021

Mamma mia, what a year!

A lot of bad things happened, but I’m blown away by all the good things.

Near the end of every year, I reflect on what I learned. This year, I noticed that the bigger my goals were, the more likely I achieved them.

Too many people try to play it safe by playing small. But when you’re chasing down big, audacious goals you’re going to feel more excitement and energy. You’re going to attract the interest of other people, and maybe attract forces that we don’t currently understand.

A year ago, my wife and I were researching online for places we could afford to buy a few acres of land and move out of Los Angeles.

First, I wanted to get out of debt and re-establish myself as a copywriter (after a few years of taking a detour to teach science). We thought we could make the move sometime in mid-2022 if all went well.

As I write this in December 2021, we now own and live on a 4-acre farm in a beautiful location. We’re a 15-minute walk from groves of ancient redwoods, and I can ride my bike to the beach in less than half an hour.

I already have 2 months of writing work booked for the year ahead, and I expect to be debt-free by the end of March, if not sooner. I also lost weight this year and hit a lot of my personal physical goals.
I’m not writing this to brag, but to show you the power of focusing on the big goals.

There’s a lot of research in neuroscience showing that the combination of novelty, challenge, and genuine interest can trigger several physiological benefits that help you reach your goals faster.

For example, when things are in a state of flux and uncertainty, but you simultaneously have a clear vision of the outcome you want, a region of the brain called the Substantia Nigra/Ventral Tegumental Area (SN/VTA) lights up and leads to creative thinking.

So, think big as you plan for the new year. It may sound counterintuitive, but the more ambitious your goals are, the better your chances of reaching them.

I’m giving a free online masterclass about setting adventurous goals that will lead you to your Original Advantage. You’ll learn how to 10x your productivity, and how to deal with 2 uncomfortable truths that are probably holding you back.

If you’d like to participate, just go to Jacobbear.com/Masterclass and you can sign up for the next one.

Until next time,

Use your head, follow your heart, and always seek adventure!
Jacobbear.com/masterclass

 

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In Ideas, Performance and Productivity

3 Important Questions for the New Year and Beyond

 - December 18, 2021

Tim Ferriss frequently says the solution to most problems is a better set of questions. Here are three new questions for you (plus, why am I dressed like that?):

I learned two important things in 2021.

First, when you approach your problems and ambitions with a spirit of adventure, a lot hard stuff starts to become easy. (I’ll be talking about this a lot in the near future.)

Second, say less and ask more. I lost two fantastic clients this year because I made too many assumptions and didn’t ask enough questions to find what they really needed. It stings, but I’m grateful for the lesson.

But speaking of questions, some of the most important questions are the ones you ask yourself. (And if you’re asking yourself why I’m dressed like the Unabomber in the above video, we’ll get to that.)

Here are three questions that I guarantee will help you live your best life in 2022 and beyond.

If you’re in any kind of business or profession that serves other people (that’s essentially all of us), you will find new clarity, energy, and commitment in everything you do when you have a solid and sincere answer to these three questions:

1. Do I truly believe that each person is here on this earth for something profoundly important?
2. Do I believe that I’m here for something profoundly important?
3. Based on my answers to the first two questions, how am I going to act and show up in the world from this point on?

There’s a bonus fourth question: Why is Jacob dressed like the Unabomber?

The short answer is we just bought a new home,  and the new home office has bad lighting and no insulation. It’s cold here.

But check out the room! I literally have a new business under construction. The office is unfinished but ready for some rapid positive change. I hope you are, too.

 

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In Ideas, Performance and Productivity, Philosophy

A shimmering ball of energy that leads to higher levels of success

 - November 16, 2021

You’ll often hear people telling you to let go of your past. I think most of us need to do the exact opposite.

You might go through difficult periods in your life when something that already happened is weighing you down, but this is usually just a temporary situation.

For most of the time, for most of us, our past really doesn’t get in the way. Our memories just aren’t that good. 

Now here’s a new and exciting thought. What if your past isn’t a lead anchor that weighs you down, but a shimmering ball of energy that takes your success and happiness to levels you never dreamed of?

With this possibility in mind, I have a few questions that I want to ask you.

What did you love most, want most, dream about when you were twelve years old? What about when you were twenty? Is there a hidden, neglected passion that could become a part of the work you want to do or the life you want to live today?

What about the hard times in your past? What struggles did you overcome? What failures did you have? What did you learn from them? How can you apply that knowledge today, right now?

Here’s a final bit of homework for you. Go through your attic, your basement, your closet or your storage unit and find an important relic from your past. It might be a photo or a toy, a piece of jewelry or clothing. 

Take it out and put it somewhere in an honored place where you will see and touch it every day. Use it as your talisman, a constant reminder of all the treasures you have stored up in your past. 

Mine is a clay ocarina in the shape of a turtle. I wore it on a silk cord around my neck when I traveled around the country on freight trains, and when I traveled around the Mediterranean as a tour director and an English teacher. 

For years I kept it in a drawer, but now I’m wearing it again. Every time I hold it I get feelings of excitement and optimism. 

What treasures from your past experience are waiting for you to rediscover them? 

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In Ideas, Performance and Productivity

Give your business or career an instant upgrade!

 - July 13, 2021

Are you ready to take on more challenges, assume more responsibility, and reap greater rewards? You can upgrade your energy, resilience, skills and creativity almost instantly with a simple shift in your thinking. I’m going to show you how in my next masterclass, Finding Your Fire.

Click Here to register for this free event. I hope to see you there!

I’ve been working hard on this one for weeks.  If you join me, you’ll learn the formula for an inspired vision that will radically transform your business and your life.

I’ll share two uncomfortable truths that are probably keeping you from reaching your highest potential, and show you how to reclaim an extra hour of productive time each day. 

We’ll also shine a spotlight on the culprit that is killing your productivity, stopping sales, and undermining the skills and talents of your team.

Click Here to register for this free event. I hope to see you there!

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In Ideas

You are on a journey

 - July 8, 2021

Nothing looks better than blinking and taking a breath just as the camera starts to roll… But this is important, and if I have to look like I ate too many of Uncle George’s magic brownies, it’s worth it to share this valuable life lesson. So here we go…

What would you do if you had no job, no friends, you were lost in a foreign country where you didn’t know the language, and someone just stole your life savings?

This is what happened to Santiago, the main character in the book The Alchemist by Paolo Coelho. There’s a great lesson here.

Santiago, realized that he could either be a victim who just got robbed and betrayed, or he could be a hero on adventure, in search of a great treasure.

The minute he chose to think of himself as an adventurer, he immediately came up with a solution that stopped him from starving or freezing to death. In less than a day he had food, shelter, a job, and a new friend.

From there, his adventure unfolded as he grew in wisdom, courage, reputation, and wealth.

You don’t need to lose everything in order to put yourself on the same growth trajectory as Santiago. All you have to do is think about yourself as a hero on an adventure.

Your mindset, attitude, and self image have a miraculous ability to unlock your skills and talents, raise your energy levels, and attract amazing good luck.

I know all this from personal experience. One a bike trip through Italy, I took a wrong turn and got lost in the Apennine Mountains. I had to battle a heavy wind that knocked me over, a storm drenched all my clothes, and late that afternoon I realized I had lost my phone.

Just after sunset, I stumbled into the tiny village of Aquilonia. A group of burly dudes hanging outside a bar looked me over. When they asked me what I was doing, I told them I wanted to learn about Aquilonia but first I needed a place to pitch a tent.

One of them told me I had coraggio, and I stayed in Aquilonia for two days. The locals honored me with music, jokes, an archaeological tour, food, and drink.  It was one of the most memorable parts of the trip.

For years I’ve believed in the Santiago principle, that your mindset goes a long way towards resolving whatever situation you’re facing. More recently I’ve followed the research that seems to back this up.

Neuroscience and psychology are filled with studies in which ordinary people achieve extraordinary success, healing, learning, and growth almost immediately after a sincere change in their attitude.

It’s also known that if you do things that scare you a little bit, eventually you will overcome these fears. Over time, this simple practice can boost your self-esteem and make you more resilient.

So what if you thought about yourself as a hero on an adventure, and constantly chased after small quests? (By quests, I mean goals that make you slightly uncomfortable but are small enough to achieve in a few days or weeks.)

If you give yourself just one meaningful quest a month, imagine where you’ll be this time next year!

Sometimes I like to imagine certain parts of my life as a video game. Then the challenges I face are puzzles to solve, monsters to defeat, or quests to complete.

Gamifying parts of your life is a variation of thinking of yourself as a hero on an adventure. It’s a great way to overcome fear, reach your goals faster, bring out talents you may not have known you had, and develop the skills you need to achieve anything you want.

Try it out, and the results will speak for themselves. You are a hero on an adventure.

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In Ideas

The second biggest marketing mistake you’re making (468 words)

 - April 27, 2021

Nobody wants to merely blend in with all the marketing noise. That’s how businesses die. 

But if you’ve ever read even one marketing book, you might fall for a crippling misconception. You see, practically everyone knows rule #1: Emphasize benefits, not features. This is an important rule, but if you leave out its counterpart, you will be crushed.

When benefits work against you

If you’ve got a completely different set of benefits that nobody else is promising, then rule #1 might be enough. But what happens when all your competitors are touting the same benefits? Chances are you’ve been caught in this swamp before:

  • Almost any real estate agent you ask will offer to sell your house fast, for the best possible price 
  • Most IT services will reduce downtime and streamline your workflow
  • Every single copywriter in the world is going to promise you more clients, more sales, and bigger profits with less effort

If your benefits are the same as everybody else, a prospect doesn’t really have a reason to choose you, and they may fall back on the cheapest or loudest option. 

Escape the “Me Too” Syndrome

Luckily, there’s an easy way around this “me too” syndrome: Start focusing again on the features.

How will you sell my house faster for a better price? Tell me the steps you’ll go through. Even if every realtor goes through the exact same steps, nobody has ever told me about them.

If you’re a personal trainer, explain that you spend half of each session doing resistance training at the weakest point in your client’s range of motion. List the 27 different muscle groups that you test and work with. Describe the weights and equipment you use. 

Do you offer IT services that reduce downtime? Be sure to show that your software refreshes the data and scans for bugs 37 times per minute. That you analyze 29 data points on an hourly basis. That most problems are discovered and corrected within 11 minutes. Mention the names, model numbers, and versions of all your software and equipment.

All of this information will be meaningless to most of your clients, but it’s a billion times more refreshing than the overused term, “state of the art.”

I always start every project by collecting as many facts as I can about a client or their products. I try to get at least 100, or even 1,000 if I’m not in a hurry. One of my early mentors refused to write a single sentence until he had compiled 15 pages of facts about a product. Fifteen pages.

When everyone in your industry is boasting the same benefits, there’s only one way to stand out. Show your market, in a very concrete and tangible way, exactly how you deliver those benefits.

The old rule still applies. Benefits before features. But never leave out the features.

About Jacob Bear In a digital world filled with endless distraction, the key to success is to become so excited about something that you attack every obstacle and light up the path for your followers. As a copywriter and marketing coach, Jacob has been guiding entrepreneurs to uncover their unique story since 2006. In his new talk, “Finding Your Fire,” he shows you how to cultivate a sense of adventure that brings energy and originality to everything you do. His free Social Media Cheat Sheet shows you how to create authentic, perpetual content in nine steps. You can find the Cheat Sheet and other tools at JacobBear.com/FreeStuff.

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In Article Bank, copywriting, marketing, Tactics

The four things you need for marketing success (519 words)

 - April 4, 2021

Four things.

That’s all you need for your marketing in 2021, and you probably already have most of them.

If you’re not getting the results you want, it probably means you’re lacking in one of these four areas, or they aren’t working together as a whole.

The marketing tree revisited

Imagine your marketing is a tree. The tree has four elements: Leaves, branches, a trunk, and roots. Let’s check them out one at a time.

The leaves collect the sun. They attract energy and money into your marketing system.

Leaves are the thing most businesses focus on: Your advertising, social media posts, memes, emails–all the surface things that drive traffic, attention, and branding.

Leaves are essential. But if the energy they create doesn’t go into your branches, trunk, and root system, the leaves won’t help you very much.

And if you’re not nourishing your leaves from the roots out through the trunk and the branches, then they will shrivel up and stop working.

Branches are the utility part of the marketing tree.

Strong branches support your clients, your potential clients, and your mission. Your branches are your videos, white papers, and downloads. Your branches are the content your clients want, and they are the tools that show potential clients what your business can do for them.

Leaves drive traffic to the branches, and the branches should support the leaves. Good content, worthy of being bragged about by the leaves of your tree, provides this support.

Branches in turn, rise up from the trunk of the tree. Your trunk is the core of your business, what you do best for your clients and how you’re different from similar businesses.

If your business has a good core, a good trunk, then it’s not hard to come up with solid, evergreen content (branches) to promote your business.

How do you build a good trunk? It all depends on the roots.

You probably already know what the roots of your tree are. These are your values, your mission, your reasons for doing what you do. The roots are underground, and many people will never see them. But they are reflected in the trunk of your tree.

In fact, you can’t have a sturdy trunk without good roots.

Do this for the next four months

After the gazpacho smoothie blender explosion that was 2020, the world is grateful for healthy trees. Especially the ones with solid roots. Everyone is concerned about roots these days. How are yours doing?

I recommend you spend the next month looking at your roots.

Think of ways you can have your roots spread their influence up through the trunk, the branches, all the way to the tip of every leaf.

Then spend a month on your trunk, another month on branches, and finally give a month of focus to your leaves.

If you do this, you will have a formidable marketing system in place by the beginning of summer.

Now I have a question for you. Actually two questions. What are your most important values? What got you through 2020?

I would love to hear your answers. Leave a comment below.

About Jacob Bear In a digital world filled with endless distraction, the key to success is to become so excited about something that you attack every obstacle and light up the path for your followers. As a copywriter and marketing coach, Jacob has been guiding entrepreneurs to uncover their unique story since 2006. In his new talk, “Finding Your Fire,” he shows you how to cultivate a sense of adventure that brings energy and originality to everything you do. His free Social Media Cheat Sheet shows you how to create authentic, perpetual content in nine steps. You can find the Cheat Sheet and other tools at JacobBear.com/FreeStuff.

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In Article Bank, Backbone Marketing, Social Media

How your audacious vision can become a wealth magnet

 - December 16, 2020

This is what my 2021 is going to be all about. I ramble a bit, but it’s sincere. Think of it as the first draft that you never get to read. There’s an explanation after the video.

First, a quick history lesson. There was a time when the Roman Empire was a small business.

The story of their growth has something that might help you. 

You see, back when Rome was just a large village in the middle of Italy, when fierce enemies lurked a few days’ journey away, back when Roman roads were just dusty pathways in the summer and streams of mud in the winter, way back in the days when the southern third of Italy was part of Greece, someone had an audacious vision. 

A Roman Censor named Appius Claudius initiated a project that caused a lot of people to shake their heads. 

He built a road. A real road. The first true Roman Road. Nobody had ever done anything like this before.

The road was paved with multiple layers of stone and interlocking hexagon plates of hand-carved volcanic rock that was almost indestructible. Drainage ditches were dug to keep the water off. He set up outposts along the road to provide travelers with food, water, and fresh horses.

You might think a road like this would go somewhere important, but it didn’t. It just led into the wilderness and sort of petered out. A lot of people shook their heads.

This project bankrupted the treasury, which probably caused even more people to shake their heads. But you know what happened next.

With this infrastructure in place, the Romans could move their troops, supplies, and messengers year round with startling speed. Soon they controlled the Italian peninsula, and then they copied this system on every shore along the Mediterranean sea. 

I wrote about this a few months ago on Medium, in an article titled, “How Appius Claudius Invented Rome.” It’s been getting some attention, and I think I know why. Many people are asking themselves the same question:

What could you accomplish, if you were willing to make a few people shake their heads?

No matter where you are in your life, in your business, you can benefit by having an audacious vision. When you have an audacious vision, something happens. You will find yourself inspiring others. You will have energy and power behind your every move. Decision-making becomes easy.

Best of all, you gain an unfair advantage over your competitors.

Dan Kennedy once listed 26 “Wealth Magnets” used by many of the most successful entrepreneurs in the world. (There are really 27 of these, but the last one is hidden. Wealth Magnet #15 is Passion. #16 is See What Isn’t There. The 17th magnet is No Boundaries. 

My favorite, Wealth Magnet #10, is Do Something. 

If you have an audacious vision, take massive action to bring it into the world. Heads will shake, but soon you’ll have four wealth magnets, and you’ll be on your way to activating others.

Over the weekend, I had my own Audacious Vision. I’ll be sharing it with you a little bit in these emails, or you can find out about it on the video at the top of this post.

But meanwhile, what is your audacious vision? Go on! Make my head shake!

About Jacob Bear In a digital world filled with endless distraction, the key to success is to become so excited about something that you attack every obstacle and light up the path for your followers. As a copywriter and marketing coach, Jacob has been guiding entrepreneurs to uncover their unique story since 2006. In his new talk, “Finding Your Fire,” he shows you how to cultivate a sense of adventure that brings energy and originality to everything you do. His free Social Media Cheat Sheet shows you how to create authentic, perpetual content in nine steps. You can find the Cheat Sheet and other tools at JacobBear.com/FreeStuff.

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In Experiments, Ideas

The World’s Most Prescient Investor?

 - November 9, 2020

More than 2,000 years ago, a Roman censor named Appius Claudius built the most expensive road ever seen. Rome was just a city at the time, and the road led to wilderness and enemy territory in southern Italy.

His “road to nowhere” nearly bankrupted the treasury.

It also enabled this quirky city state to control the Italian peninsula, and eventually all the lands touched by the Mediterranean sea.

Appius Claudius knew that when you combine bold action with ambitious vision, people and circumstances will hustle to “catch up” with you. He famously said, “Every man is the architect of his own fortune.”

Next week, I’m going to show you how to be the architect of your own fortune. In this workshop, “Crush Social Media Without Crushing Your Soul,” you’ll learn how to map out a route that will put you in the top 10% of your field.

And that’s not all. I’m going to share my best tips and tricks, including:

How to integrate 4 types of content to build instant funnels and automated marketing sequences
The secret of to Timeless Content that lets you attract fantastic clients and customers with almost no effort
A shortcut to building authentic connections online in just a few minutes a day

It’s all happening at 10 a.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday, November 18. Here’s the link: https://newthinkable.lpages.co/wcsm-11-18-main/

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In Uncategorized

My favorite social media hack (441 words)

 - October 9, 2020

Internet gurus invented the hamster wheel.

“If you don’t post at least 3 times a day,” they warn you, “you’re invisible.”

Important, high quality activities like sales and marketing, personal contact, and doing the work you’re great at–all those things have to wait. You’ve gotta create more CONTENT and post the living frack out of it.

You’re welcome to stay on the social media treadmill, if you think you need the exercise.

But I think there’s something else you can do.

Something way more authentic, something that doesn’t take as much out of you, and something that might even work better–at least on certain platforms.

How to Use the Law of Acknowledgement

You know what everyone wants on social media, right? Attention and recognition. So why not give them what they want?

Acknowledge the people most important to you, the ones you really want to impress, by sharing their content and leaving thoughtful comments.

I did an experiment. For one week, I didn’t post anything new. Instead, I spent about 10 minutes a day giving comments and shares to other people. Here were the results:

  • 11 new opt-ins for my list
  • 2 old clients I hadn’t spoken to in years reached out to talk about new projects
  • 3 total strangers liked and shared some of my older content

Results like this won’t turn you into a billionaire, but they cumulative impact of sincere, personal interaction will compound over the years.

If you want to get the most out of the Law of Acknowledgement, combine it with some critical preparation.

Prime Yourself for the Law of Acknowledgement

Leaving positive comments for others will get attention. People will start to look at your feed and see what you’ve got. Ideally you’ve got something good to show them.

I listed the details in the Social Media Cheat Sheet, but here’s a quick rundown of what you should have in place:

  • 5 or more examples of “core content” available in multiple formats (blog post, video, podcast, audio, etc.) that show you at your best and provide real value
  • A series of memes and clickbait that lead back to your core content, automated via software or posted regularly by an assistant
  • A good lead magnet that triggers a welcome/nurturing email sequence

If you have these three things set up, and then you spend 10 minutes a day giving your peers and prospects the attention they crave on social media, you won’t have to spend your days on the treadmill anymore.

You will free up hours of time to innovate, optimize your business, invent new products, and enjoy more personal interactions with your best prospects.

You’re going to be a fat hamster.

About Jacob Bear In a digital world filled with endless distraction, the key to success is to become so excited about something that you attack every obstacle and light up the path for your followers. As a copywriter and marketing coach, Jacob has been guiding entrepreneurs to uncover their unique story since 2006. In his new talk, “Finding Your Fire,” he shows you how to cultivate a sense of adventure that brings energy and originality to everything you do. His free Social Media Cheat Sheet shows you how to create authentic, perpetual content in nine steps. You can find the Cheat Sheet and other tools at JacobBear.com/FreeStuff.

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In Article Bank, Ideas, marketing, Social Media, social media marketing, Tactics, Time Management