I had a bunch of beliefs when I put finger to keyboard 2+ years ago to start writing these daily emails.

One of those beliefs was this:

I thought I could only write good emails when the conditions around me were perfect.

These “perfect conditions” meant a tidy room, complete silence and no interruptions.

They also meant I had to be fed, watered and caffeinated.

And most critical of all, the “perfection conditions” meant I had to be in the right state of mind. If I was foggy, tired or grumpy then writing a newsletter was almost a non-starter.  And even if I did somehow manage to drag myself to my screen and open up a Word doc, that email would be a rambling mess vs an email written when on my A-game.

But a funny thing has happened to this belief:

It doesn’t look true anymore.

I mean – I still have all these thoughts.  I still think I need a tidy room and my morning coffee before I start to write.

But just because I have these thoughts doesn’t mean I pay much attention to them.

As I’m writing these very words, the washing machine is gurgling away, there’s pots & pans on the stove, I have a higgledy-piggledy pile of 11 books next to my monitor (just counted them) and there are wires & cables dangling over the edge of my table.

I’ve also got a tickle in my dry and crusty throat which is a reliable sign I’m under the weather.

Yet this email seems to be flowing as well as any other.

(I guess you’ll be the judge of that)

Point is, when it comes to writing, it increasingly looks like my mood is as irrelevant as whether or not the sun is shining or if I’m wearing a t-shirt, sweater or a hoodie.

Good thing I’ve noticed this too.

If I spent more time waiting for perfect conditions, I’m sure some of my daily emails would never get written.  There wouldn’t be enough time.  Especially as I juggle this newsletter with my banking job and get ready to bring my first baby into the world in January. 

It's not even wringing out every last drop of effort to overcome the "imperfect conditions" which helps me write my emails.  

If anything, it’s by doing less.  It’s by letting go and subtracting all the unhelpful ideas which are getting in the way.

All of which brings me to this:

On Wednesday, I’m holding a special training for readers of John Bejakovic’s newsletter.

John is one of the world’s top email marketers.  He writes an insightful daily newsletter all about copywriting, marketing and persuasion. 

I’ve had the pleasure of reading John’s emails for over 2 years.  It's one of a couple of daily newsletters I make a point of reading every day, without fail.

I also joined one of John’s programmes earlier this year. 

On the programme, I mentioned the mindset workshops I’ve been running at work and the rave reviews the workshops had been getting.  Once the programme had finished, I asked John if I could run a mindset training for his newsletter readers.

Long story short, John said yes.  

And we've agreed to open up the training to readers of my newsletter too.

(aren’t you lucky!)

In case it's not clear, this isn't a training about emails.  

Instead, the training asks the question: how do we get better results and find more success, happiness & fulfilment in our lives by subtracting the actions and ideas which keep us stuck.

The training is free and takes place on Wednesday 6^th November, 11am PST / 2pm EST / 7pm GMT. 

I’ll be writing more about this over the next few days.

But if you already know you’d like to join the training, here’s the link:

https://subtractionmethod.com

That’s all for today.

 - Tom