Becoming a successful copywriter has the potential to fill your life with many benefits. While you likely enjoy the craft of writing, pursuing a career in copywriting can lead to a lifestyle that offers more freedom… freedom of time and money to live life how and where you desire… your perfect version of the writer’s life.
However, it can seem daunting when you look at where you are and see where you want to go. You may have no idea how you’re going to get there, or even what the first step is.
Luckily, there’s a structure that helps you take a large dream or goal and break it down into bite-sized, easily accomplished steps that will gradually move you forward. Inch by inch everything’s a cinch, but yard by yard everything is hard.
I was fortunate enough to learn these steps from a gentleman who had achieved monumental success in business in multiple industries. This gentleman had not only generated immense wealth, but was someone who had total inner peace, always living life from a place of bliss and joy.
Despite growing up in a blue-collar family, he was exposed, at a young age, to some of the wealthiest and most successful people on the planet. He observed that there’s a system to taking a large dream and manifesting it in the physical world.
These steps are natural and intuitive to people who have come from wealthy or accomplished families, and those who have achieved large goals.
These steps often are not natural and intuitive to most people, which is why most people struggle to make their dreams become reality.
You can use these to create your version of the writer’s life and to pursue any goal or desire you have, in any area of your life.
Learn these steps, begin to apply them, and you’ll move closer and closer to your dreams and your perfect version of the writer’s life.
1. Look at your current situation and not like it.
The first step in creating your ideal writing career or your perfect version of the writer’s life is to look at your current situation and not like it. You want to look at all the things you currently don’t like about your life, your current career, or job, and ideally experience some pain.
Allowing yourself to feel some pain or discomfort will allow you to clarify what you want, and motivate you to take steps to change your situation.
If you’re comfortable with your current situation, you’re unlikely to change it. You have to reach the point where you’re sick and tired of being sick and tired, so you’re actually motivated enough to do something to change your situation.
Most people never achieve their goals, because they can tolerate the discomfort of their situation. They become comfortable in their discomfort.
Once you find your pain, you won’t stay in that place… but you’ll use it to help you transition to step two.
2. Clarify exactly what you want.
Once you’ve clearly defined what you don’t like about your current situation, and let yourself really feel the pain of it, your next step is to clarify exactly what you do want.
This is your ideal scene, your dream, your perfect version of the writer’s life.
Push yourself to think big here.
You also want to be as specific as you can about what you want.
The secret to success that Napoleon Hill was taught by Andrew Carnegie (the richest man in the world at that time) was to, “Define your dream and get a burning desire for its achievement.”
The more clarity you have about what you want, the greater chance you have to create it. You give yourself a target to aim at.
And you can’t hit a target you don’t have.
3. Make a decision.
Once you clearly know what you want, the next step is to make the decision that you’re going to do it. That’s it. Period!
When I say, “Make a decision,” I mean make an ironclad, set-in-stone decision that you’ll achieve your goal or dream no matter what. Decide not to care how long it takes or what obstacles may come up along the way. Decide now that nothing will stop you in the pursuit of your dream, your perfect version of the writer’s life.
When you do, you’ll have finally and definitively set a destination on the GPS of your life. You’ll have stopped being wishy-washy or unsure, constantly changing what you want.
As the saying goes, “Everyone gets out of the way, or helps the person who knows where they are going and is determined to get there.”
When you make a decision like this, the universe conspires to help you bring it into reality — barriers fall away, and people appear who can help you in your aims.
4. Take action… write it down.
Once you’ve made your decision, it’s critical you do this step within the next 24 to 48 hours.
Studies have shown that setting an intention around your goals is critical. Once you’ve decided to accomplish something, it’s imperative you take some kind of action within this short time frame. Without that action, your chances of success drop. You also run the risk you’ll develop neural pathways that reinforce the idea you don’t follow through on your decisions.
Luckily the necessary action doesn’t have to be big.
One of the simplest and most significant steps you can take is to write down your perfect version of the writer’s life from step 2.
You can also create a vision board with hand-drawn images or pictures from magazines or the internet.
In doing this, you’re taking something that’s a thought, something that’s ephemeral, and you’re condensing it down into the physical dimension. You’re making it more “real.”
It works better if you do this with paper and pen (or pencil)… not electronically.
In this step, you’re creating the blueprint of the life you plan to build.
5. Create a chief aim.
The next step is to do some thinking and come up with a chief aim. Something smaller and more focused that, when accomplished, will get you closer to your bigger dream.
This should be something you know you can accomplish in a one-year time frame. It’s not a “maybe I can make this happen” sort of aim… it’s something you KNOW, if you put in the time and work and take the right actions, you can make it happen.
For example, if your dream is to build a writing business that brings a seven-figure income, your first chief aim might be to earn $50,000 in your first year as a working writer.
Whatever chief aim you set, it should help you build toward your bigger dream… so take some time to think it through and come up with something that resonates for you.
It’s also key that you focus on ONE specific chief aim.
Remember, you can’t ride two horses to the finish line.
6. Create objectives.
Once you’ve come up with a chief aim, it’s time to break it down into some objectives that, if accomplished, will bring you closer to the chief aim.
Try to identify five or six key milestones you need to hit to reach your chief aim, with each one being something you can manage to complete in one or two months.
As an example, if you’re brand-new to copywriting, an objective could be to complete the AWAI Accelerated Copywriting course.
Objectives help get you closer to your chief aim, which gets you closer to your perfect version of the writer’s life.
7. Turn objectives into daily action steps.
In this step, take the objectives you created and break them down into daily action steps to keep you moving forward.
Here, you’re creating a “to do” list with action steps that can be completed in a relatively short amount of time, an hour or so.
Completing these action steps gets you closer to completing your objectives.
8. Assign priorities and deadlines.
Once you’ve taken your objectives and broken them down into daily action steps, you now have to set your priorities.
Managing how you spend your time comes down to setting your priorities.
You must do the hard thinking to determine the proper order of your “to do’s.” This will allow you to focus on the action steps that are the most important and impactful, which will get you closer to achieving your objectives, which will bring you closer to achieving your chief aim, which brings you closer to living your perfect version of the writer’s life.
You also want to set deadlines for your daily action steps.
When it comes to your dreams and chief aim, you don’t want to set deadlines, because you don’t necessarily have control over everything that will occur for you to manifest it. You do, however, want to set deadlines for your objectives and your daily action steps, since you can control your effort to get these tasks completed.
It’s important to remember, if you’re not used to taking a large dream and breaking it down using these steps, there will be a learning curve. Just like doing anything new.
Don’t beat yourself up, if you make mistakes. Just keep engaging in the process, and you’ll continue to improve over time.
9. Keep score.
Once you have your priorities set, it’s time to start keeping score. Determine which parts of your dream are quantifiable, and begin to keep the stats on these areas.
As a writer trying to land clients, you could track how many pitches you send, how many discovery calls you conduct, how many projects you land, or how much you’re earning each month.
Choose what stats you’ll track and graph them.
Creating a graph allows you to see trends and determine if you’re moving in the right direction. This way you can change things, if your scores are trending down… and increase what you’re doing, when they’re trending up.
Keeping score allows you to know what is actually occurring in your business and life. It lets you see at a glance if you’re getting closer to your goals.
What statistics you choose to focus on will depend on your specific goals and dreams. Some general ones are income, profit, and number of clients.
Update your stats weekly or monthly and review them when you do. Make adjustments based on what you’re seeing.
10. Review your progress.
The final step is to consistently sit down and review your progress. Revisit your dream, chief aim, objectives, and daily action steps. Do an honest assessment of how things are going.
Are you making progress on your objectives? Have you set the right priorities?
Does your chief aim still make sense, or do you need to adjust it… or maybe redefine it entirely?
Your perfect version of the writer’s life may also change as you progress.
When changes happen, write down how you’re adjusting — what’s your new vision and chief aim, and what are your objectives and daily actions? What are your new priorities? How do you need to change your timelines?
A regular review keeps you on track and makes sure you’re adapting your goals as you grow and change.
Dream big… and make it happen.
You now have the steps to take a big dream and break it down into manageable, tangible, and actionable tasks that move you steadily forward.
For some people this will seem quite logical and intuitive. It may be something you already do naturally to some degree.
To others this way of doing things may be completely new…
That’s okay. Just start where you are.
You won’t always be perfect, just like when starting anything new. But, as you continue to work with and apply the steps, the process will become more natural. Soon you’ll be making progress on your writing goals and dreams, or any other desires you have.
