#FailureFriday vol. 6 – I’m embarassed

It’s a week later and I’m still embarrassed. 

I put myself out there and it didn’t work. 

Here’s the email I got last week. It took me a little bit to process it… 

I’m not even sure I told my wife…

I’d be setting you up for failure. I think it would be much better for your career to get some more experience, maybe as a freelancer or another smaller financial publisher…

Here’s how it went down:

I was listening to one of my favorite copywriting podcasts. The guest was from a major financial newsletter publisher known to have the best copywriters in the world. 

At the end the host asked how people can contact the guest if they’re interested in working with him. In response, he gave his personal email but it wasn’t just that…

… he also said don’t send him a resume but try to do something to get his attention. 

So I did. And long story short, he put me in contact with the person who runs one of their copy teams, who asked me to write a sample. 

I did it. I sent it. And got shut down, hence the opening to this post. 

The good news is I live to fight another day. 

Here’s the thing I had to check myself on. Many people who view themselves highly would prefer to avoid situations where reality may contradict that opinion. 

While on the face it might feel similar, avoiding conflict is different than you waiting to take on a challenge because you want to be as prepared as possible because you may only get one shot. 

It pays to know the difference. 

You know what else pays? Being committed to progression. 

– EB

p.s. If you’re feeling like you’re ready to to take on your next challenge but need a little help getting unstuck, send me an email to eric at ericpbutts.com with “unstuck” in the subject line and let’s get you progressing again.