The S.W.I.P.E.S. Email (Friday December 2nd, 2022)

"1 dog year is 7 human years" is what I've always heard....but that's not totally accurate! 

This super cool chart clarifies that statement with more info based on weight:

How old is your pet according to this??

...and how old do you think this little guy is?? 🙂

Here's a funny story how over the years I've swung the price of this book (This Is Earl Nightingale) from $15 to over $450 several times. 

Currently if you search this book it's at $244: 

....yet 5 days ago it was about $20 🤔

So I talk about this book all the time. I originally bought a copy ~15 years ago that was signed by the author Earl Nightingale:

If I’m ever confused, pissed off, sad, or lazy (or other non-desirable state)….I pick up this book and open a random chapter:

Within a few minutes of reading one of the chapters (each 1 to 3 pages long), I generally have a paper/pen out and am jotting out the quickest solution to my problems.

It’s almost like a sure-fire way to make me feel better since it gets me thinking RATIONALLY about an issue I may have, rather than just “oh poor me complain complain complain” shitty circular thinking that gets you no where.

So for a $15 book I bought 15 years ago, it's had massive returns for me!

So 5 days ago I posted an Instagram Reel about the book, and I watched the price go from $20, to $150+, to $200+ 😂

It's a combination of enough people wanting to buy an original copy (no longer printed), and a very limited supply of those copies, plus this isn't like a super popular book lots of people sell:

I personally have an affinity for this book because it was one of my most-referenced books of the last 2 decades. 

Earl Nightingale has so much wisdom that's sometimes tough to swallow and very matter-of-fact.

Here's some fun little nuggets of wisdom from it:

“Your total environment is an exact and merciless mirror of you as a human being.” 
- Earl Nightingale

“The amount of money a person receives will always be in direct proportion to the demand for what he does, his ability to do what he does, and the difficulty of replacing him.” 
- Earl Nightingale

"A happy plumber makes a greater contribution to the world than a miserable university professor."
 --Earl Nightingale

“We become what we think about. People who think about becoming lawyers, become lawyers. A bad environment makes you think bad thoughts. A beautiful environment makes you think beautiful thoughts.” 
-Earl Nightingale

Can you simply describe your own product/service with this framework?

Example 1: 
Feature: Sun cream. 
Benefit: No sun burn. 
Experience: A burn free summer. 

Example 2: 
Feature: Blackjack Guide.
Benefit: Win more money than your friends.
Experience: Bragging rights from your weekend in Vegas.

Example 3: 
Feature: QMS building framework.
Benefit: Connect, Organize and Visualize your QMS data.
Experience: Faster quality management decision-making than your competitors.

Example 4: 
Feature: Micro exercises.
Benefit: No burnout.
Experience: A refreshed mind and body.

Write your product/service out like this, and reply to this email with your answers!!
• Feature: ?
• Benefit: ?
• Experience: ?

I've been very resistant to these "Shorts" videos for a while....but I'm not gonna deny some of these results:

Suuurreee the numbers are all probably highly inflated, but it's an interesting format to get tons of different information in a small amount of time. 

I posted our analytics on all these platforms in last weeks SWIPES Email, and I'll update again after roughly a month of posting!

I'm currently thinking through my 2023 goals, and perhaps some “Month-Long Experiment” ideas for 2023 plus their desired results.
Here's an example:

#1.) Observe Sabbath (no religious connotation): 
I would pick a day of the week to use little-to-no technology.

Result:
Hope to read more, disconnect just enough, regain long focused periods without distraction of fun technology.

#2.) Sober Month No drinking, no nothing, mayyybbbe caffeine. 

Result: Just make sure can still do it, no way to escape, reduced calories, potentially better sleep.

#3.) Calorie Restriction Month 
Set a strict calorie cutoff for each day. 
2,100 calories for workout days 
1,500 calories for non-workout days 

Result: 
At those numbers I guarantee go into a calorie deficit. Forces me to make good food choices, and high penalty for poor choices. 

I’ve tried many of these before, and usually find some small action to get the desired result faster without doing a month of the same thing. Ideas I’m not 100% sure need a full month but seem interesting: 

• Everyday writing habit month 
• Wake up really early month 
• Morning/evening stretching month (maybe while I brush/floss)
• Solve a trivial inconvenience each day 
• Track all of your time for a month
• No added sugar month

I really liked this blog post documenting a bunch of similar experiments and their results.

Do you have any month-long experiments you'll be doing in 2023??

CopyWork is a copywriting exercise where you hand-copy ads to learn how they were written. 

When you learn piano you first copy other songs, then later you create your own songs. 

It's a similar concept with copy. 

You first copy famous pieces, then create your own.

For example here's a world-famous Volkswagen ad:

Here's a CC student's CopyWork for that popular Volkswagen ad:

Here's another students rendition of it:

And another:

If you want to practice CopyWork on your own, here's 31 different ads to pick from:

Feel free to pick one of those ads, write it out on a sheet of paper, and reply back to this email with a photo of it!