The Focus Experiment

The Experiment

For the next 6 and a half months (begun on December 15th, 2012), I will focus 5 days a week & at least 7 hours a day on learning, practicing, & profiting from copywriting.

For these months, copywriting is sacred. Nothing will be allowed to interfere with it. Women, adventure, learning, playing; all that will be enjoyed only if it does not interfere with copywriting.

The Reason

I am doing this because I think it will bring me the most joy on a 5-year scale, not on a 1 week scale.

In the last two years since beginning the entrepreneurial path, I have had many adventures and learned many things, growing from boy to man in the process. But I have not become a successful entrepreneur.

Now, I feel the weight of time & the disparage between my dreams at 17 & my reality at 19. I want to have a serious entrepreneurial success as soon as I can.

If I am successful in my goal & never have to worry about basic money ever again, it will be worth it. Even with the risks and downsides, it will be worth it.

And there are some scary risks in focusing on one thing for six months, and a set of plans and steps I’ve set up to fend off & repair the worst case scenario. All that is here.

The Hypothesis & Goal

I believe that focus will result in a more direct route to a goal, and that locking in and really working on something is the only way to make something great happen quickly.

My hypothesis & goal is that I will be making $3000/month by July 1st 2012.

  • January 1st: $0
  • February 1st: $50
  • March 1st: $200
  • April 1st: $600
  • May 1st: $1500
  • June 1st: $2500
  • July 1st: $3000

Should I fail, I will know that my hypothesis has been proven wrong, and that I have to combine focus with something else to reach success.

The Rules

Weekly

From Monday to Friday, from 1400-2100 hours, I will be working on copywriting.

Daily

From 14-16, I will be writing verbatim & reading copywriting books.

I will take a 10 minute break every 50 minutes, and a 30 minute break every 2 hours.

During 1630-1830 & 1900-2100 I will be working on actual copywriting, with breaks to read copywriting books should I hit a block.

Monthly

At the first of every month, during my monthly review, I will review my progress, the money I have made, and any thoughts I have.

Experiment Log

January 1st

Goal for this month: $0

Money made this month: $0

Took a complete break of focus in the last week and a half, for a mini break of snowboarding, travelling, partying, trying shrooms, meeting old friends, and resting.

That was great, and worth the lost time, but it also threw me WAYY off. Not only did I not do any work during that time, but I’m also having ponderous progress at getting back into the groove. I’ve had 2 failed starts trying to get back into it, I feel a bit depressed and afraid that I’m going to fail at this goal from lack of destroying my fears and thinking deeply, and my brain feels foggy & unable to concentrate on being creative or planning well.

Currently reviewing December & planning January. By the end of this week my mind will be back in full gear, I hope.

February 1st

Goal for this month: $50

Money made this month: $0

Well, I’m working hard, but not hard enough. I’ve given into fear far too often, and laziness even more so.

I didn’t complete any jobs.

For this month, I’m going work 4 sessions a day (that’s 8 hours a day) from Sun-Fri.

No more wasted time. Stagnation time will be spend either napping or learning.

March 1st

Goal for this month: $200

Money made this month: $100

April 1st

Goal for this month: $600

Money made this month: $1500

Won the Entrepreneur’s Apprenticeship, now I’m getting paid xD. I’m ahead of schedule until May 1st.

May 1st

Goal for this month: $1500

Money made this month:

June 1st

Goal for this month: $2500

Money made this month:

July 1st

Goal for this month: $3000

Money made this month:

The Result

 

Conclusion

 

 

* side note: If this doesn’t work, try an alternating schedule of building your network & doing one thing you really enjoy.. that schedule is here.

This entry was posted on Sunday, February 3rd, 2013 at 6:00 pmand is filed under Entrepreneurship, Experiments. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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  • Shai Lipkovich

    If I may, here’s my prediction of what will happen: focusing will help you get to a higher level of consciousness / understanding. By focusing you are creating momentum in work, which will lead you to go the extra mile everyday. And as Napoleon Hill said, it is nature’s way to reward those who go the extra mile bountifully.

    No idea if these actual figures during that actual time will work for you – that will be super interesting to see! Good luck!

  • http://www.brettkwarner.com/ Brett Warner

    I think if anything your figures are low. What are you trying to do specifically to earn money with copywriting? Do you want clients? Are you selling your own product?

    • Anonymous

      Hey Brett,

      I’m trying to become the sales writer for semi-successful entrepreneurs (& mentors when I can), to help them sell their products.

      So, in short, I at first want clients.

      Once I know that I’ve got the skills to sell, I’ll start using copywriting to move forward my own business ideas, and it will become a useful skill in my pursuit of $3500/month automated.

      What do you think my targets should look like?

      • http://www.brettkwarner.com/ Brett Warner

        I was thinking more about the first few months. $200 would only be one really small copywriting job. You could make $50 just by writing for a site like textbroker or taking jobs off of Elance.

        Do you have any samples you could send me? I have small copywriting gigs every month or so as well. Generally writing email autoresponders, etc. So I may be able to hire for some jobs as well.

        • Anonymous

          You know, you may be right.

          I’m working on an approach where I work only on businesses I believe in and for people I admire, which will make for slightly slower financial growth at first. But one good gig would take care of a few months worth of goals.

          What’s your email? I’ll send you what I’ve written.

          • http://www.brettkwarner.com/ Brett Warner

            brett ~at~ brettkwarner.com

  • Marie

    Are you really only 19? You don’t need to worry about what you can / will acheive if you are already this focused!
    Marie
    http://whynotmoi.wordpress.com/

    • Anonymous

      Thanks!

      The way I see it, Richard Branson already had his first company selling well by the age of 19. I’m behind where I could be.

      So the forward movement begins ;)

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