God Says No.

Dear Friend,

So last night when I mentioned I was getting ready to write my tip, my daughter happened to overhear this and said "Daddy, write something about me."

I said nothing because, I really had no idea what I was going to say to you today and I didn't want to make any kind of a commitment I couldn't keep to her.

But later on that evening, I happened to have a conversation about parenting with someone who, oddly enough, doesn't have any children.  He was saying how he thinks people could be better parents nowadays, and I guess overall, so do I.

Not that I'm perfect or anything, but I am a better deal than most, and at least I DO apoligize when I screw up.

But this can be confusing.  Consider this:  perhaps you only get the real "measure" of what your impact as a parent was, when you see your kids parenting children of their own.  (Which I sure as hell hope does NOT happen any time soon around here, since my kids are 16, 14 and 6.)

If I'm brutally honest, the truth is, I'm a much better parent to my daughter, than I was to my sons when they were her age (6).

Not because she's a girl (although that's actually a little part of it -- I just can NOT yell at a little girl), but because I've got a LOT more experience at it by now, and... because life's worked on me more by this point in time, and I'm a little wiser for it.

For example, I LOVE watching my daughter make arts and crafts all over her table, using every piece of paper and every loop of tape in sight.

With my sons, I probably would have wished they weren't making "such a mess".

I now realize all I was probably doing was bottling up any kind of creativity they were trying to express.

I also don't let Samantha watch too much TV.  And because of this, she's a LOT more inclined to be creative or to read books, and to go outside and roller blade, or just walk on the dock collecting shells.

And most of all, I'm just a lot more patient with her than I was with my sons.

I don't feel "guilty" or anything -- anymore than I feel "guilty" because the first sales letter I wrote for my first client wasn't as good as the last one I wrote.  In both situations, I gave EVERYTHING I had at that time, to give... and so I don't lose any sleep over it.

And here's something else that's strange:  You know, a lot of times you REALLY want to do something, but you have no idea how you're going to find the "time" to do it.

For example, late last year I said I was going to spend more time with my daughter.  That every Friday I'd pick her up from school and the rest of that afternoon would be "our time" together.

I really had NO idea how I was going to do this.  After all, I get up every day at 4 or 5 a.m. already.  What was I going to do -- get up at 2 a.m on Fridays?

I couldn't rightly do that, now could I?  After all, I'm not 26 years old any more, which is how old I was when Nick was born.

But you know what -- I just said "Screw it" -- after all, it's not like I was sciving off work to go and snort coke or anything like that, so what was the worst that could happen?

I needed to spend more time with my daughter and I realize I can't get these years back, so I just... did it.

And you know what happened?

Do you really want to hear how much things got screwed up because I went and did this, and how much income I lost?

O.K., I'll tell you EXACTLY what happened.

What happened was... nothing.

Nothing outsief of, now... on Thursday afternoons, when I tell Samantha that "Tomorrow's Friday, do you know what that means?" -- all that happens is she says "Yes, that's 'daddy and me' time."

And that's how fear works:  You put insane stuff inside your head... if you think about it long and hard enough, you toture yourself with it... and then, you either let it run your life, or you don't.

So if you've been meaning to do something that's important to you, just go and do the damn thing already.  If it doesn't work out, stop.  Simple as that.

But if it does work out, you've taken control over your life and done something to make yourself feel better about waking up every day.

By-the-way, here's the answer to the question you had when you first looked at the headline of this tip.  For what it's worth, this message was written while I was listening to Monster Magnet's "God Says No" -- and WOW, what an experience that was.

Listen, if you are interested in attending a Private Mastermind Meeting I am running, or getting in my upcoming "Maveick Marketers Coaching Program", then please shoot me a quick e-mail immediately and tell me a little something about yourself.  If you take the time to respond, I promise, you WILL get a response back from me.

Later.

Now go sell something,

Craig Garber

P.S. Check out what the sharpest marketers are reading, and find out if it's worth your time... or not, right now, by getting your hands on a copy of the 2006 Magic Marketing Research And Resource Guide here:  http://www.kingofcopy.com/magicmarketing

Any comments?

Send them to me by scooting over to the contact form on my "Here's How To Contact Craig" page, and maybe I'll publish them -- I appreciate your feedback!

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