Things often don't unfold in the linear fashion often described by experts in their various blueprints for success.

And in truth, sometimes things can get a bit messy.

But when combined with inspired action, the daily cultivation and refinement of skill and knowledge create a powerful force of momentum.

This can frequently be witnessed as you get ready for a launch.

Despite the best preparation, there can be factors (positive or negative) outside your control that are unfolding without any help from you.

You execute tirelessly, pouring every ounce of your being into the process, and follow all the "best practices".

And your excitement level is through the roof about the growth that exists on the other side for you and your biz.

But then something happens.

Your website goes down.

Your email provider randomly stops sending your automation at the absolute worst moment - day 0 of your launch.

You've taken every possible action to ensure a smooth process, but suddenly something's changed, and a sense of desperation settles in.

It's easy in these moments to become contracted, to focus on what is difficult, while getting tied up in your own head because something is not unfolding the way you want it to.

But here's the secret:

The moment you start projecting these challenges as "something has gone wrong" in your mind, you stop seeing all the possibility that exists in reality.

You stop seeing the entirety of the landscape and the other tools that are available to you in the present moment.

You had a goal and expectation about how this phase of your launch was going to play out, and now by your mental projection, it's gone "entirely to shit".

But what if, the next time you find yourself in a similar headspace - you instead approached the day as the ultimate adventure?

An exploration.

A means of creative expression.

An opportunity for connection.

A cumulative experience of taking the next best action that brings you back to your center.

From this expanded viewpoint, how consequential is the original failure?

I often tell my clients that proper application of what we teach in Automated Intimacy requires an element of effortless spontaneity that's difficult to describe in words.

It demands an internal shift.

It can feel illusive until you touch upon it.

But when you find yourself operating in this energy you'll know it :)

Here's What I Want to Share This Week:

1. I wrote a post on my new distraction-free writing setup using my iPad Pro, as well as two key investments I've made this year to up-level my personal writing game. Check it out here.
2. I wrote a post about Fathom as a simple alternative to Google Analytics for many creators. In it, I share four ways this can help you achieve growth. Check it out here.
3. I've been experimenting with Twitter Threads as a way of publishing articles and newsletters. Hypefury is definitely the best tool I've found for scheduling Tweet threads. Follow me on Twitter if you'd like to see an example later this afternoon of what it looks like to translate a newsletter like this into an easy-to-digest format for Twitter.
4. For all the writers in the house, I kicked off a conversation in the Empire Engineering group about a learning journey I'm on around Web3 publishing.

Who I'm Grateful For This Week: Ron Reich

While there's lots that could be celebrated around our community, this week I've decided to change things up a bit and shift into gratitude mode.

Ron was a HUGE support in the early days of transitioning out of my corporate gig at Intuit, and building my digital marketing consultancy for private practice owners in Audiology.

I'm not even sure how I originally came into his sphere, but I remember when I first read one of his long form posts on Facebook, I thought to myself, "This dude is pretty smart".

Here's one of my all-time favorites.

I think Ron and I have both evolved a bit since this time, but there's some real gems of wisdom there for you to contemplate.

At the time, I was looking for new ways to attract patients online for hearing loss treatment, in an industry that had gone pretty stale. I was looking for fresh, innovative ideas, and I loved much of what Ron was teaching in the coaching and consulting space.

I thought to myself, at its core - we are talking about the same thing.

Creating transformation.

What Ron was teaching his audience embodied the same essence of what I was looking to create in coaching individuals with hearing loss to take a positive step forward.

Ron was instrumental in helping me piece together the right line of questioning in a lead generation application funnel I was designing at the time.

This application, as part of an Automated Conversion Ecosystem (the language of Automated Intimacy didn't yet exist) went on to generate thousands of leads for practices across the country, and helped catapult my business into high growth mode.

The opportunities this growth afforded me on a personal level led to many doors opening up.

New worlds of possibility.

And for Ron's part in that - I'll always be grateful.

Thanks Ron!

As a side note - his Medellin Mastermind was one of the top events in the coaching and consulting industry I've had the privilege of attending in recent years - and I daresay I've been to quite a few.

It hasn't been officially announced yet, but Ron plans to hold the event again this year, July 20th - 23rd.

This will be the first time it has been held since the start of the pandemic.

If you are looking to connect with smart marketers and business owners this year, you might want to pencil these dates in on your calendar.

This Week's Curiosities

Darknet Diaries (Link)

Darknet Diaries is an investigative podcast that chronicles true stories about hackers, malware, botnets, cryptography, cryptocurrency, cybercrime, and Internet privacy.

This is one to keep you up at night.

LanguageTool (Link)

LanguageTool is a free online proofreading service for English, Spanish, and 20 other languages. Instantly check your text for grammar and style mistakes.

I edited this issue of The Wizard's Chest using LanguageTool and found the free version to be pretty awesome.

The Project Driven Life (Link)

I enjoyed the author's thoughts about how organizing life into projects helps remind us that this lifetime is finite, and how projects serve as landmarks of time passing.

Presearch (Link)

A decentralized search engine alternative to big tech.

TrackerZapper for Mac (Link)

A simple and free tool that sits in your menu bar and removes all tracking parameters from links that you are copying and pasting.

You can toggle it on and off as needed.

A real time-saver!

With appreciation,

Phil