A couple of weeks we sent out an email to our list with the subject line: What I do when things start to get out of control.
When we were writing this email, something about it was different. It was one of those pieces that we just started writing, not really knowing where it was going to take us, and a couple of hours later we ended in a place where we felt very complete.
The response we received from the email was amazing. Fire Nation came out strong, sharing with us their struggles and how much the email resonated with them personally.
These are the types of things that keep us going – it’s why we continue to create the content you hear on the podcast, read in our emails, see on our blog and engage with across social media.
A share from Fire Nation
I want to share with you one response we received that just took my breath away.
But before I do, I’m going to include the last few paragraphs of the email so that you have some context.
Here is how we closed the email:
[If] one or both of us starts to feel as if we’re losing control, instead of feeling helpless, scared or stressed out as a result, we instead choose to exercise our power in the moment to get our project back on track.
It’s difficult to do this, but necessary if you want to accomplish big things.
Doing this not only allows us to make exponential progress on a monthly, weekly, and even a daily basis, but it also allows us to experience and appreciate everything that owning our business affords us.
Even during very difficult times, we appreciate that we’re learning from our mistakes and creating better content, products and services because of it.
What types of things are you letting hold you back from accomplishing the things you want?
How might you change your perspective or the way you’re being at any given moment in order to take a step forward instead of two steps back?
I challenge you to really think about these questions and see how your productivity, attitude and potential can be much higher if you give yourself the opportunity to believe they will be. Then, email us and tell us about it :)
Here’s the response we received from Ludwina Dautovic
Hey John,
Nice email; it reminded me of when I had cancer. I shared the story with you in my interview, so I won’t go into the details again. But the complete loss of control frightened me so much – particularly as my business was peaking.
My brand was very strong nationally and had begun to grow internationally. The money was steady and what I wanted it to be; it was all going so damn well and then BAM!… out of the blue, with only two days of pain, I’m told I have a 14cm tumor on my kidney and may not live through it.
With two children and a husband of 16 years you can imagine the effect it had on us all. Thankfully all I lost was my kidney (it’s strange that I can say ‘thankfully’ to that) and a few years of fighting through it with a few more surgeries to endure, and now I’m on the other side.
But the loss of control forced me to consider other options to keep my brand alive, and that’s how I started podcasting.
“What can I do in bed that doesn’t require me to look good, feel good or go anywhere?” was what I asked myself.
Within four weeks of going live I was picked up by a US radio station with 4K plus listeners per week, and iTunes was keeping me at the top of What’s Hot.
I then wrote a book while recovering from my second surgery, It’s That Easy – Online Marketing 3.0, and used my connections that I had made through podcasting to help me with the content.
Then, I had to pick a date to release my book knowing I had another surgery looming.
I picked the date: March 20th.
I had to stick with the date no matter what, and then BAM!… loss of control once again.
I get the phone call from my surgeon and was given the official date I’d be in surgery: March 20th.
Shortly thereafter, my 18-year-old daughter’s close friend passed away, and her funeral was announced: March 20th. You can imagine how devastated I was to not be able to be there for her.
My loss of control forced me again to think laterally.
I couldn’t have a public event that day or any day soon afterwards, as I needed at least three months to recover from another open surgery (15cm cut).
I had three weeks to get everything in place to ensure that the book would be available in both digital and print and be able to be delivered anywhere in the world while I was being ‘sliced and diced’ for the third time in two years.
So this is how it unfolded…
We worked 16-hour days leading up to March 20th so I could relax in the hospital while my book was being released worldwide. I had a great support team in place who were posting, tweeting etc. Our automation systems worked perfectly and there was not ONE hickup. Technology works… Yeh!!
My husband dropped me off in the morning and was able to stay with me long enough until I went in. He then picked up our children and went to the funeral with my daughter.
They came to me right after to support me after my surgery.
It all worked out.
Three weeks later, once I was feeling fine, I had to think of a way to publicly release my book knowing that an event was not possible.
Once again, lack of control of my body forced me to think laterally.
I decided to gather all 17 contributing authors to my book and we did an online marathon live Facebook event for 12 hours while I was in bed.
I conducted ‘live chats’ with each of them on my Facebook business page, which garnered over 10K views throughout the day and gave us the kind of exposure in one day that I never thought possible. Now it’s one of my best content marketing and social media strategies and I don’t know of anyone else in the world who’s done it.
That’s what losing control does for me.
It forces me to think laterally, find solutions to problems that seem dire, and in effect, it makes me fight harder to get the results that I want. And dare I say, it’s kept me not only sane, but alive though the most devastating and challenging time of my life and my families life.
I’m now almost 4 years clear, my one kidney is functioning better than most healthy people’s two kidneys, my reputation is now global..
I’ve just launched my new signature podcast show called ‘Switched On’, which has hit #26 on New and Noteworthy in its first week, and I’m a featured guest on your show EntrepreneurOnFire!
I have access to significant global thought leaders in the areas of online, digital and new media. I’m in the place where I wanted to be years ago, but I got side tracked. Now I’m on the cusp of skyrocketing to where I’m meant to be.
Thanks for asking to share our experiences. Even writing this now is cathartic.
Ciao,
Ludwina Dautovic
Ludwina Dautovic is the Author of It’s That Easy – Online Marketing 3.0. You can find out more about Ludwina by visiting her website.
