I was checking my SPAM box and found an email from Donald J Trump.

We’re besties.  We get down like that.  

Not really…

A while ago I did sign up for his emails though cause I wanted to see what his copywriters/marketing people were up to.  

I don’t care who you vote for, there’s always something to learn from politicians.  Especially in The Don’s case.  I thought, today would be a great time to analyze an email.  

But if you’re all crazy from your political beliefs, I totally understand if you wanna sit this one out…

Ok.  After my name this is the first sentence in the e-mail.  

“It is my great honor to tell you that I have officially filed the paperwork to be a candidate for President of the United States in the very first primary of the 2024 election – New Hampshire.”

This one caught me off guard because this is old school, newspaper, reverse pyramid style writing.  This is back-in-the-day old school when Americans didn’t have an 8 second (or less) attention span.  

I probably wouldn’t do it but this ain’t a bad decision because if you only read that first sentence and stop, you’ll know EXACTLY what is going on.

Next is:  

“NOTHING CAN STOP THE GREATEST MOVEMENT IN HISTORY!”

That’s all in caps baby!  That’s gotta be important.  

And it is.  

Now he’s not talking about paperwork, he’s talking about his long term vision and making history.  It’s slight but a HUGE difference.  

I mean, come on. You wanna simply vote for me or do you wanna make history together?  One is WAY cooler than the other.

Next…

“To prove that we truly are unstoppable, I’m calling on grassroots donors all across the nation to make a campaign contribution that will be registered on the very same day our official presidential paperwork was filed.”

To make history takes money so…  The only thing I would knock here is I don’t think Trump would say “grassroots donors”.  That’d be like me going to Jamba Juice and saying, “The course of drinking my juice never did run smooth.”

I wouldn’t do it.  

And neither would Trump.  Not in that context anyway…. 

“There will always be time-stamped proof that you were with us on DAY ONE.”

What does this mean?  It means if you wanna make history, you can only prove it by donating.  

RIGHT NOW.

This next paragraph is a doozie.

“Of course, if you cannot give because of the corrupt and incompetent fool who we will soon FIRE from the White House, then please do not donate today! I know who my loyal supporters are – and even if there won’t be time-stamped proof, I will remember who was with us on Day One.”

One of the things The Don is great at is always having a VILLAIN.  This is great storytelling.  We all know who the “incompetent fool” is, he doesn’t have to use the name.  

And look at this myriad of emotions.

“then please do not donate today!”  SHAME

“I know who my loyal supporters are”.  AFFINITY

“I will remember who was with us on Day One.” FEAR

Then the close…

“Please make a contribution…” blah blah blah.  He closes with a call to action to donate.  No surprise there.

Again, this was written by a copywriter and not Trump but it was done really well.  They did an excellent job focusing on the long term vision.  All while hitting on some great emotions.  

Never miss an opportunity to learn something that can help you.

Even if it’s in your SPAM box.

Adam 

When I started coloring comics professionally, one of my idols was Liquid.  Liquid was a studio started by two dudes, Aron Lusen and Christian Lichtner.

Their work was mesmerizing and it took the industry by storm like hurricanes in Florida.  Not to mention Liquid’s style led to more copy-cats and knock-offs than fake Louis Vuitton bags.

I had the pleasure of meeting Christian once at a con.  

Trying not to geek out too much or take up too much of his time.  I asked him for an art tip.

This was my moment!

I was talking to one of my idols AND he was about to share information.  Not all pros do so this made our meeting special.  What was the ninja-like advice I received?  

Christian recommended a book.  An art book.  

I hadn’t studied painting that much back then so to be told to read a book on traditional painting didn’t, well, light my fire.

My local library had the book so I got it.  

I was excited.  

Till I looked inside.  

WTF? 

I was expecting more ’how to’ information but the book was more about color theory.  

I told my mentor Chance Wolf about my disappointment with this ‘color theory’ book.  

I can’t remember what Chance said verbatim but I’ll recreate it in my words.  He said, ’Adam, if he told you to get the damn book, it was for a reason.  You know how many guys would kill to know about that book?’

Didn’t I just write recently about having issues with being grateful for stuff when I was younger?  

That right there is the power of having mentors.  Really good ones.  

Anyway, I studied the hell out of that book.  

It didn’t make me a painting virtuoso overnight but it helped understand the genius of Liquid and it taught me how far I needed to go.  

But it also taught me the value of good ideas. 

If it wasn’t for Chance I probably would have LOOKED at the book instead of STUDYING the book.  

When you receive a good idea, whether it comes from you or from someone else.  Treat it like it’s worth thousands of dollars.  

And if you can’t make something out of the idea. 

You tried.   

But when you judge an idea and don’t use it.  It can’t make it’s impact on you.  

It’s like firing a bullet with no powder in the chamber. 

Adam

When I was in high school at one of my junior varsity basketball practices, our coach was a lil pissed.

He stopped practice to give us a little ass-chewing as to how we were playing.  I thought he was going to talk about…

Not passing.

Show-boating.

Launching three-pointers.

Nope.

He said we were trying too hard to block shots.  

And he was right…

Nothing for me was more fun and visceral than blocking a shot.  It was like the ultimate dominance.  Nothing quite says I ‘own you’ like a great rejection.  

It’s cute when see great blocks in basketball, but in our lives it’s pretty crappy.  

This is why so many of us can’t “manifest” what we want.  

The Law of Attraction says:  

“That which is like unto itself is drawn.”   -Abraham Hicks 

So, if you desire something you only need to put your attention on it, feel yourself having it (emotions), and live from that fulfilled desire.  Then, the universe will give it to you.

Ask and it is given.  

Cool.  

That’s spirituality. What does science say? 

We’re composed of atoms and atoms are 99.99999999999  percent empty space or energy.  The atom’s nucleus is surrounded by a large field that is made up of energetic frequencies.

Joe Dispenza in his book Becoming Supernatural said:

“It is only when an observer focuses his or her attention and looks for some “thing” material that the invisible field of energy and information collapses into a particle we know as the electron”

When you take your attention away from that “thing”, the electron disappears back into energy.  

So, you can’t attract your “thing” until you give it your attention.   Don’t give it attention, it goes away.

It’s that simple.  

You keep playing hide-and-go-seek with quantum field.  

So if quantum physics proves what spiritual teachers have  said to be true for millennia, why aren’t we all  rich, skinny and happy?    

Because of BLOCKS.  And we ALL have them.

Blocks come in a variety of flavors like shades of white at Home Depot.  

The most visible block is what Kody Bateman calls “stinkin thinkin”.  Bateman says, “The story you put in your mind becomes the story you live in your life.”

It’s like when you say you want to be, do, or have something, if it weren’t for… 

The Economy. 

Your bad clients.

The Democrats.

The Republicans, etc.

Oh, but it gets worse.  Blocks get even more nefarious.  

Some blocks are invisible to you like the creepy ass villain in Monster’s Inc.  They download directly into you from your environment when you’re a little kid.  You grow up and keep carrying them around like your driver’s license. 

We also create our own blocks with our emotions!  

Dispenza says emotions are “energy in motion”.  So, we’re mostly energy but when we use emotions like control, shame, pain, victimization, etc. and our energy SLOWS DOWN.

It gets stuck.  

On the surface you feel unmotivated.  

Or maybe it looks like procrastination.  Or because your energy is jammed, now you’re more lethargic and new stories start.

It’s my medication.  

It’s cause I’m older.

It’s stress.

It’s those damn liberals!  

We’re like layers of an onion.  Some blocks you can see and others you can’t.  That’s why if you want something like a lot of money and ain’t getting it, you likely have a block.  

Or you’re sabotaging yourself in some way.

Just like with you art, you need to work on your blocks and flush them out.

David Goggins said, “Mental toughness is a lifestyle.”  

Once you look at your results and you’re not getting what you want.  It’s time to start snooping around and looking for blocks.  Even if you got rid of them once. 

Blocks are like relatives, they can come back at anytime.  

Make your mental toughness a lifestyle.  

Because…

The story in your mind becomes the story of your life.  Even if you didn’t do all the writing.

Adam

If you could be a Jedi. Would you?

You know, the heroes from the Star Wars movies. A friend posted this question on Facebook recently. 

Would I want to be one?

Sure, but don’t think I could handle the pressure.  What pressure? 

From The Empire?

Space creatures?

The Jedi Council?

No, from artists when they’re not grateful. 

Sometimes I wanna choke one out with the force. 

To kill them? No! I’m no animal.  Just maybe till they black out.  You know, I just wanna make a point. 

Let me explain…

And I TOTALLY went thru this myself so I’m just as guilty of not following this philosophy.  

You gotta be grateful for what you got and for what you get. 

‘But Adam” you say, “I am grateful for everything I have.”

Really?

But what about when you get a ridiculous deadline?

What about that one client that always pays or shows up late?

Or that one project you did for “family” that you weren’t thrilled to do?

You have to appreciate it all because that’s where your power either shrinks or expands. Wallace Wattles in The Science of Getting Rich put it like this. 

‘The moment you permit your mind to dwell with dissatisfaction upon things as they are, you begin to lose ground. You fix attention upon the common, the ordinary, the poor, and the squalid and the mean; and your mind takes the form of these things.”

Notice Wattles doesn’t say you ‘attract’ these things. He said you BECOME these things. 

It’s like Newton’s third law:

“An object at rest remains at rest, and an object in motion remains in motion at constant speed and in a straight line unless acted on by an unbalanced force.”

And guess what, Pumpkin? YOU’RE the unbalanced force!

Imagine this. You’re chillin. 

Painting. 

Cutting hair. 

Whatever you do. 

And then bad news hits. It could be work or it could be your personal life. You wanna get passed it asap! 

You don’t want to be stewing about it or posting on Facebook, ‘you won’t believe what happened to me…’. 

I mean, you can do it. But know when you do you lose your power and break the flow.

I know you can’t go from, ‘my client gets on my nerves’ to I’m so grateful immediately. But YOU CAN play with your dog. YOU CAN watch cat videos, or do Zumba for 60 seconds. 

Anything that you enjoy that will help you raise your state. 

And THEN, be grateful for that. 

Adam

I started thinking, who really needs to worry about AI?  

The skilled masters of our industry?  Or maybe artists that are afraid of being different? 

And let’s not forget about Fake Bitches… 

And by that I mean people who are literally trying to be something different to everyone.  

For likes.  

Or clicks.

Or for whatever kind of dopamine hit they need for that day. 

I don’t know about AI in writing and other fields, but I’ve seen some cool AI art so far.  You probably have too.  

But have you noticed about 80% of it is just a little homogenized?

When everyone starts using the same tool and techniques, things get average.  It may be better than what it was before but average won’t get you to fulfillment.

Average won’t make you happy.  

You know how I know?  You wouldn’t be reading this…

I love the exchange of Dash and Helen Parr in The Incredibles:

DASH:  “Dad always said our powers were nothing to be ashamed of.  Our powers made us special.”

HELEN:  “Everyone’s special, Dash.”

DASH:  “Which is another way of saying no one is.”

I don’t care if you use AI or not, just don’t let the tool smother your voice. 

Be MORE of who you are in your art, online, and in your marketing.

Say something. 

Believe in something.

No matter what it is.

Being REAL is more important now than ever.   Natalie Franke said something cool about the experiences we create for people.

“The beauty and the humanness that only we can offer this world will be even more valuable.”  

Damn right it is.  And it’s gonna grow like Apple stock in 1997.

You may think I talk about Star Wars and Harry Potter a lot. 

I get it. 

But I got news for you.  In my personal life I watch a lot of Star Wars and read A LOT of Harry Potter.

It’s who I am and it’s what I do. 

And guess what?  It’s going to resonate with some people and others will want nothing to do with me.  I’m cool with that.  

My goal for the past couple of years is this.  And I got it from Oprah so you know it’s good….

I want to be the highest expression of myself.  

Which tool do I use at work?

Which friends do I hang out with the most? 

Which books do I read?

Which clients do I take on?

That’s easy to answer. 

The ones that help me be the highest expression of myself.  And because that is my goal I do my best work.  

And when you use that formula you’re happier.  

And you get paid more.

Adam