If writing copy is just not clicking for you…

 

I bought an acoustic guitar from a pawn shop in Louisville, KY.

This was around 1994.

I was living on the road, touring the comedy circuit, with lots of time to kill between shows. 

Looking at me back then, you’d naturally assume I played SOME kind of instrument, so maybe it was time to legitimize people’s assumptions. 

Buying that guitar was my way of calling myself out.

“Hey Rogers… you love music, you like dressing up like a rockstar, you’ve got nothing in the bank but time right now… why not learn to play a tune, man?”

I tried.

Bought the Mel Bay easy chord book. Hassled other players for tips. Even took a few professional lessons over the years. 

But it never clicked. 

You know, that moment when you’re pushing really hard to make something work…

… and the ability still eludes you.

But you’re obsessed with the craft, so you keep at it, because something just tells you to keep chipping away. 

A voice that says, “There’s gold behind those rocks. If you just keep digging!”

You have all the reasons to doubt it, but you strap on the hard hat, grab your pickaxe and get swinging. 

Then, finally, it happens…

CLICK!

You hit pay dirt, and a single shard of golden light bursts through the crack, and then…

WHAAAA,AAAAAAHH!!!

You’ve GOT IT. 

And now you own it, and no one can take it away.

It’s a magic moment, really. 

Well, that NEVER happened for me with guitar. 

It happened with comedy, though, and it happened with copywriting. 

I can tell you the exact moments of those clicks.

Guitar? 

Nothing.

Until last month.

With “lockdown fever” increasing, I decided to pick up that old Yamaha FG-300 again and give it one more go.

I’m still solidly in beginner mode, but I’ve finally moved past those 5 chords I learned three decades ago.

I’ve got barre chords down, which was a huge barrier, so I can move around the fretboard with ease now, and that opens up a lot. 

The big “click” this time around is that I’ve learned how to learn the guitar. 

I can hear a song and recognize whether I’ll be able to learn to play it right now or not.

That’s a big breakthrough, cuz in the 25 years prior, I felt limited to chord books and the few chord shapes I could handle.

Now, I know, with some patience and lots of repetition I can learn songs slightly more advanced than the singalong favorites. 

(Watch out Eagles, Bruce Springsteen’s comin’ to town! lol)

There are times, when I’m coaching a freelancer, that the best advice I can give them is to LET GO of the thing they were originally pursuing. 

Because I can see it’s not clicking. At least not right now.

Passionate people like us fall in love with the IDEA of becoming something. 

And through the haze of obsession, we can forget to listen for the click. 

That’s dangerous because there are usually more natural abilities we’re overlooking.

When we embrace them we can discover treasure from a different source. 

Think of the “failed” gold miners out west who got rich selling maps and supplies, or real estate, to the new prospectors. 

Point is: Anything you feel passion for is worth trying. 

We don’t always know WHY we’re drawn to something, but I believe there’s always a reason. 

I’m a firm believer that no effort is wasted, if you stay open to opportunities. 

Your gold might be one cave over. 

Or waiting on you up the road a piece. 

Never stop going after what you want in life.

Rooting for you, always…

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