Spreadsheet Bullsheet
22 July Wednesday 2020, 9:32 AM —
22 July Wednesday 2020, 9:32 AM —
Hey what’s up awesome reader.
Have you ever noticed how people rationalize?
Of course you have…
It’s easy to spot it others, isn’t it?
But seeing it in yourself, yeah…not so much.
Well, last night I saw it in myself and remembered an advertising concept (yaayyyy) from a legendary copywriter you’ve probably heard of…
Can you guess who?
Read on!
****
My daily routine includes…
Writing practice ads, a non-advertising piece, reading copywriting-related books or notes and then handwriting copy at night.
I was done with the last habit and it was time to update my special Excel tracking sheet.
“Special? There’s nothing special about spreadsheets,” you say.
Mine is though..
See, I programmed it to turn green when I type 1 in a cell which means I did what I was meant to do…
I win.
Meaning more dopamine.
But if I type the number 0 it turns red meaning I failed…
I lose.
Meaning more cortisol.
Before updating the sheet I paused wondering if I really did read.
Technically, I did invest in copywriting time by reading emails of various copywriters.
I also spent time making notes on from advertising videos.
Convinced, I clicked a cell in the “Read copywriting/advertising/marketing” row and pressed 1…
This experience reminds me of Joe Sugarman’s psychological trigger number six — “Justify the Purchase”.
In his book, The Adweek Copywriting Handbook, he mentions that, “Somewhere in your ad, you should resolve any objection by providing some justification to the purchaser.”
See the connection?
Rationalization got me to “purchase” that green cell.
It then handled objections telling me I “read emails and took notes from videos”.
Anyway, I felt tension inside.
The “you’re bullshitting yourself” alarm was triggered.
It would’ve been a problem if I’d actively analyzed what principles were at play in those emails. But I wasn’t.
I did do some reading though.
That green cell instantly turn into an ugly, orangey brown when I replaced the 1 with a 0.3.
Until next time.
Thomas Lekhanya
P.S Hold up, DID I actually read or was I rationalizing again. Shit, do I now have to turn the cell white???
P.P.S Pshht, what am I tripping about? I did read. I’m sure of it. That 0.3 is staying.
