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Hi Blog,

I was looking through some old boxes the other day, and there it was…

My _CHARLES ATLAS “DYNAMIC TENSION”_ book.

It is the earliest example of me paying for an information product. It was a 32-page, illustrated book on building muscles the natural way (with no weights), in 15 minutes a day!

Though it was not really a book.

It was basically an envelope full of loose pages (letter size, 8.5 x 11), that showed all the Charles Atlas exercises.

But I still loved it.

I remember I had saved that ad for over two decades before I bought it. It was too pricey (around $50) to buy when I was just a kid.

The ad itself was mostly a cartoon, and one of the most famous ads of all time.

It features a guy, Mac, sitting at the beach with his girlfriend (or a girl who was a friend), when some big guy kicks sand on them.

When Mac confronts the guy, the guy tells Mac…

_“I’d smash your face, only you’re so skinny you might dry up and blow away.”_

So Mac goes away and buys the Atlas program.

Later, he comes back to the beach, punches the bully in the face, and is the hero to the girl.

The framework for this story is probably similar to anyone who has undertaken the goal of writing a book.

We will all have to battle our bullies and self-doubt. We work not only on our art, but also on ourselves and our mindset, in order to win in the end.

Interestingly, the bully many times is our own inner voice telling us we aren’t good enough.

In fact, the only reason external bullies can get away with anything at all is that our inner voice is on their side.

I have found two ways to ensure winning this battle:

* Continuous learning * Execution (sometimes before you are ready)

There are no Jedi Mind Tricks required when you up your knowledge and get experience by executing.

Then you can come back like Mac and tell the bullies to_ begone._

_Leap. Love. Grow._

RAY BREHM

P.S. The most popular learning bundle for authors is on sale this week from the guys at Infostack. The bundle is WRITE PUBLISH PROFIT 4.0 and has over $9000 in programs for just $49.

It is a great way to learn and increase your confidence in anything you are lacking right now.

And the only thing you have to workout is your mind.

https://ray.fm/wpp40 [https://raybrehm.krtra.com/c/7WCQYiBdSxXc/DGoV]

P.P.S. By the way, I found an image of that cartoon (Charles Atlas) as well.

https://ray.fm/atlas [https://raybrehm.krtra.com/c/cEyvof14FZa4/DGoV]