Recently, my girlfriend and I went hiking in Mount Zion.
After we got a few miles down the trail, two things happened.
- We started POURING sweat!
Yep. 98 degrees of pure sunlight will do that to you. Also this is the point when I realized I should have brought waaaay more than just the tiny water bottle from the hotel to drink. See me looking for a way to refill it above.
- We BOTH lost cell reception.
This turned out to be a good thing but started out mildly terrifying.
Why?
Because we were surrounded by warning signs of bobcats roaming every where and could see tiny little lizards running everywhere.
(Well, the lizards themselves aren’t that scary. But I want to know what EATS the lizard????!! Actually, I don’t. I think I’m better off NOT knowing).
So that was kind of horrifying.
But it also turned into a chance to unplug and go off the grid.
Like really.
At one point, we were all alone and approaching the rim of a large canyon.
A GIANT bird flew overhead, cawing out as it went passed.
“BA-KAW!”
I could hear the echo bounce for miles and miles.
And I absolutely LOVED it.
The whole experience is making me want to double-down on doing even more “digital detoxes” like this.
Because it’s crazy how on a “normal day” I can literally feel my mind buzzing.
Notifications.
Meetings.
Emails.
Life.
It’s like a pinball machine gone wrong with my brain.
You ever feel like this?
But as copywriters carving out moments of focus is so, so, important.
Because without
- our brains
and… - our ability to focus…
…we’re basically just big monkeys at the computer.
That’s why I’m going to try to incorporate even MORE of these “going off the grid” or completely unplugging moments in my life.
Some of my best ideas come after lazy days like this when I wasn’t trying to force them.
I know in our culture there’s a pressure to do more and more. To hustle and grind.
To wake up at 4 am and take cold showers to get going.
Heck, I’ve even done many of these things myself.
But I’ve found that I make the most progress when I push hard down on the gas…
But also stop and fill up the tank every once in while.
The secret is in knowing which you need right now.
Do you need to press go?
Or do you need some more gas?
Remember, both are key to get to your final destination.
Rob “Hiding Out In The Mountains” Allen
P.S. We LOVED our time in the mountains of Utah. If you want to see another neat place we traveled, check your inbox NOW.
I won’t spoil the full surprise but I will say that it involves a potato.
Look for the subject line: “🔓3 marketing lessons from inside a potato”