🟢 Good news: we always have the option to learn and grow as humans.
🟡 Bad news: improving ourselves requires change. And change requires you to go through a 5-stage emotional cycle.
🔴 The worst news: most people are doomed to repeat stages 1 to 3 over and over and over again.
Whether you’re learning to write copy, attempting a consistent gym routine, developing a flossing habit, or any other change, you will go through this emotional cycle.
On today’s episode of the Build Your Copywriting Business podcast, Kate and I are walking you through the 5 stages of the emotional cycle of change and sharing crucial tips to help you make it past stage 3.
If you’ve ever felt like giving up (and who hasn’t?!), you’re going to learn exactly why that is and what you can do to push through the “valley of despair” to reach the pinnacle of success.
TUNE IN: Spotify | Apple Podcasts | Stitcher
Looking for closed captioning or a transcript? Watch the episode on YouTube!
A Sneak Peek at the Episode
[01:16] What happens when we decide to make a change and what we go through during that change. So we’re gonna talk through this emotional cycle of change because this is very real. The decision to make the change is the hard part, right?
[03:08] Stage one is the uninformed optimism. Optimism is real high, maybe close to, close to peak. There is something very, very beautiful in that energy. And there’s also nothing wrong with imagining how your life is going to be.
[05:19] Stage two is the transition. You haven’t dug in yet. And once you start digging in, you start to learn more and more of the steps and things that need to go into whatever change it is that you’re making.
[05:44] We dip into the informed pessimism. That optimism starts to shift at a certain point where we start to maybe hit some uncomfortable roadblocks. We start to realize that maybe this isn’t going to be as fast as we want it. It’s not as easy as we secretly thought it would be.
[08:37] Stage three, which is possibly the most important stage. The difference between whether you move out of stage three or you are doomed to kind of repeat the process of stages one through three on a repeatable cycle. Stage three is this valley of despair.
[10:06] It’s really easy to get mired in that feeling, especially if you spend a lot of time thinking about it. If you let yourself spiral in these feelings and just staying in there, it’s really easy to stay in that valley of despair.
[11:17] The easiest thing is to recognize this and to keep moving forward. It’s like pushing a boulder up a hill at the beginning stage. And right at that peak when it’s about to tip over and you can’t know, you can’t see the future. but we, Nicki and I, we’ve been doing this for a while, so we know if you just stick with it. That boulder’s about to go down that hill.
[14:36] Whether you keep pursuing that change that you were so excited about, or whether, again, you go back to the beginning and repeat this process indefinitely. This is a great opportunity to try talking to yourself the way someone who loves you would talk to you.
[16:30] Stage four, which is the informed optimism. You believe it’s possible for yourself. In order to do that, you need to keep taking action and recognize the small wins. Because as you start to see and recognize these little wins stacking up. You recognize what’s possible and it builds momentum that you need to achieve eventually.
[18:20] It is the difference truly between the people who succeed and the people who don’t. Largely it is just consistency and persistence. Keep doing it and keep sticking with it. It’s not sexy, it’s not fun. There’s no easy button to it.
[19:30] You start to feel different. You start to become more positive. The negativity starts to go away. You realize, I could do this and I feel good. I accomplished this. Let me keep accomplishing things. There’s a lot of pride in sticking with something.
[22:30] Stage five, which is you get to that success and fulfillment, but not only that, not only do you get the metaphorical awards and all of that kind of thing, but you also get to be the kind of person who earned your way there.
[25:10] This is life in a nutshell. This is what happens with every step. There is that excitement, there’s a lot of discomfort and then you stick with it and then you make your way out of it and you grow as a person.
Must-Hear Takeaways
As with every episode, we highly encourage you to listen to the entire conversation! But here are a few of the highlights:
“We are shocked that we don’t immediately pick it up, that it’s not immediately simple. As adults, we are not used to learning new things. Some of this is gonna be easier, but some of it’s gonna be a little bit more challenging.” – Nicki
“We all know people who are always trying something new end up up cycling through cycle one through three again, you never get out of it.” – Nicki
“We can deceive ourselves into feeling like it’s forward progress, but really we’re just going backwards to that again, uninformed optimism stage, leading into getting more information and realizing that there is no easy button.” – Kate
“The secret is consistency and persistence. That is truly what it takes. Keep doing the stuff and keep showing up and doing that stuff.” – Nicki
“It’s also a muscle that you develop and that makes you a better person and also makes it easier for you to do it the next time you face a challenge.” – Nicki
Mentioned in the Episode
- Book: The 12 Week Year
- Five Stages You Move Through Emotionally When Changing Behavior (From InFocus Leadership Solutions)
- BONUS Laser Coaching: Build Confidence & Overcome Imposter Syndrome as a Copywriter
- What to Do When You Feel Inadequate
- BONUS Laser Coaching: Finding Confidence Learning Something New
Related Links
- The System Copywriters Need to Efficiently Get Work Done
- Learn How To Stay Focused Year-Round With Help From These Books
- 5 Easy Tips for Maximizing Your Time
Get an *Exclusive* Bonus Recording!
Tell us what you love about the podcast and what you hope to hear next! When you do, you can get access to an exclusive bonus recording featuring five wildly successful entrepreneurs who share what they do (and don’t!) look for when hiring copywriters. You do not want to miss it!
Get all the details on how to get your recording here »
About the Build Your Business Podcast
Ready to turn your love of writing into a successful copywriting career?
Join professional copywriters Nicki Krawczyk and Kate Sitarz to get the tips, tools, and training to help you become a copywriter and build a thriving business of your own. Nicki and Kate have 20+ and 10+ years of experience, respectively, writing copy for multi-billion-dollar companies, solopreneurs, and every size business in between.
Whether you want to land an on-staff job, freelance full-time and work from wherever you want, or make extra money with a side hustle, the best place to start learning is right here.
