Have you ever decided to accomplish a big goal… and then been consumed by a fake “emergency” that shows up out of nowhere?
This is your subconscious mind conjuring up a way to distract you.
The emergency situation is designed to prevent you from focusing on your work, so that you can focus on the “emergency” instead.
Today, for example, I was writing an email. Emails are my big money maker. Half of an email (i.e. a few paragraphs) brings in enough money to pay for a fancy dinner at STK. If I don’t write, I don’t get paid. Period.
While I was writing, six fire trucks suddenly showed up on the street outside my downtown apartment. With sirens wailing, it was quite noisy.
I stopped my work. Went outside on the balcony. Checked out the scene from three floors above.
Firefighters were rolling out hoses, as if preparing to put out a fire.
Bystanders gathered outside to watch. A few people stood on their balconies, pointing their cells phones down at the street.
I even texted my boyfriend about it. I captured a short video of the scene on my phone. (See vid below.)
Seeing the firetrucks brought back memories that gave me chills. I recalled one night in 2010 when I was driving home (this was back when I lived in Superior, CO). As I was pulling up to my apartment complex, I saw huge, billowing black smoke rising up behind my building. Flickering light lit up the night sky. My heart started pounding. Was my apartment on fire?! After driving to the back of the building, I saw a small house completely engulfed in flames. It was right behind where I lived. I parked my car, got out and walked to the scene. Numerous firetrucks, police officers, and bystanders were gathered around.
Today… I could have easily spent the next hour getting sucked into the same fear.
But I caught myself. I decided I was going to get back to work and finish writing my email.
Outside, there was no sign of a fire, no smell of smoke, and no alarms going off. I figured I was safe.
I went back inside, sat down at my desk, and ignored the commotion outside.
Five minutes of indulging in this fake drama… and I was back to work.
Oddly enough, once I came back inside, the firefighters didn’t do anything else. Just as quickly as they had taken out their equipment, they were putting it all back in their trucks again.
Half an hour later, they were gone.
And I had finished my email.
“Wow,” I said to myself. It was a “fake emergency”!
I chuckled and was proud of the fact that I had not allowed the temporary distraction to seduce me away from my work.
(As it happens, I currently have some big goals that I’m working on!)
When drama appears to happen, it’s tempting to go deep into it where you’re like, “Holy shit look what’s happening!”
But realize… you’re creating all the drama in your life, and it’s pretty much an illusion. It becomes more “real,” the more energy and attention you give to it.
Once you turn your back on the drama (i.e., the fake emergency), it literally evaporates into thin air. I have watched this happen many times.
It will try to return… but the more solid you are in abandoning it, the quicker it disappears. It’s like a magic trick of the mind!
You see, your subconscious mind WANTS you to get distracted, so that you stop moving forward, stay exactly where you are, and don’t grow.
It does this by getting you to you abandon your work.
This can appear as family members getting in trouble… pets getting sick… haters springing forward to criticize you… technology not working… internet being slow as fuck… cars breaking down… bank account suddenly having “not enough funds,” and on and on.
Your mind knows exactly how to distract you, and it will come up with the same illusions every time. (Until you start seeing what it’s doing.)
Of course, deal with real emergencies as needed. But if your intervention is not truly needed — you can ignore them.
They’re most likely a fake emergency trying to stop you from moving forward.
Talk soon,
Michelle
Anti-Marketing Manifesto
P.S. On a lighter note — yesterday I learned an awesome new hip hip dance routine! The song is called “Humble” by Kendrick Lamar. I learned this in 1.5 hours. Check out the vid below!
Michelle Lopez Boggs is a copywriter, copywriting mentor, and author of "The Anti-Marketing Manifesto: How to Sell Without Being a Sellout." She's helped her clients sell millions of dollars' worth of products and services online by using the MEI(S) principle — motivate, educate, and inspire, and sell. 