How many of you keep images turned off by default in your emails? I have been for 20+ years, but I know most people aren't as paranoid as me to avoid tracking.

In another thread, @Susan Moore writes: === I've taken courses that I didn't finish. But the amount of studying I did do, combined with related unfinished courses, and my own work and life experiences has all added up to this cumulative knowledge and insight I simply would not have without my messy inclinations and unfinished courses. === In that thread, I had an example of a course I didn't finish or implement when I got it, but which still gave me an idea that ended up being useful to me years later. This got me wondering, have you had experiences like that? I mean, have you ever found... A valuable idea or tactic or strategy that you got from a course that you never never finished? Or an idea or tactic or strategy that you got from a course, which you didn't use at the time, but which you used and profited from years later? Or a a tangential idea that somebody dropped in a course or training, which you ended up using, even though it was almost irrelevant to the main thing being taught?

I recently rewatched an old movie called Seconds. Uncomfortable, but also very interesting. I won't give away the plot here, in case you ever want to go see it yourself. I'll just share a quote I wrote down, because it was relevant to what we all do: "You know son, when I began this business, I was a young man with an idea. I wasn't aiming to make a lot of money. Helping others, help them to find a little happiness. Oh heck, not just the rich. You see, I got tremendous comfort in the thought that in my small way I was waging a battle against human misery. And I was, too! Except we do have a high percentage of failures. I guess that's to be expected, but it hurts me." If you are in the information selling business... I reckon you got into it at least in part to wage a battle against human misery, in your own small way. I also reckon that you have a high percentage of failures. Regardless of how good your information is. Regardless of how accessible you try to make it. Regardless of how hard you try to motivate people. People just don't get the results that you know are possible, or any results at all. Does this hurt you? Do you just shrug it off and say, "That's to be expected"? I'm curious about your experiences, what you think about this, and what if anything you do about it. Let me know. And if you like I can share what my experiences are and what I think and do.

You might know I'm a big fan of the "10 ideas" practice: Every day, make a list of 10 ideas. (To start, make a list of 10 ideas for lists of 10 ideas.) I've been doing this for years. Today I did something different. My prompt for today's list was "1533. 50 of my own assets." So 50, rather than 10. I made a list, without being too nitpicky about what constitutes an "asset." It was surprisingly easy. (I only started to slow down after item 42.) If you really really want, you can find my list attached. But more interesting is to make your own such list. You might think, "Oh but I don't have 50 assets! I could never..." All I can tell you is, that's exactly what I thought when I started writing today's list. Why might you want to make such a list? To make yourself feel better... For ideas for new offers or bonuses... For valuable connections you might not have made otherwise... For time that you will save yourself by reusing assets you already have. Highly recommended. And if you like, paste in your results below in a comment, as a kind of public accountability.

We need a thread for gratuitous fun: Stuff that has nothing to do with marketing, business, copy, daily emails... but that is fun for fun's sake. (Even a little bit of fun is better than none.) I'd like to kick things off with the attached (and real, not AI) photo of a beaver, which I put in an email a long time ago, apropos of nothing. If you have jokes, funny pictures, memes, ideas for "disconnected infotainment," put 'em in here. On Fridays... or really on any other days.