The Power of Hard Study (Long Read)

From:
Scott P. Scheper
Santa Margarita, California
Saturday, 3:07 p.m.

Dear Friend,

On Thursday my earth angel (and now wife) asked me, "Do you still spend an hour reading every day at your office?"

She was referring to my practice of reading "hard-skill books" for one hour every day before I started work. (For Subscribers of The Scott Scheper Letter, you'll learn the workflow for reading hard-skill books in Issue No. 17, which should be arriving on your doorstep next week.)

Languidly, I replied, "No. Lately, I've been just working."

It occurred to me, right then and there, that I had a problem.

My problem was this:

I'm doing everything I do in order to have a "Dream Writer's Life." That is——a lifestyle where I get to spend my days reading, thinking, and taking notes——while also making a comfortable living.

Quite honestly, lately, I've found myself doing less and less of this.

More of my time has been allocated to marketing, developing funnels, coaching my Write to Freedom people, etc., etc.

I would always tell myself, "I'll get to hard-skill reading today——but after I finish such-and-such."

Inevitably, by the time I'd finish whatever task I was working on, I'd find myself too mentally drained to do hard-skill reading.

Therefore, last Thursday, I made a change.

I decided that——when I get to the office, the first thing I'm going to do is hard-skill study.

I also decided to try something else in addition to this:

You see——I have a mental framework in which I categorize life into four areas:

1. Spirit (Soul)

2. Relationships (Heart)

3. Health (Body)

4. Work (Mind)

All of these are important, but the order in which you prioritize them determines the quality of your life.

I've listed the categories in the order in which I think is most beneficial to living "the good life."

I've found that whenever I flip the order of these categories, the quality of my life suffers.

I've done a pretty good job in keeping these priorities ordered for the past good while; however, I've found the "Spirit" category has fallen into last place.

The Spirit category is the most important; but it's not "critical" or "urgent." Therefore, I never really get to it. (Except for attending church maybe once a week.)

Therefore, I've decided to try a little experiment:

I've decided to make it a practice to read a spiritual text in the morning as the first order of business.

You can choose whatever spiritual text (or philosophical text) you want for this experiment.

Here is what I do:

I simply sit on the floor and study a spiritual text for thirty minutes.

I chase down certain things——such as verses——and I investigate them.

I've been using the Thompson Chain-Reference Bible ("TCR Bible") for this practice. This text is like reading The Bible with a Zettelkasten ensconced on top of it.

For instance, you'll be reading a certain verse, and then——in the margins next to it, you'll find a certain address (like '3979').

You then navigate to the back of the index, and look up '3979'. That entry will then link you to several other verses to "cross-reference."

The act of cross-referencing ignites the magical feeling of discovering new things previously unknown to you (and many others).

This morning, I was reading the TCR Bible and randomly selected a verse from Jesus. Luke 11:51 "From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias which perished between the altar and the temple…"

Curious, I decided to chase down the chain-reference for "Zacharias." Who was this person? I asked myself.

This led me to the index reference of '3979', which pointed me to Matthew 23:25 wherein Jesus says, "That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar."

OK, I thought. Zacharias is the son of Barachias, it seems. However, there was another link. This time it linked me to 2 Chronicles 24:20, which reads:

"And the Spirit of God came upon Zachariah son of Jehoiada…"

It then details how Zachariah was killed by the people between the temple and the altar.

When I read this, I found it perplexing.

In Matthew, Jesus says Zacharias is the son of Barachias; however, in the Old Testament, it states Zachariah is the son of Jehoiada.

What is the reason for this?

This question then set me on a course of research.

It turns out there's a widespread debate on this topic.

Some scholars claim that Jesus simply misspoke. (But isn't Jesus God? Does God misspeak?)

Others claim that it was the copyists who made the mistake (scribes who copied and distributed the bible before the printing press). Then, it was copied, and the copies were copied, on and on for hundreds of years——before anyone spotted the error. (But if this is true——and we're taught that "the bible is the inerrant word of God," then doesn't that invalidate this? This would show that there are indeed errors in the Bible, and thus——the bible is not the inerrant word of God.)

Others claim that it wasn't an error at all. Jesus was prophesying the murder of Zechariah the son of Baruch which occurred at Jerusalem about thirty years after Jesus' death. (A stretch, in my opinion. First, this Zachariah was the son of "Baruch," not "Barachias." And second, Jesus spoke of this event happening in the past tense: "…whom ye slew…")

I'm not sure which theory is correct. And quite frankly, it doesn't matter——and here's why:

There are three benefits in doing a hard-skill study of spiritual items to start the day:

First, in doing this you realize just how vast the corpus of the bible is. It's a complex chain-linked document that opens up many questions. It humbles you to understand the vastness of spiritual literature.

Second, even if I had been reading a deep philosophical work, the act of chasing down an interesting question is a fantastic way to get your brain into a state of momentum to start the day.

Third, the rest of the day is put into its proper priority. As I approach the other areas of my life, in the back of my mind, the idea of what I had read in the morning will be constantly churning over in my mind. By constantly churning around a spiritual principle (or philosophical principle)——and having that conversation take place in the back of your mind throughout the day——you will lead a much more enlightened life——opposed to churning around cheap content you saw by surfing TikTok, Instagram, X (Twitter), etc.

That is the main lesson and point of this email.

In sum:

Try starting your day by reading a deep piece of spiritual or philosophical text to get your mind going. I promise you——even if you're not religious——it will lead to a richer, more intellectual way of living.

Now——with that said, I would like to inform you about one more thing:

As you may know, I run a writing incubator called Write to Freedom.

In Write to Freedom, I "hatch" independent writers.

What I mean is——I help those who want to spend their days reading, writing, and taking notes. I help them craft a life where they get to do such things——while also making a six-figure living.

Therefore, if you want to make six figures writing one thing a month, then I'd love to work with you.

Here's what it's all about:

I will work with you, and train you in a business model that will allow you to make six figures writing one thing a month.

The business model I'll be teaching you is ten times better than Amazon KDP.

If you want to be a self-published author——and——actually make a living——then this is THE path for you.

I'm telling you about this because I'm committed to working with you and getting you to $1,000 per month.

This could take three months, it could take six months——whatever, doesn't matter. I'm going to get you to $1,000/month.

After that, I'm going to give you the playbook and everything you need to get to $10,000 per month, and then scale from there.

Pretty soon, you could get to the point where I'm at (making over $40,000 writing one thing a month).

Here's a screenshot of my revenue:

I want to train you up in this business model and work with you.

However, as you can imagine, my time is limited, and I can only focus on a certain number of people. In fact…

Right Now, I'm Fully Booked Up.

(I Have No Spots Available.)

However, I will have six spots opening up in June.

As far as price goes, I'm doing a special deal——Write to Freedom costs only $499 per month.

Here's what you get for this:

I'll help you build something called an Analog Knowledge Funnel ("AKF"). This requires you to write a short book and write one newsletter a month.

Once you have an AKF built out, you will be on your way to making six figures writing one thing a month.

I'll give you the technical infrastructure (website, email follow-ups, and everything). I'll give you the keys to run this.

I'll meet with you weekly (every Wednesday at 11 a.m Pacific Time) and work with you to help you with everything.

I'll have my developer and designer create a custom-designed website for you.

I'll do all of this——and work with you——until I get you to $1,000 per month.

I'll also give you the playbook and roadmap to scale to $10,000 per month from there.

(Going from $0 to $1,000/month is the hard part. $1,000/month to $10k/month is easy in comparison.)

Also——if you want ongoing support to get to $10,000 per month——I'll make that option available to you as well.

In the end, I want your life to look like this:

I want you to be pulling in $120k+ per year.

If you want this, then simply reply to this email with "June" and I'll notify you if a spot becomes available.

After you do, I'll add you to the June 2024 waiting list.

When the six spots open up in June, I'll send the first six people the details with a link to enroll in Write to Freedom.

Each person gets 24 hours to enroll before I move on to the next person on the list.

It's first-come, first-served.

Again, Write to Freedom is $499/month.

After you enroll, we'll meet that Wednesday, and I'll work with you on what book you want to write, what niche you want to write about, and we'll begin building your Analog Knowledge Funnel.

We'll do this until we finish building your Analog Knowledge Funnel and get you to $1,000 per month.

For some people, this will take three months, others six months or more.

It really depends on you. For instance, if you already have a book written, it should take three months or less. If you have no idea what you want to write about, I'd budget for six months to be safe.

The bottom line: I'm committed to giving you the "Dream Writer's Life" if you're committed to making it happen.

If you want to be notified when spots open up in June, simply reply to this email with "June" —— I'll then notify you if a spot becomes available.

Warm regards,

And always remember,

To stay crispy, my friend.

Scott P. Scheper

"A Man on a Mission to Create an Army of Independent Writers, Creators, and Thinkers Who Make a Killer Living (Without Slaving Away as a Freelancer or 9-5 Corporate Drone)"