I know, I know.
The title sounds insane.
Why would you delete your best work?
It’s like asking Mike Tyson to give up boxing.
But here’s the thing you probably haven’t heard about:
In 2003, Mike Tyson filed for bankruptcy after earning hundreds of millions of dollars throughout his career.
And in a weird way, it happened because he couldn’t give up boxing.
He clung onto it because for basically his entire adult life, boxing had been the thing that solved everything.
And that eventually helped take him from one of the richest and most successful athletes in the world to tens of millions of dollars in debt.
That could be you if you don’t at least consider deleting your best article.
You might think:
Well, I’m not a boxer. I’m not going to end up millions in debt.
True.
But just listen to Tyson’s story, and you’ll understand what I mean.
Mike tyson
Around the late 80s and 90s, Mike Tyson was living his best life.
He was one of the most famous boxers in the world.
He would train, fight someone, and make a fuckload of money.
At his peak, he could make tens of millions from a single fight.
And then he’d go spend it.
Cars.
Jewelry.
Mansions.
Tigers.
Whatever the fuck Mike Tyson wanted.
Punching people made Tyson an insane amount of money.
Eventually, almost everything good in Tyson’s life had been given to him after he punched someone in the face.
So whenever he needed more money, what was the solution?
When Fighting Solved Everything
And honestly, this was a genius solution.
Need money?
Fight.
Need more money?
Fight again.
And that’s the same thing that happens to most people who’ve written a really good article.
First, you’re just some lonely writer.
Nobody reads your shit.
Then you write one really good article.
Suddenly you’re getting likes.
Subscribers.
Comments.
Maybe money.
Maybe you’re not a writer.
Maybe you find a really good way to get leads for your business.
Before, you were broke.
Maybe you weren’t famous.
Maybe you didn’t have a good style.
Then you found this one thing that worked and it solved everything for you.
You went from rags to riches.
So why wouldn’t you just keep using it?
That’s exactly what I see most writers, business owners, and even Mike Tyson do.
Here’s where it gets bad
Eventually, Mike started getting worse and worse at boxing.
That’s normal.
You get older.
Your body gets tired.
You’re not going to be the best boxer in the world forever.
But at the same time, Tyson was spending insane amounts of money.
In 2000 alone, Tyson reportedly earned more than $65 million and still managed to spend it all.
But boxing had always worked before.
So what do you do?
When Fighting Stopped Working
And that’s the same with writers.
Over time, your audience will get sick of you writing the same type of article again and again.
The way you’re getting leads for your business will eventually start to dwindle.
The video format that always gets views will eventually stop getting as many.
The thing that originally gave you so much success starts working less and less.
But you’ve been trained for years to think:
The Belief That Keeps You Stuck
So you keep doing it.
Tyson eventually reached the point where boxing couldn’t keep up with everything anymore.
And in 2003, he filed for bankruptcy with huge debts despite earning hundreds of millions throughout his career.
The thing that had solved his problems over and over again…
couldn’t solve them anymore.
And the same thing can happen to your writing.
Your best article
Maybe your best article only got 100 likes.
Maybe you haven’t even written your best article yet.
It doesn’t matter.
When you finally write that article and it does insanely well, it will affect you.
You might think:
Well, I’m obviously not going to write the exact same article over and over again.
No.
But subconsciously, you know that was the best article you’ve ever written.
You know that title worked.
You know that style worked.
You know that topic worked.
And every time you sit down to write something new, that’s sitting somewhere in the back of your head.
So what’s the solution to all of this?
Delete your best article
Now, you don’t actually need to delete it.
There’d be no sense in that.
What you need to do is be willing to let it go.
Mike Tyson eventually had to stop relying on boxing as the only thing he could do. These days, he’s much more of a celebrity and businessman, doing entertainment, appearances, brand deals and things outside traditional professional boxing.
That’s what you need to do with your writing.
If the article that blew up was:
10 Things You Need To Know About X
don’t spend the next five years writing:
10 Things You Need To Know About Y
Maybe switch it up.
Maybe your readers don’t want another top 10.
Maybe they want simple advice.
Maybe they want a story.
Maybe they want something you haven’t even thought of yet.
The point isn’t to stop doing something the second it works.
That would be stupid.
The point is:
Don’t cling to whatever made you successful forever.
You’ve got to be able to let it go.
Keep going: Explore the Copy John guide to clearer, more persuasive copywriting.
More on writing habits: how to write every day without burning out, how to focus on one thing at a time, and the focus hub.