I just got a 1-star review and then I got a 5-star review.

I'm going to try to change your opinion as to why you want only 5-star reviews. Ready? Here we go.

I can't deny it. This hurts.

But we need to think about it this way: we're not here to please all of the people all of the time.

We're not even here to please some of the people some of the time.

We're here to resonate clearly and deeply with a certain audience and lift them up and let them smile.

Clearly, this reviewer isn't it.

Keep in mind, almost nothing I could have written or done would have pleased her. She's just not going to like me, read my stuff, or be in any way influenced or even inspired by anything I do.

That's OK with me. In fact, it's a good thing. I know we're not a good match.

Seriously? I couldn't have written a better review myself!

In fact, that's the beauty of it: I don't know this guy, I might never know him, but clearly, we connected. Here's his 5-star review:

What a character

BRADLEY made me laugh and wonder how something so profound can be so SIMPLE

you got it right and many of us who believe in your works will walk along ... with you

Now this may seem odd, but that first line ("What a character") is EXACTLY what I'm shooting for.

PRO TIP: What are YOU shooting for? What would you just love for someone to say about you? Action item: write in that way.

He might have written, "What a professional!" or "What an inspiration!" or even "What a brilliant writer!" but the one that makes me smile the most? "What a character."

Why?

Because this guy sees me for the (not-so-secret-anymore) self that I want to project to the world.

• I'm no longer a corporate guy (well, I never truly was...).
• I don't take myself terribly seriously (I have a book called "Pass the Sour Cream" for crying out loud!).
• I basically want to spread joy and laughter and lightness throughout the world.

So to be called "a character" means that this guy sees me for who I really am and (this is the best part), I don't know him, he doesn't "know" me, and yet he uses his own words to describe what he thinks of me and I love it.

The middle of the road.

Then we get this one.

• "Inspiring."
• "No excuses."
• "Liked it."
• "Revisiting my goals for the year."

This is great, perfect, a happy medium between "I'm a spammer." and "I'm a character."

This is the (no longer) silent majority and it's great. She got out of it more what I had hoped and/or expected.

This is what I'm shooting for "on paper" whereas the guy who called me "a character" is what I'm secretly aiming for.

And the first one? That's the risk I take for putting my work out there in the public.

Is it worth the tradeoff?

Ab-so-freaking-lute-ly.