Author: Garth Beyer

Feeling vulnerable?

Good.

It’s a sign that you’re growing.

It’s what you’re going to feel when you’re doing work that matters.

In the words of my friend KP, “vulnerability is the entry fee to building trust with an audience”

Embrace it.

Stay Positive & Vulnerability Is Key

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There’s a car rental shop right next to a bar in a bay in Greece. It was just over a year ago that I was sitting outside, enjoying a beverage and was also served some first class entertainment (and life lesson reminder).

A couple at a table beside us had a confrontation about some damage on the vehicle they returned. It got heated. There was yelling – more so from the car rental staff. There was also a ripple effect of anger and frustration – from people at the bar trying to relax to all the other car rental workers who were inside that now had their attention turned onto the confrontation happening.

Without a doubt, the customers being yelled at would never be customers again.

I couldn’t help but think about how much of a waste that time and energy was to deal with those people. Then I thought how the workers could have killed them with kindness – and maybe even made a returning customer or advocate of the two who may or may not have caused some damage to the car – certainly it wasn’t on purpose. Or they could have shrugged them off entirely and moved on.

Either way, they could have invested the time – rather than yelling – in calling upcoming guests and giving better attention to those in the shop. They could have focused on making it a remarkable experience for everyone but two troublemakers. They could have moved on sooner and both business (car rental and bar) would have been better because of it.

Most crappy customers. Most issues that arise. Most challenges we face – it’s the same thing.

We’re better off reducing our sunk cost and pivoting and moving on. Better to shift to kindness and focus on advocacy than getting sucked into a heated debate and frustration.

Doing so impacts a lot more than just what’s in front of us.

Stay Positive & Focus On The Good

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The reassurance we feel we need; the assurance we seek from others; the affirmations we try to give ourselves – there will never be enough to last and to fuel us day in and day out as we leap, try new things and take risks on our missing of making the change we seek to make.

Worry is wasted time – and so is reassurance-seeking.

Stay Positive & Better To Just Leap

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There’s a reason speaking engagements are more profitable for authors than book deals. (It’s because they are more impactful.)

There’s a reason calling a client will always lead to a better collaborative solution than emailing. (It’s because they become connected with you – it becomes personal.)

There’s a reason a voicemail saying “I love you and I always will” hits the heartstrings more than a text saying the same thing. (It’s because they can hear the truth in your voice, but might otherwise try to read between the [non-existent] lines of a text.)

Stay Positive & Default To Picking Up The Phone

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What if we thanked ourselves as often as others do (maybe more).

What if we gave ourselves the benefit of the doubt.

What if we gave ourselves the words of encouragement to push through a dip.

We’re already thinking to ourselves. Might as well make it positive.

Stay Positive & No Need To Wait For Others

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If you’re focused on your own problems and not others’, it’s hard to be generous.

If you’re swamped with work, it’s hard to be generous.

If you’re overwhelmed with a lengthy to-do list and people all wanting something from you, it’s hard to be generous.

Those scenarios, however, is when generosity can mean the most; to those it is directed at but also to the person being generous (you).

Stay Positive & Be Generous Always, But Especially When It Requires Effort

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It’s not just misery that likes company.

Adversity, joy, triumph, focus all do, too.

Company can do wonders for our mental attitude.

And the best part is that we often have company everywhere we look, of course, when we choose to look around.

Those all around us are struggling on their own journey, celebrating on their own journey, losing and winning and on their own journey. Same as you or me.

Recognizing it may not make the work we’re doing easier; but it does offer a little bit of respite, doesn’t it?

Stay Positive & We’re Not Alone

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