Why Try To Get Out Of Your Box, When You Can Use What's In It?
Anything that we create and deliver ought to have something unique about it.
At least, unique at first.
Unique until it’s not.
Unique until someone strips it away.
Unique until it becomes the new norm.
In the pursuit of better, we need to create more work that’s unique, if only slightly.
Unique drip by unique drip, our work can change the culture.
Stay Positive & See You At The Edge
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At any given time, we can make our life worse and it seems easy to do.
But for some reason, making our life better seems hard.
It’s not.
It takes the same amount of effort, same amount of passion, same amount of help from others to go one direction as it does another.
What matters is deciding which path to head in and knowing you can change any time.
Stay Positive & It’s Always A Choice
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It’s a question worth asking with every decision you make because every decision you make is either adding or subtracting from the story they’re telling themselves.
Does the paint color make them feel calm and safe?
Does the menu design make them feel confident?
Does the greeting at the door make them feel invited?
How does the credit card fee make them feel?
How about the price?
The automatic Facebook message when they send you a note?
The sign outside?
The lighting?
The brands we instantly love make sure that every feeling is working in unison, and that there are more positive feelings than negative ones.
Go ahead and take a walk through your business or brand as if you were a customer and ask yourself how you feel along the way to quickly find areas for improvement.
Stay Positive & There Are More Opportunities Than We May Think
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The world (our world, our narrative) could be a very different place when we exchange a few things. Here are some worth considering.
Swapping out TV time with writing.
Being forgiving instead of angry.
Asking questions and listening more than presenting.
More taking action instead of panicking about how you’re going to get it all done.
Sending a thoughtful note rather than waiting for one.
Pausing instead of plowing through.
Asking for help more often rather than not acting at all.
Switching tasks to one you know you’ll enjoy now.
Stay Positive & It’s All A Choice
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When you make a mistake, you know how frustrated you are with yourself, right?
Others aren’t far off from feeling the same when they make a mistake, too.
Sometimes, they may even feel worse, may have already planned how to never make the mistake again and, in some cases, have already worked to make things right.
You have the option to chastise and reduce your trust and to micromanage going forward.
But you also have the option of asking, “That won’t happen again, right?”
And then moving on, when they say, “No. I promise.”
Stay Positive & Trust Is Magical Currency
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Damn is frustration a good thing.
I’ve met some of the greatest mentors who became the awesome humans they are because they were frustrated with the mentorship (lack thereof) they received.
The most powerful blog posts and books were written by those who were frustrated with the mediocrity they previously held in their hands.
You can tell a good all-addresses email was written by someone who was frustrated because you’ll find a spelling error, but also legitimate actions people can take right after reading.
Frustration doesn’t need to be a downward spiral. It can be fuel for us to be more generous, connect more deeply and make things better – not for ourselves, but for those around us.
Stay Positive & A Little Pissed Off
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Most people and brands (the more local you get, the easier) are interested in collaborating.
Too often those who are perfect for a collaboration are also interested.
So we’re left with two interested groups but never a connection between them.
We have to be courageous enough to ask and continue asking to collaborate.
Otherwise we spend a lot of time waiting for a request that never comes; and we miss out on the opportunity to create something special for the world.
Stay Positive & Default To Action
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