Author: Garth Beyer

We’re quick to leave things behind once we ship them.

We don’t read back the blog posts we wrote last month or stop to meditate on how we feel with the meditations we’ve been doing.

We don’t look back to see how well of a friend we’ve been to the new ones we’ve made or review the emails we sent to the team last week.

We don’t revisit the work we created six months ago to see how much it has changed or how we’ve changed our process of creating it.

When we don’t do any of that, we lose the chance at holding onto what has worked well and could help us grow more. When we don’t check-in, we start from a state of square one more often than we need to.

It takes time to pause and reflect, and doing so can often show the bad habits and bring to light the less-than-impressive work we’ve done, but that’s worth it, too, if you’ll make it be.

Stay Positive & Look Back, Look Forward, But Remember To Also Look In

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All learning is frustrating at first.

No one wants to feel dumb, struggle to memorize something or explore teachings on a subject they may never put to use.

The reality, though, is that there’s always something more to learn, so we need to get comfortable with feeling dumb.

There’s no way we can memorize everything, so we need to get comfortable with trusting our gut and putting our learning into action.

And when it comes to learning the thing we think we will never have use for; it’s simply a lie we tell ourselves. At some point we all meet someone who we can share a connection with because we understand the thing they’re talking about or passionate about.

Stay Positive & We Learn So We Can Connect

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Brewing coffee with a french press might give others the appearance that you’re sophisticated, but it might also fill you with joy.

Owning a Yanagi doesn’t mean you will ever use it, but it might fill you with joy to have it.

The fun socks you wear while you work your butt off each day and the morning routine you have and the headphones you own might go unnoticed by those around you, but they might also simply fill you with joy.

As we pursue the change we seek to make, we might as well find ways to be filled with joy along the way.

Stay Positive & What Can You Do To Make The Journey More Fun?

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It takes fewer steps to launch a project than you think.

It takes fewer people you think to make it work, too.

It takes fewer stakeholders to be involved for it to work right.

It takes fewer hours to learn the ropes than you think.

Change your perspective and put yourself into action.

It truly is easier than the story you’re telling yourself about it.

Stay Positive & Go

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The best kind of map is the one we draw for ourselves.

It gives us agency and offers us the flexibility to change it throughout – something we wouldn’t risk doing if it was a map someone else gave us.

The map we make removes fear and excuses we would otherwise use to keep us standing in place.

It also provides a drip campaign of fulfillment. At the end of the day, we can see our progress made and milestone(s) met.

We spend a lot of time looking and asking for maps when all we need to do is pick up a pen to draw our own.

Stay Positive & Give Your Agency Some Urgency

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It’s likely we could go on about all the things we want. We have lists for what we want in significant others, lists for what we want out of the restaurant we’re going to, lists we want from an online grocery shopping experience and our morning routines.

As business leaders and creators, however, we need to know what the list of wants are for those we seek to serve.

How long of a list could we write for what someone wants out of their coffee shop experience? Or the list of wants from someone who is searching through your artwork or novels? What about the wants of the person who found you through a Google search or those who donate to a charity?

Then the real question becomes how many of those boxes of wants are you actually fulfilling? Or better yet, which boxes is the competition NOT checking that you can?

The list and evaluation and actions that come out of it are hard work. But that’s what it takes to connect, build a following and actually resonate with those you seek to serve.

Stay Positive & Grab That Pen

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Calculating value of a decision isn’t as hard as it sounds.

Is going to the festival where you’ll introduce your brand to eight people worth it? You can calculate it by assuming 20% or roughly two people will come visit your shop and let’s say the average purchase price is $24. Is your hour at the festival worth $48 dollars next weekend when they visit?

What about the value of a direct mail piece to 2,000 people that costs you $1.50 per person to send and an addition $2 per person who shows up to use the special pricing you included on the mailer? Is the $1,240 life-time value of 5% or roughly 100 people worth more than the $3.50 it took to get them to your shop?

This kind of math is easy.

It’s plug-and-play based on educated assumptions, historical data and hard costs.

The tough part comes in when you work to add in uncalculated value. It’s the free glassware you give out to those two people who entered your shop. Or the high-fives or the story of why you sell what you sell or the value of a new connection to someone in the community.

What about the value of putting a scratch & sniff element to the direct mail piece so those who recieve it have something to talk about even if they don’t enter your store or the value of a smile and friendly “thanks for coming in.”

Calculate the value when you can, but don’t let that stop you from providing uncalculated value to an experience.

Now that everyone has a calculator in front of them (and actually knows how to use it), those who provide more unclaculated value are the ones who make it to the top and who we talk about.

Stay Positive & Blend Your Value

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