Life Lesson

Even when wearing pads, we don’t push it too hard, we don’t risk too much, we don’t go too far out on the edge.

And if you think what you’re about to do something that would truly requires pads, it might be time to recalculate the risk.

Better to move toward the edge, inch by inch.

No doubt you’ll tumble here and there, but it won’t be major. If anything, you’ll find the edge faster than with pads because there won’t be the constant buffer between where you are and where you want to be.

Stay Positive & Calculate Then Risk, Inch By Inch

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Rollerblading and ice skating are same same, but completely different once you start.

Pitching podcasts and pitching news outlets are same same, but completely different once you hop on the phone.

Elevating a guest experience at a coffee shop and doing so at a beer bar is same same, but vastly different once you start interacting with the guest.

Finding the familiar helps us find comfort and a starting place; but it must be treated as just that – a starting place.

We have to treat different projects differently, different people differently, different experiences differently.

Stay Positive & Figurative Copy & Paste Is A Recipe For A Fumble

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Let’s role play for a moment and assume that every interaction is about status.

Someone complaining about a poorly delivered food order is about asserting their status.

Someone entering into your store is hoping they leave feeling as if they’ve increased their status.

Someone purchasing a wine for $40 instead of the discounted bottle at $14 is sending a status message to those who will end up enjoying it.

And it doesn’t always need to be about how others see one’s status either. It can be individual satisfaction. Perhaps the wine drinker is having it alone tonight for dinner. Still, status matters.

Then it begs the more specific question of not how does one add value to a customer or client experience, but how does one help increase or reassure them of their status?

Stay Positive & Seek The Status In The Status Seekers

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Sometimes we give more because we inherently expect something in return. But the reality is that we should give regardless.

Sometimes we care more because we expect others to care more in return. But the reality is that we should care regardless.

Sometimes we are thankful and hope others will be grateful in our return. But the reality is that we should be thankful regardless.

It’s what we do that’s important, regardless of what’s received in return.

Stay Positive & Heart Up High, Head Down Low

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It doesn’t take a massive amount of observation to make someone feel seen.

And to make someone feel seen, you don’t always have to rely on a statement to make them feel that way.

“What’s on the schedule for tonight?” can go a long way.

“Looks like it’s a girls night out… finally right?!” can go a long way.

“Having an incredible evening so far?” can go a long way.

Bonus points: You can always make someone feel seen by reminding them of a memory. What they ordered last. How their new dog is doing. How the trip planning is coming along.

When you care enough to see someone, it’s hard for them not to feel it.

Stay Positive & Care For Every One

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Time makers are the game changers of every industry, group and partnership.

Of course, they’re not really making time. We all have the same 24 hours. No more. No less.

The game changers are also people you will never hear say “I didn’t have time.”

They know they did. They had the same 24 hours as you or me. No more. No less.

The time either goes used or unused.

Thankfully, we decide where it goes, and we can choose for it to go toward doing the work, making a different and caring more than another.

Stay Positive & All Time Is No Time If Time Is Passed

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There’s not much to relish in success unless there’s significance to it, too.

Something passed down. Something shared. Someone impacted. Some group moved.

Success can be individualistic and can be a box checked.

Significance is what matters, though.

Stay Positive & What’s The Impact

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