Elevated Angles

Angles Of Building Workspace

The work can get better when we better ourselves.

It can also get better when we elevate the experience for the consumer.

Then there’s the fact of it getting better when we add value to the team experience.

Then there’s the design, the packaging, the hours, the price, the rituals, the website, the expertise, the resources, the third party suppliers.

Plenty of angles to elevate to make the work better.

Stay Positive & Work Them For The Wow Factor

Photo credit

Hopes Up High

New Year Mindset

A new year, new sets of goals, new commitments to ourselves, new dreams.

We enter a new year with our hopes up high.

Let us remember to keep our head down low, though.

It doesn’t get easier, but it does get more worth it.

Let’s not let high expectations (rather than hopes) ruin what can be a magical start to a new year.

Stay Positive & Are You Ready?

Photo credit

Reminders

Remember

Some public speakers carry a paperclip or a dinosaur toy to remind themselves to stay calm in front of an audience.

Some workers put poems or motivational prompts at their desk to remind themselves to keep their head while all those around them are losing theirs.

Some people put sticky notes on their mirrors to remind themselves how good they have it.

Reminders can be a good thing if we let it.

Stay Positive & What Do You Want To Remember Throughout The Year?

Photo credit 

It All Compounds

New Knowledge

The knowledge you collect on one front somehow always converts to value on another.

We find ways to use tools we used for one initiative on another.

The connections we make as we pursue one dream puts us in connection with others who help us with other dreams.

It’s no longer six degrees of separation for people, tools or tactics. It might not even be three.

The more you do, know, see, connect … the more the value compounds.

Stay Positive & How’s The Next Year Looking?

Photo credit

Permission To Suck

Permission To Suck

There are plenty of times that having the permission to suck leads to breakthroughs and progress.

There’s no better time, however, to give yourself permission to suck when you are lethargic, unmotivated and feel like you’ve got writers/designers/coders/etc block.

Permission to suck means you can create without concern or criticism, you can create without self-evaluation and critique, you can simply create.

Stay Positive & You’re Bound To End With Something Useful (But You Have To Create To Get There)

Photo credit

Introduction And Change

Telling Stories

The key to engaging an audience with a story is by starting with a backstory and the change that happened to turn it into a story.

It’s the kid who is living with his grandparents and then gets bit by a spider.

It’s the dude that didn’t like college, so he dropped out and started selling t-shirts out of the back of his car.

It’s the woman who always wanted kids but couldn’t have them, so she flew to Seoul with her husband to adopt.

It doesn’t take much to lean into a great story. All it takes is a little background and little disruption (positive or negative).

If you start a story after the change, it might still be a story, but it’s unlikely you will have the audience hooked.

Stay Positive & Start At The Beginning

Photo credit

Observation Time

Observing Time

Hustle and bustle. Go time. Check items off the list. Do do do.

Action is a magical default setting, but if we’re going to put our energy toward work that’s meaningful, we have to have observation time.

Unfortunately, observation time feels like a waste, especially for those that think they could be doing things instead of, well, not.

Observation time is vital, though. It helps us help others help themselves. It helps us determine what people really care about (not just what we assume they care about). It helps us do more of the right things and less of the wrong.

If you haven’t stopped, sat and watched the environment around your work in awhile, now’s a great time.

Stay Positive & See, And Listen

Photo credit