GarthBox

I worry about neighborhoods that stop developing and growing because of the togetherness it forges with people. Consider the togetherness experienced by students moving in the dorm together or a round of families moving into a new neighborhood at the same time because it was just built.

Or consider the power of workshops Seth Godin puts on or bootcamps by your local fitness facility.

The power of getting a group to be in something together is undeniable.

Which begs the question if you’re creating those moments or not?

It’s quite easy to be passive, a cog, and do the work to spec and hand it off to the next person.

The reward is minimal, though, too.

Stay Positive & Handshakes, Hugs, And Habits Go Along Way When Done With Others

It feels good to have answers, even if they are half-baked or entirely rotten.

Far more productive, however, to respond to a question with a follow up question.

Two results occur.

The first is that you learn something that can help make your answer better before giving it.

The second is that you learn to respond rather than react.

(If someone truly wanted reactions, they’d stick to asking social media.)

Stay Positive & What’s Your Default Response When Asked A Question?

Yup, the golden rule is to treat others the way you would want to be treated.

But the concept is so 1-1, direct, and immediate.

It does a very poor job of motivating people to have foresight; how to respond in a single moment, but for a future impact.

Consider a situation that you’re moving and then a new couple is moving into your house. Applying the golden rule may make you think simply of being nice and supportive of them when you meet them at your closing. You’re gonna treat them how you’d want to be treated when you interact.

But what about how you leave the house? Did you touch-up paint for them? Did you mow the lawn for them? These are actions that 1. they benefit from later and 2. you will never know if they appreciated your efforts. But it’s safe to say that you would have liked people to have treated you that way if you were moving into the house, no?

The golden rule is a great mentality, but like anything meaningful, it’s the nuances of it that actually make it shine.

Stay Positive & Future-State Is Just As Important As The Present Situation

We got to a crux in conversation with a couple of authors the other day. It wasn’t about how to write or how to self publish. It wasn’t about the need for a marketing budget. It was about enjoying the process.

One author switches to working on short stories to continue enjoying the process of writing when editing his novel gets hard.

Another author simply takes a break each time she starts to get frustrated while editing.

Yet another said they had written down all the challenges they expected to face so they couldn’t complain when they happened (ex: I’ll have to cut some great ideas).

It was a great reminder to construct a way to enjoy the process of our jobs or relationships or parenting or -insert your muse here-.

It’s far easier to enjoy a process when we’re intentional about enjoying the process.

Stay Positive & The Plan Is Yours

Half the battle is answering the tough questions.

A business plan isn’t effective because it’s a plan; it’s effective because it forces a person to answer the tough questions in writing.

1-1s result in both parties feeling fulfilled when the manager invests more in asking questions than talking.

And so on…

Stay Positive & Battle Gear Off

You want an effective marketing plan: create two columns.

Mark one as The Measurable and the other as The Unmeasurable.

Not put your tactics and strategies under each.

Are they balanced?

Can you imagine which one has more influence on the other?

Would be a bummer if that was the column you had fewer things in, wouldn’t it?

Stay Positive & Unmeasurable > Measurable

My daughter swiffered the floor (she’s three, mind you).

“Daddy, did I do a good job?”

If a good job is doing a job. Yes. If a good job is removing all of the dog hair on the floor of a room. No. If a good job is feeling proud of the effort you put in. Yes. If a good job is showing your sister how to be engaged in household chores. Yes. If a good job was doing it well enough that we don’t have to redo it again later. No.

Your team might not ask for the feedback, but they want to know if they are doing a good job.

Of course, you could make it so they don’t have to wonder what’s a good job.

Handing them the swiffer is one thing. Telling them what a good job looks like with it is a whole other.

Stay Positive & BRB, Gotta Go Reswiffer With My Daughter