GarthBox

Here’s a new format to use for your to-do list. It’s a game changer.

[Task] so that [someone] [benefit]

Finish that project brief so that the studio artist can flex her creative muscles on the work.

Clean the main floor of the house so that my partner feels less stressed.

Adding a person and how completing the task helps them changes the entire energy of a to-do list.

Everything becomes an act of generosity, not just a task.

Helping someone else thrive feels a lot better than checking a box, anyway–but this way, you can do both.

Stay Positive & Check, Check, Check

Photo credit

If you dig deeper into what makes someone impressed, you’d find that it’s not just what they see, hear, feel, smell, taste or touch.

They’re impressed with the effort and intention and heart that was put into something.

Following a stock plan might produce something beautiful, but it won’t produce something remarkable.

Remarkable requires a leap outside of the playbook into uncharted territory, full of vulnerability and grit.

Stay Positive & Color Someone Impressed Today

Photo credit

There’s no such thing as a solo career any more. There’s too many involved to make the work rock.

Even an artist that designs labels for packages as a freelancer. First and foremost, her team is her client and then regardless if she personally reaches out for any help or feedback or insight, the client certainly shares it around and extends the team.

Now imagine if the freelancer did reach out to a friend to get a read on her work, and maybe she read a few articles about similar products…the authors of those articles could technically be considered part of her team, too.

The short of it is team work makes the dream work and anyone trying to stay solo isn’t doing their strongest work.

I’d also argue that those who work to have a strongly large team make the work better, too. It might feel like it boggs down a process and timing and cost may be impacted, but the work inevitably gets stronger.

In fact, just like you, it’s strength is the average of the team behind it.

Stay Positive & Get Those Smarter Involved With You To Raise The Bar

Photo credit

There’s a strong difference between competence and contentedness.

Competence is something we fall into the trap of being in love with. It feels good to know what needs to be done and how to do it. But competence has also proven – no matter your line of work – to hold you back from exploring other possibilities and taking risks. Competence is fueled by comfort and comfort is fueled by standing still.

Contentedness can be found within competence, but it can also be found outside of it. Contentedness is a lot easier to acknowledge and, to a degree, control. It’s about finding satisfaction in the present. With a curious mine, one can be content amid chaos. One can be content with leaping and risk-taking. Content is fueled by appreciating the moment and it’s quiet easy to appreciate a moment – all you need to do is try and you’ll succeed.

Competence gets us places, but then keeps us there. Contentedness keeps us moving.

Stay Positive & Keep Moving Forward, Contently

Photo credit

Authors and artists traverse this admirably.

They take up residence in a new city or new school or new nonprofit program.

They combine teaching and creating into one. At the same time they’re making observations about a new space, a new audience, a new cohort of students interested in the same craft as them. They’re growing.

A temporary residence doesn’t need to be exclusive to authors and artists though.

In the ever-digital and accessibly-remote world, it’s becoming easier than ever to take up residency somewhere else.

There’s a ceiling to the bubbles we’re all in. While growth can and does happen inside them, remarkability is rooted in those who take up multiple temporary residences.

Stay Positive & Don’t Wait For The Pop

Photo credit

There’s no more wonderful experience around not knowing than looking up and seeing a plane in the sky.

You’re never filled with dread about it. You’re always curious about where it’s going. You wonder who is on it. There’s a little jolt of excitement at the thought of you being in it and heading to a dream destination. Maybe you’re just impressed with how it’s scraping the sky. Either way, you’re living in complete unknown when you see the plane and you feel joy.

Interestingly, the only thing stopping us from looking at other parts of our life like the plane is ourselves.

Not knowing isn’t a weakness. It lets us to open to new ideas, different opinions and new connections. Not knowing opens the world up for us.

Something to remember next time you feel like you don’t know enough.

Stay Positive & It Actually Puts You At The Advantage

Photo credit

When you ship difficult work and ship it well, there will be a demand for more or better work and it gets more difficult.

When you’re trying to strategize for the year ahead, there’s only one guarantee: it will be a crazier year than this last one.

But once you acknowledge it, it becomes easier to work within the crazy, ship better work faster and pivot more seamlessly.

It all begins with right-sizing the expectations.

Stay Positive & Don’t Wait For The Anticipation To Build

Photo credit