GarthBox

Seeking enrollment is an uphill battle. It’s frustrating when you think people commit and then they back out. Often times we try to force the enrollment or force someone to stay even after we both know it’s not for them. (Maybe because we think we failed if they drop out?)

Far more effective to focus on alignment. When you’re aligned on the mission of an advisory board or the goals of an agency or the dreams of a friend, there’s no space for fear of failure. It’s far less likely for anyone drop out, too.

When you’re aligned, you’re not leading, you’re mentoring one another.

When you’re aligned, you’re not micromanaging, you’re working together.

Stay Positive & Seek Alignment

Photo credit

The feelings tell a greater story than the story itself – and I write that in a selfish way.

In showcasing the emotions around your story, you’re creating a vulnerable path that others can see and resonate with. It’s how you tug on the heartstrings of another. It’s how you gather a tribe, how you get people to buy in to your offering, how you get people to show up.

You could talk about how you’re expanding your location, but withholding information about how doing that makes you feel greatly reduces the traction your story will have with others.

No one has been passionately moved by a matter of fact.

Stay Positive & Roll Up The Sleeves And Show The Heart

Photo credit

The famous Kurt Vonnegut once advised his class of writing students that if they were to write about a sunset, they better include a person working in the horizon.

People care more about stories with people. People care about scenes with people. People care about solutions with people.

In a wonderful fashion that would likely annoy Vonnegut, his advice is key not only in marketing, but in the foundation of building marketing plans and recommendations:

• If you’re going to present a plan, better to involve the people you’ll be presenting to in the process of making it
• If you’re going to work on a report, better to include comments from people you have actually talked to (not just some screenshot of a comment on a social post from someone who isn’t your target)
• If you’re going to share a recommendation, better paint the picture and include the people who it’s going to impact as clear as you have written the recommendation

Stay Positive & People Do Business With People (And Care About Stories, Marketing Plans, Recommendations, Etc With People)

Photo credit

How often is your time invested in swimming in the deep end?

I think it’s interesting how people will feel guilty for going down the “rabbit whole of wikipedia” or a series of YouTube videos.

That’s a GOOD thing.

To swim in the deep end of information and ideas; using curiosity to drive your interest in finding out what really works or what really doesn’t, to read beyond the cover.

Stay Positive & There’s Plenty Of Room In The Deep End

Photo credit

Seeking out knowledge inherently puts our preconceptions to the side. It ignores the status quo we’ve lived up to this point.

Better yet, it’s a productive mindset to look at anything in front of us and think “There’s something to learn from this.”

One, because there is.

And two, because the alternative is the pessimistic view that there isn’t anything to learn or the ignorant view that if there is something to learn, it’s not valuable enough to discover it.

Stay Positive & Which View Will You Take?

Photo credit

The important moments aren’t at the end. They’re not the climax of a movie, either.

The important parts are all the moments that lead up to us caring about the climax or the ending.

The careful dialogue. The curated design. The surprise and delight of building momentum.

Those are the important moments.

Stay Positive & Which Moments Are You Focusing On?

Photo credit

Trick question.

There’s no chance of being too proactive unless it’s off target or off brand.

Otherwise being proactive either ensures momentum in the future or it creates mental resilience and acumen.

This goes for proactive communication, proactive rewards, proactive compliments, proactive labor, proactive planning and so on.

Stay Positive & Gung Ho

Photo credit