GarthBox

There’s so much change and it happens so quickly that there are really only two positive and productive stances to take.

The first is to be the change; to promote the change; lead the change. The decisions we make each and every day can, over time, shift our culture.

This one is the obvious one. No news here.

The second is to accept the change; to flip the switch in our brains and see the justified argument about why we are wrong about how we have thought about something.

This is much… much harder.

We’re a little more primed to create change than we are to accept it, but both have equally beneficial results.

Stay Positive & Either Way, Forward Movement

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The way to be attentive during the meeting? Keep your email off.

The way to engage in more meaningful conversation with your significant other? Turn your phone off.

The way to focus more on the work you’re doing? Silent your notifications.

You’re one click, one close, one power button away from better work when it matters.

Stay Positive & Stop The Distractions

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Your favorite football team, your friends, your coworkers…

They’re all going to fumble.

And those you’re training or handing work off to?

They’re going to fumble, too.

However, they’re also going to score, rally, win, learn, grow, advance, improve…

Once you realize your task is to focus on those elements and not “how to stop them from fumbling,” not only will you feel relieved, all those around you will, too.

In fact, ignoring the fact of impending fumbles is the fastest way to get them not to in the first place.

Stay Positive & Focus On What You Want, Not What You Don’t

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Maybe, just maybe if you were to travel to another country and shut off all electronics, then you can really be off.

But even then, it’s a smallll world.

(Even when I was in Cambodia at an off-the-beaten path bar, the bartender happened to be someone from Madison, WI.)

Whether we want to or not, we always have to be on.

In the hyper-connected world we live in, the expression of “what you do when no one is watching” doesn’t apply, because someone always is – one way or another.

This fact, of course, isn’t one to be frustrated with or something worth trying to fight.

We can use it as a reminder to be accountable, caring and more thoughtful.

Stay Positive & Appreciative That There’s No Switch

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You have a message that needs sharing, no doubt. People who need convincing. Stories to tell. A product or service to talk about and vocalize what’s on the sell sheet.

As easy as it is to start with what you have to say, it’s far more beneficial to start with getting the other person or people feeling comfortable.

To set aside our agenda and open our ears, to get conversation going, to help others feel comfortable. – Not to make it easier to sell to them (though it does that), but to make it an experience that is worth them talking to others about.

No one has ever said “Damn, he came at me with his pitch and it was stupendous. You have to reach out to him and hear it for yourself!”

An aside: Anytime you’re doing a virtual gathering, the faster you can get to everyone interacting and feeling comfortable, the better the experience will be. If an agenda is necessary, label the first act of business as “chit chat.” Even that simple signal let’s those attending know that they can put down their guard and be present.

Stay Positive & Comforting

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When you don’t get sign ups, it doesn’t do well to get disappointed or frustrated or sad.

Well, maybe it feels good to feel the emotions, but only (only!) if one thing follows: a change of action.

When something doesn’t work, it’s not just a learning; it’s an obligation to find out what didn’t work and to fix it.

And heaven forbid, don’t think timing had anything to do with it. That’s a cop out of doing work to make it something worth attending, buying, sharing, signing up for etc.,

Stay Positive & Better Next Time

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Prompts. Statements. Mantras.

Riffs. Orders. Proverbs.

They can all evoke emotion and action and momentum, no doubt.

But there’s nothing like a question

A question can get your team in sync.

A question can shine a light on the actual issue or work worth doing.

A question can be the token of entry to building brand loyalty.

There’s nothing quite like a question, is there?

Stay Positive & Have You Asked Anything Today?

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