GarthBox

What you think is urgent isn’t actually urgent and you’re spending more time on it than you actually need to. On top of that, you’re likely not making as meaningful of progress on larger tasks since you haven’t made the time to dedicate to it. It’s harsh truth and happens to us all.

So. A challenge.

After reading this, put all your to-dos to the side and focus on one project for the day. Not the urgent project, but the big one, challenging one, meaningful one.

In doing so, you’ll discover two things.

One is that you will feel fulfilled at the end of the day because you’ve experienced serious progress. And, there’s always satisfaction from overcoming or avoiding distractions. You’ll feel like you’ve won the day.

Second, all the tasks you thought were urgent? They’ll get done tomorrow because they need to be done then more than they need to today. As such, you’ll complete them more efficiently, more creatively and more passionately since you’re riding the high from yesterday.

Stay Positive & Big Things First

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Margins. White space. Breathing room. The hallway from here to there.

It all works to make an experience feel less cramped, less hostile, less crushed.

More square footage of space that will go “unused” may cost more, but “unused” – that’s simply an error in perspective. The space creates perceptional impact to those who see and walk through it.

Of course, there’s always a point where there margins are too big, there’s too much blank space and endless breathing room.

That’s why crafting any experience is an art and why short cuts don’t work.

Stay Positive & Craft Your Space

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Personal interactions are important to a guest or customer’s experience, sure, but it’s usually a very short part of it.

Placement is vital to ensuring the personal interaction is simply the cherry on top.

Consider poor placement of a handle on the front door to your shop. Frustrating.

Crooked portraits. Odd walks down stairs and curves just to find a restroom. Six pack carriers no where near the beer cooler. Cream and sugar in the other room entirely.

Design and placement matters.

Placement of useful items, decorative items and everything between.

Look around. Are things where they should really be?

Stay Positive & Another Question, Are The Items Needed Even There To Begin With? What’s Missing?

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Salespeople are good. They’ll work to show that what they offer will help you bring you more people to your business or service.

They might be right. They often are.

The big question to ask before accepting an advertising offer or a partnership or collaboration is if it’s your kind of people that it will bring.

This gut check not only saves you time and money in vetting the opportunity and investing in it; it saves you headaches of dealing with the wrong kind of people and the risk of having members of your current tribe pushed out.

And remember, just because everyone else is doing it doesn’t mean you need to. If anything, you draw more of a line in the sand that you’re different than the others by not.

If it sounds like a good offer, it probably is, but will it attract more of your kind of people?

Stay Positive & Stay True To Your Tribe

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Friends will surely support you. They’ll purchase your work, give you a friendly hard time about it and share it with their friends. It’s important to keep your friends posted on your progress and get them excited about what you’re working on. They’re important to ensuring your work spreads.

But there’s a limit to how many connections the work will spread to with friends.

So the duty of a professional is also to gather followers by leading a tribe with the work they do. People they likely don’t see day-to-day. People who don’t know about their childhood. People who have friends that look to them to recommend new places, books, work, etc.

This requires vulnerability to others. It requires sharing your secrets of how you make your work. It requires regularly showing up to prove you’re in it for the long run and worth following.

There’s no limit to how many connections the work will spread to with followers.

Stay Positive & How’s Your Tribe Coming Along?

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Most homegrown raspberries go unpicked because the picker isn’t comfortable with changing their posture to view the plant from all angles.

The same premise happens with good ideas.

There’s more to be seen and appreciated outside of eye-level at the grocery store.

The same is true with in finding good ideas, too.

Are you willing to bend, pivot and jump to get the best of the best?

There are ideas and people and rewards waiting for you.

Stay Positive & It’s No Good To Leave Good Raspberries Behind

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Six months ago we were all performing more than we are now. We performed for friends and family and our colleagues and bosses. We performed for people on the street or in the same cafe that we were working within.

Performing holds us accountable and we knew that. It’s why we told people when and where we were doing work, what events we would be attending, and we’d make sure our boss saw us hustle in the office.

Without offices, coffee shops and public platforms to perform on, we’re performing less.

Not that we’re not being efficient, getting shit done or meeting expectations; it’s the flare and pizazz of the work that’s falling by the wayside.

It’s on us to find new ways to connect with our audiences, platforms to energetically perform on and to not lose the drive and exhilaration of going above and beyond in our work and relationships.

Everything has a stress test. If you’re going through yours, keep on going. We need you to perform not like you used to, but with the same energy that you used to.

Stay Positive & Bring It

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