GarthBox

It’s definitely one of the most important questions to continuously ask on your journey.

Regardless if it slows down the progress; 100% of the time it makes it better.

And better may not be in the work itself but in the impact it has; the connectivity; the network effect.

Ask for input. Share it with others. Connect two people who may be the ones to get it in the end.

This part of the creative process is by far the easiest to skip.

It’s also the most detrimental to.

Stay Positive & It’s About Them, Not You/The Work

It’s easy to assume progress isn’t made because of skill gaps.

It might be the case, definitely, but more times than not… it’s not.

It’s often focus gaps or attention gaps or bandwidth gaps which all sort of says the same thing: where is the time going each day?

I supposed you could say time management is a skill gap. But no one hires for that. There’s no Director of Time Management. (Perhaps there should be?) I’d argue that’s not a leader’s responsibility either – to manage time. Manage expectations and direction and quality of work, sure, but time? Not directly, anyway.

(Could you imagine how emotionally tolling that would be? “I want you to spend 10 minutes on this. No more. I don’t care what the reason.”

Yuck.

That is… unless you’re connecting time to goals and OKRs and what the company needs each person to focus on. It’s talking about time without talking about time.

Rather than skill gaps… find the time gaps and you’ll find the reason you’re not making the progress you want to make.

Stay Positive & Time Is Focus, Focus Is Money/Progress/Success/Impact…

The signal that you care is one of the kindest ones you can express.

Of course, we don’t really think about the act of telling someone we care so they know.

We show. They can see hear. Hear it. Experience it. Feel it.

It’s risky to ask, but next time to do: “can you tell how much I care?”

Risky because of what we may have to do if the answer is no. Risky because we might just be hiding from doing that which would send the signal of care.

Stay Positive & Caring Is Everything

I probably need to go back and edit a number of blog posts on the topics of asking others for help, finding mentors and coaches, and doing the reading before diving in.

AI tools like ChatGPT and Claude are here now.

Help is merely a prompt away. A friend is right there to help and there’s no excuse. It can be what you need it to be if you give it the right prompt.

These tools are helping people have better conversations with their significant others, colleagues, and bosses. They are helping them talk to others about pay raises, overcoming addiction, and apologizing.

Need mentoring around writing a novel? Ask it.

Want to understand the basics of Standard Accounting to help you sell software? Interact with ChatGPT or Claude.

People used to get away with not learning something because access was limited (not in the sense of it being available, but in it being easy to find). That’s gone now.

It’s more clear than ever before that if you want to advance in your (insert whatever matters to you here), help is merely a prompt away.

Stay Positive & Leveling Up Is On You

There’s an end before a legacy begins. A fin. Black screen. Done-zo.

How something is sunset counts for almost the entirety of the legacy regardless of the length of existence leading up to it.

There’s a distributor that I’m working with that I’ve heard is dissolving. They aren’t forwarding emails. My contacts are being let go. No communication has gone out. Orders placed are responded with questions of “which account are you?”

We’ve had a 5 year partnership and you can guess the interactions are leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

They could have a legacy worth sharing but I’m less keen on it right now.

The first most important strategic business move you can make is smartly entering a market. The second most important strategic business move is how you exist.

Stay Positive & No One Likes An Irish Goodbye

Here’s what no one tells you about danger: it shows you care.

It shows professionalism.

It signals intent of impact.

An uber driver that drives slow and patient may get you there, but I’d bet you’ll tip the one that goes a few MPH over the speed limit more.

The coworker who does exactly what they are supposed to is a great colleague to have. But a better one takes a little whack at doing what wasn’t asked.

The examples are endless. Dangerously endless.

Stay Positive & Live Dangerously (In Low Dosage)

Asking questions is underrated.

It’s not having answers that makes you stand out as much.

It’s not having answers that proves you the leader you are.

It’s not having answers that makes the work better.

No one ever says “Damn, I’m so happy you shared the answer.”

But they do say “Damn, I’m so happy you asked that question.”

Stay Positive & You Know What To Do