GarthBox

Not everything you do can make you feel better or more fulfilled in the day.

Some of it, however, is done to prevent feeling worse later.

(Ever wonder why procrastination doesn’t actually feel good? It’s the emotional reaction of future regret.)

It has been a bit since I’ve read Daniel Pink’s The Power of Regret, but I highly recommend it. As a result, I’ve been able to actually feel a bit better each day by doing the things that don’t quite make me feel fulfilled in and of themselves, but I now acknowledge the power doing it has over the reduced feeling of future regret.

It’s a bit of a game, really. We’re all playing whether we want to or not.

Stay Positive & Your Turn

When people say that your word is everything; that they put all their trust in your word; maybe even a non-verbal word (handshake, for example) what they are actually doing is trusting the action of your word.

I’ve found that I have a better experience with others when I switch out “you have my word” for “I promise I’ll do X” because it’s the X that actually matters. The doing. The did. The done.

Here’s the thing about words: when they don’t work out for ourselves, they’re pretty easy to discard.

“Yea, sorry.” More words.

Truth be told… words are only as powerful as the actions that follow. No action = no power.

Stay Positive & Words Matter, But What Matters More…..

A little suffering is a good thing.

So is a little tension.

A little frustration.

All the emotions we’d dub as bad, are actually good in light moderation; if used in conjunction with other emotions; if understood as controllable.

Next time you notice the emotion, it might be better to appreciate it for what it is.

Stay Positive & Do Not Feed The Animal, Though

Only a few people may want that widget in pink, but those few may be the loudest.

Consider a remarkable worker. If you look at their priorities, then you’ll see they are atypical, unfamiliar, non-standard.

If you’re marketing to some (as opposed to all/most), then you have to think about the few.

The few options you make available. The few priorities you have. The few ways that can make a difference.

Stay Positive & Fewer Is Better

Studies have shown and people like David Pink have written books about it: you will feel more fulfilled during the week by writing down your goals for it and you’ll accomplish more of them more of the time simply by sharing them with someone else.

What I fail to see on many peoples goals lists:

• Learn three new things
• Give an extra 10% after feeling something is finished
• Tell ten people you appreciate them

Tracking your progress works at work, but it can work outside work, too, if we’re willing to document and measure.

Stay Positive & Measure The Unmeasurable

Do things happen and then you smile?

Or do you smile at things and then they happen?

Lucky for us, we can choose the order.

Stay Positive & Smile On

Safe to assume we’ve both had no shortage of awkward moments and interactions.

For the life of me though, I couldn’t recall more than a couple.

Safe to assume you’re in the same spot, too.

Yet it’s interesting how we let the feeling of potential awkwardness or the actual awkwardness itself stop us from taking actions.

Was it awkward standing next to people I didn’t know at a happy hour waiting to be introduced and then I wasn’t so I had to introduce myself while they carried their conversation forward. Sure. Awkward. But they don’t remember it – and I only did because I started writing about the idea.

Seems to me like there’s much better things to stop us from taking impactful actions or making connections.

Stay Positive & Road Hump, Not Block (No One Remembers Driving Over Those Either. Awkward.)