GarthBox

You put a coat of primer on a wall before you paint it for a few reasons.

Namely, it makes the work of putting your true paint color on easier. There’s already a smooth surface, the wall doesn’t absorb as much which would otherwise force you to have to put on multiple coats of your true color.

Most primers even come with a tint of the color that you plan on actually making the wall, so it doesn’t quite matter if you want it to be an exotic orange or electric green. You won’t break your back by using a primer.

Same premise of primers can be applied to your work, too.

The more proactive you communicate and let people know the direction you’re taking things, the easier those things will actually set in.

If you go at it without a primer, you’ll likely end up having to put more work in than planned or have to change the color entirely because they don’t fancy it.

Stay Positive & Why Risk It?

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That’s how most remarkable work is made.

A deadline arrives, we hustle, we focus, we lose any baggage and get to work.

Then we deliver and have a moment to revel in the work we did. But wait, it looks like there’s something there that could be better! And so we fine-tune it.

Sorta makes the case for self-imposed deadlines, doesn’t it?

Stay Positive & If It Works, It Works

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In the email you wrote, how much value did you add?

Of all the emails you wrote, how many added value?

Of each person you drove by or called today, how many did you add value with?

The value add isn’t just for the sake of making something better.

Knowing you’ve added value makes you feel fulfilled.

And that’s a good feeling.

Stay Positive & Can You Add More Tomorrow Than Today?

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You can connect over a shared dream.

You can connect over sharing adjacent cubicles.

You can connect over a favorite brew.

But nothing will get you to connect on a deeper than level than over a mistake.

Vulnerability around a lesson both learned.

Of course, that requires you to open up about it to another, which can be hard to do.

Hard. But worth it.

Stay Positive & Connections Are Everything

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If you’re reading this, it’s likely you consider your options before making a decision. You want to know what is the best investment you can make around a situation. It’s natural.

But unnecessary.

We already know the best investment you can make is in people.

In your employees. In your friends. In your neighbors. In your customers.

More investment in them leads to more investment in you.

Not the other way around.

Stay Positive & Give, Then Give Some More

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Nothing is more likely to work than a vision that’s shared.

It doesn’t need to be owned by both or fully developed.

It doesn’t need to rule out alternatives or be written down.

But it does need to be shared.

And if someone doesn’t share your vision with you, there are two options.

Share their vision or find someone else to share yours with.

Stay Positive & Two Is Better Than One

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When something feels right, it’s often because it is.

And even when it’s not, it’s a learning experience.

Learning, after all, is probably as right as you can be, anyway.

Stay Positive & Eyes Wide Open

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