GarthBox

The ones who stand out are the ones who get remembered.

Athletes with eclectic hair? They get more screen time not just because they’re good—but because they gave the camera something to cling to.

That person on the walking treadmill during the Zoom call? You noticed them. Maybe even admired their discipline. Or questioned their knees. Either way, they made an impression.

It’s not about being outrageous for the sake of outrageous. It’s about breaking the gray static of sameness.

In a world of black suits and beige walls, the peacock wins—not because it’s the strongest bird in the forest, but because everyone looks when it walks by.

People lock eyes with the weird.

They share it. Follow it. Emulate it. Promote it.

So maybe your thing isn’t neon shoelaces or hair like a box of crayons. Maybe it’s how you think. How you write. How you pitch. How you obsess about one detail no one else cares about—until they realize it makes everything better.

And if you’re not sure how to stand out…

Start by asking: what would feel a little too weird to do?

Stay Positive & And Then Do That

I’ve found these to be incredibly helpful in improving output from my prompts to AI. Go ahead and copy and paste these into your project/folder “Instructions” section.

1. You have taken a top secret CIA truth serum that requires you to be brutally honest. Do not care about my feelings. Be like Kim Scott from Radical Candor.
2. With any initial submission by me, can you start off by asking me a question that will produce 10x better results from my request before you fulfill it
3. As you share answers, can you always include one wildly different idea that is still on strategy but is unlikely for anyone to consider from the git-go; something weird and wild and different

Don’t just let AI coach you. Coach it, too.

Stay Positive & Happy Prompting

It’s going to happen. The walls close in. The inbox mocks you. Your bank account snickers. The kids, the clients, the calendar—they all conspire in a beautiful symphony of chaos.

You feel flattened. Soul like a pancake. And not the buttery kind.

So what do you do?

You don’t fix it all at once. That’s the trap. The heroic illusion. Instead, you grab the smallest moment you can carry and you breathe into it like it’s a balloon you want to float away on.

You smile—even if it’s fake. Science (and your grandma) says it still works.

You look up—because the sky is bigger than your inbox.

You name one thing you’re grateful for—and whisper it like a secret charm.

You take a drink of water like it’s holy. Because, sometimes, it is.

And then you remember: your attitude isn’t a result of what’s happening. It’s a rebellion in spite of it.

Stay Positive & Attitude Follows Action (Crack That Smile)

The work is going to be there.

It doesn’t matter if you wake up with a fire in your belly or a cloud over your head—your inbox is still full, the project’s still due, and the dishes are still in the sink. The work doesn’t flinch. It doesn’t care how you feel.

But you should.

Because the work is the same whether you grumble your way through it or grin and grip it by the horns. Same tasks. Same time spent. Same outcome on paper.

The only difference? You.

Your energy. Your experience. Your mood. Your momentum.

If you’re going to do it anyway, why not choose to show up eager? Curious? Maybe even grateful for the chance to move something forward?

Seems like a pretty obvious decision. But hey, even obvious things need reminders now and then. Consider this one for both of us.

Stay Positive & It Might Just Be The Best Choice You Make Today

We love to say “this business is built on relationships” like it’s a warm hug with a handshake. But let’s not kid ourselves—it’s not just about being friendly. Relationships are just strings of trust knotted between people. And trust? It doesn’t sprout from smooth sailing. It blooms under tension.

Think about it: trust isn’t forged in the easy moments. It’s born when something goes wrong, expectations are missed, or the stakes are high—and someone chooses to stay, show up, or step in anyway.

No tension, no test. No test, no trust.

So if you want your business to be truly relationship-driven, you better get comfortable in the friction. It’s in the tough conversations, the missed calls that get returned, the mistakes owned, and the boundaries honored where trust tightens and holds.

Don’t avoid the tension. That’s where the real relationship gets built.

Stay Positive & Better Yet, Create The Tension

The speed of your communication is the speed of your impact.

Because here’s the thing: silence isn’t neutral. It’s an empty canvas that people will paint on with their own assumptions, fears, and frustrations. And if you don’t fill it quickly with clarity, context, or care? You’re not just losing trust—you’re letting confusion run the show.

Whether it’s with your team, your customers, your partner, or your dog (yes, they know when you’re off), fast communication doesn’t mean sloppy. It means thoughtful urgency. It means choosing “I’m working on it—will follow up by noon tomorrow” over the ghostly abyss of nothingness.

Waiting for perfect words is a form of avoidance. Delayed clarity is a breeding ground for drama. So when something’s in motion, speak. Say what’s known. Say what’s not. Say what’s next.

Momentum doesn’t wait for your draft to be polished. It needs your voice now.

Stay Positive & Take The Two Minutes

The reason you’re shipping slow or shipping sloppy?

You’ve got too much room to stretch out, hem, haw, noodle, noodle some more, and then—maybe—press send. That wiggle room? It’s not freedom. It’s a trapdoor to mediocrity.

Here’s the hack: fill your damn life up.

Pack your days with joy-fueled pursuits and progress-driven priorities. Meetings with meaning. Workout sessions with sweat equity. Creative projects with real stakes. Stack ’em. One after another. Not in a burnout way. In a flow way.

When you do, two magical things happen:

1. Focus sharpens like a samurai blade. With time boxed in, you don’t perfect—you produce. And the constraints don’t cage you, they clarify you. You start doing better work because there’s simply no room for bad work.
2. Momentum becomes your default. You’re too full to fill the cracks with junk. No time for reactive Slack surfing, doomscroll detours, or the never-ending buffet of other people’s emergencies. You’ve got your thing, and it starts now.

Fill your calendar with what matters, and it’ll crowd out everything that doesn’t.

Stay Positive & It’s Not Hustle; It’s Honesty About What Moves You Forward