Why Try To Get Out Of Your Box, When You Can Use What's In It?
It feels uncomfortable.
Someone mentions it probably won’t work.
It’s not in your job description.
You feel the need to search for reassurance.
People start asking tougher questions.
You start worrying more about failure.
Little voice inside your head says you’re not good enough.
You realize how much you don’t know.
Shame makes an appearance.
Vulnerability, too.
Stay Positive & Keep Going
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Just about any project you could ever work on could be considered a work in progress.
It’s something that can break tomorrow and something that could take off.
When we begin to see all work as work in progress, we let go of the status-satisfying need to win, to get there first, to call something done.
(Alas, that doesn’t mean don’t ship you’re work. Ship it when it’s good enough and then keep shipping better versions. People love to see the progress.)
The idea of it being a work in progress is emotionally freeing. It gives you permission to suck, to stretch and to ask for help.
Turns out, a work in progress doesn’t quite feel like work.
Stay Positive & Keep Building Better
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Today is different from yesterday.
And drastically different from five years ago.
At some point, the world becomes so different that it’s time to decide to do something different and not hang on to status quo.
It’s not saying what you decided to do was wrong, either. What you were doing might have been right back then, but that was back then and this is now.
Trouble occurs when we put more energy into defending choices we made in the past, to upholding our status or keeping things the same because they have become easy. That’s when we get stuck and that’s when we begin to lose the tribe we built by being bold and making a new decision in the first place.
The world changes. We need you to be bold enough to change with it.
Stay Positive & Check Back Again Tomorrow, Things Might Be Different
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Consider the restaurant owner who is opening her first business. She subscribes to every trade publication. She joins the restaurant association and a few restaurant owner online social groups. She buys a ticket for trade show in California and signs up for a restaurant owner mastermind group with international restaurant owners.
This restaurant owner is becoming part of a tribe.
Consider the restaurant owner who gets involved in a handful of neighborhood associations near her venue. She subscribes to all the local newspapers. She joins a kickboxing association and a stand up paddle boarding group. She’s active on a handful of the city’s Facebook groups. She also goes around to area schools and demonstrates different cooking techniques.
This restaurant owner is leading a tribe.
Stay Positive & We Need You To Do Both
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The work often reflects the space in which you do it.
Have an organized space? You’ll tend to prioritize better and deliver more thorough work.
Have a creative space? You’ll tend to push the edges of innovation.
Have a messy space? You’ll tend to generate ideas all over the place.
It’s worth considering all the areas you invest your time. Your office, your desk, your phone. How can you tweak the space to better reflect the kind of work you want to create in it.
Clutter is effective, if it’s in the right place. Same with an OCD-type set up.
Just make sure you’re using the tendency of reflection to your advantage.
Stay Positive & Set Yourself Up For Success
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Two elements make for some fantastic work.
People (you) do remarkable when they thrash. You know, the surge of focused energy you have moments before a deadline–that’s thrashing. Fortunately for us, we can set our own deadlines.
People (you) also do remarkable work when they’re passionate about it. You know, that combined feeling of difficult and ease–that’s the sweet spot. Fortunately for us, we can choose our passion.
If you’re concerned about the quality of work you’re doing (or if you’re wasting time on other unnecessary things *ahem* procrastinating), tighten your delivery window and pick up your passion.
Stay Positive & Get At It
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Slack is a good thing.
Works in your favor when you’re fishing.
Works in your favor when you’re building furniture.
Works in your favor when a coworker makes a mistake.
Stay Positive & Give Yourself Some Slack
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