GarthBox

It doesn’t take much energy to complain. But over time, that energy certainly adds up.

Role-playing here, if you took all that time someone complained, do you think they could have impacted the thing they are complaining about?

And because, dear reader, you’re unlikely to be the one complaining… a question for you.

Do you think you could have impacted the thing they are complaining about with all the time you’ve invested in them listening? Or given them actions to take the moment they start complaining?

It can be easy to shrug it off as their problem because it is. But lest we forget that we can have everything we want if we help enough others get what they want.

Stay Positive & What If, For The Sake Of Role-playing, You Did Make Their Problem Yours?

Is the drama you bring.

Drama can’t be given, it can only be produced.

Implying that it’s a choice.

“They didn’t hold up their end.”

“I’m getting crushed and thrown in a bunch of directions.”

“No one is available to help.”

^ those are statements that build the drama.

v alternatives that make you look like the professional you are.

“Next time we’ll bring him into the meeting sooner.”

“What do you need my #1 priority to be.”

“We need two people. I have one locked in. Can you help me get the second?”

If you’re rambling, heart is racing, pointing blame, frazzled… you’re creating drama.

The alternative is a choice you can make at any time.

Stay Positive & The Calm That’s There Is The Calm You Bring

There’s a floor broom at a restaurant. It has been there for four years. It doesn’t look pretty; some of the fabric on it is torn, but it works.

When should they replace it?

The answer actually has a lot less to do with the broom and more to do with the people using it (or, often the case, not using it).

If it’s not getting used during service because of the optics of guests… if it’s not getting used by staff because they think all its doing is dragging four-year-old-dirt around on the floor… if it’s not getting used simply because its perceived as old/broke/unsanitary…

The magic of buying a new car is that people treat it like they just bought a new car. Same for a house and other big purchases.

Let’s not fall into the trap of thinking that only applies to the big purchases, though.

It behooves many a leader to purchase something new regardless if it’s broke or not.

Stay Positive & Look Around, See Anything That Works But Needs Replacing?

I’ve always been a fan of going first.

I was the first to raise my hand when the opportunity arose in school. The first to graduate college in my family. The first to speak in a meeting or participate in a game or pitch an idea.

There are two reasons why.

The first is that someone has to go first. There’s no denying that.

The second will sound selfless at first, but I’d argue it’s equally as selfish: it makes it easier for everyone else after. They either learn what to avoid by my mistake or they can build off the success and make it better. Either way, the followers win.

(Of course, the selfish part of this is that 99% of the time if I started with a mistake, no one remembers it but if I start with a success and set the bar high, everyone remembers it. I’m still not sure why this rings true; perhaps a blog post to ruminate on the future.)

Stay Positive & If You’re Not First….

There’s not a product or service that won’t benefit from this in the long run if they can invest in it short-term.

It’s better than a BOGO. It’s better than a freebie. It’s better than direct mail and digital advertising.

The reason it’s better?

Because there’s a single requirement to making it work (aside from the funds to offer it): you have to create a remarkable experience… as in, an experience that the user/buyer wants to make remarks about.

If that’s the case, they benefit twice when they buy from you. They get what you’re offering and they get the status bump of gifting that remarkable experience to someone else.

If the get one, give one doesn’t work, it’s because you’re coming up short on remarkability.

Stay Positive & It’s The Connection Economy, After All

A little prep on Sunday night before going into the work week goes a long way toward making Monday, well, not feel like a Monday.

A little note of appreciation to your significant other goes a long way to ensuring they feel seen, and, well, appreciated.

A little bit of money tucked away each month goes a long way to putting more down on a big project you’re bound to take on down the road.

Perhaps… just perhaps… the long way is made up entirely of a little of this and a little of that.

Stay Positive & Don’t Let The Big Stuff Distract You

We have plenty of fillers and meaningless words in our language.

“um” and “really” and “right?” are a few.

Doesn’t it make you wonder if there are meaningless actions we take, too?

Stay Positive & What’s The “So” Equivalent?