GarthBox

Reactions are the worst.

They’re built in an untimely manner, they’re forced, and solely fueled by the lizard brain.

Reactions, at their best, are distractions.

Distractions from listening, from caring, from having empathy.

For better to have a response than a reaction.

And you need only a moment to pause, put yourself in their shoes and to show you have empathy.

Reactions are defensive. Responses are helpful.

Reactions draw a line between you and another.

Responses have you stepping onto their side, connecting and working it through together.

 

Stay Positive & Count To Three

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This is my 2,517th blog post.

I’ve written a lot that I didn’t like (probably still don’t) and some I do.

But that’s not the point. The point is to show up because that’s the only way to find inspiration, to meet your muse and to create something meaningful.

More important than the output is the input.

Sitting in the chair every day. Reflecting on the day before or what’s ahead or who you saw struggling lately and how you can help.

It’s the method of forcing thoughts into words–hopefully understandable ones.

What’s special about 2,517 blog posts isn’t the quantity; it’s the act of showing up so many times.

Whatever your muse, it doesn’t matter who reads it, pays for it, subscribes to it or shares it.

Paint. Write. Read. Sing. Draw. Play. Share. Ideate.

By all means, keeping showing up.

We need you to.

 

Stay Positive & Drip Drip Drip

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Crazy ideas are only crazy for a certain amount of time.

They’re definitely crazy when they’re first thought of and shared with others.

They’re still crazy when they start to become a reality.

And the first to experience the crazy idea? They think it’s crazy, too.

Eventually, though, it ceases to be a crazy idea.

Instead, everyone’s saying “Of course it’s this way, why would it be any other way?”

 

Stay Positive & Are You Willing To Take Your Crazy Idea There?

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There are strong ties.

Namely, family, best friends and close coworkers.

Then there are weak ties.

Namely, friends who you’d stop to say hi to if you saw them out and about, folks who you could ask a small favor without any guilt, and people who feel comfortable to ask you for a small favor.

Then there are the weakest ties.

Namely, Facebook friends, people you say “I know them” out in public, but you don’t say hi, and those who you could ask a favor of, but never will.

Look around. How many weakest ties do you see?

 

Stay Positive & There’s Only One Logical Thing To Do With’em

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Attention is far easier to maintain when you’re clear about the intention.

The beauty about focusing on the motivation for doing the work is that each step you take, you enjoy a moment of accomplishment. It’s almost as if you get a bite of the celebratory cake early and often.

Which explains why there are people (like me) who have trouble celebrating projects at the end and quickly jump to the next thing; we’ve dispersed our massive celebration throughout the life of the project.

 

Stay Positive & Whatever It Takes

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The beauty about online feedback on products and services is that it takes a few bad reviews to actually turn someone off.

Every focus group I’ve analyzed, everyone says that they take bad reviews with a grain of salt.

Some people are simply pissed off when they review. Others give a bad review regarding a part of the product that doesn’t really matter. Others just give bad reviews to be funny.

You can work really hard to get fewer bad reviews; but they’re going to happen.

Even if you were to try bribing people not to leave a bad review, they’ll leave the money on the table and go write a bad review. It’s just what they do.

Better to focus on what can get you more good reviews, because it only takes people one good review to feel the reassurance they need to hit the “one-click buy.”

 

Stay Positive & Work For The Stamp Of Approval

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The lowliest position doesn’t matter.

The wage they make doesn’t matter.

Who they work with doesn’t matter.

A passionate person doesn’t let anything get in the way of others knowing that they’re passionate.

Everything from design to quality to lighting can add to the passion, but bottom line is that the passion is still noticed, still appreciated, and all too rare to come by these days.

That means one of the best actions a leader can take is to nurture the passion, to teach all there is to appreciate about a product or service and to ignite devotion.

Love is a skill.

 

Stay Positive & Train it

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