Letting Them Know

Proactive Communication

If you think about it, everything that can be done by a single person has already been done.

Everything new requires a team.

Whether you’re working close with a partner or you’re filling your significant other in (and getting some kind words of encouragement in return) at the end of the day, it’s a team effort.

While it can sometimes lead work to get stuck or set back, there’s no better action than you can take than to let them know (whoever “them” is for your project).

Alas, know that this is different than asking for permission or seeking reassurance prior to taking an action.

Better to let them know you’ve leaped, what you’ve done, what you’ve learned, what you’ve completed ahead of schedule, what you’re struggling with, what you fear and what excites you.

The more you let them know and the more they let you know, the more you can help each other.

Proactive communication is key.

Stay Positive & More (Communication) The Merrier

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Complete Disregard

Complete Disregard

The best reaction to a challenge you can have is to completely disregard.

Disregard the fear and anxiousness of diving in.

Disregard those who don’t think you can accomplish the task.

Disregard the external naysayers, and the internal one.

To have complete disregard is quite possibly the best way to not discount the work that needs to be done.

Responsibility can stay. The rest can be disregarded.

Stay Positive & In Kind Regards

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Intuition

Intuition

Intuition is often referred to as trusting your gut or a gut reaction.

But that reaction doesn’t come out of nowhere.

It comes from your observation of systematic results (read: patterns).

Intuition is an art in the sense of needing to have more experiences, but it’s a science in that the more we experience, the better we get at recognizing and reacting to problems without needing to think about them.

Stay Positive & All You Need Is More Practice

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What You Can’t Control

Impacting The Uncontrollable

The stuff that matters the most is often out of your control.

However, that’s not to say the best path forward is to focus your attention on something completely under your control, but away from what matters.

There are subtle ways you can influence the uncontrollable.

By showing up again and again, by being generous, by taking small steps you can make an impact that results in a win-win for you and what you can’t control.

Don’t be turned off by the difficulty or lack of immediate results, we need you to be in it for the long run.

Culture doesn’t change over night.

Stay Positive & It’s A Thankless Job (But Necessary)

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Outlines

Outlines

Outlines are scary.

Not in the difficulty of making them kind of way – that’s quite easy. What makes outlines scary is the responsibility one has to deliver on an outline once it’s shared.

To make an outline means you have a plan and you can’t use the easy excuse of not having direction to hide from doing the work.

Outlines are necessary, though. We can never get to where we’re going if we don’t know where to go, which direction or how quickly we ought to get there.

What has always helped me is knowing that I can change the outline along the way. You’re not locked in with an outline, but you are accountable for seeing one through in one way or another.

Stay Positive & Line By Line

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Setting The Tone

Setting The Tone

Every room we walk in, every word we write, every interaction we have, we also have the responsibility of setting the tone around it.

The energy we bring into the work or the meeting is why people show up (on time).

When we authentically show up, as only we can, the attitude of others shifts because they feel comfortable, a sense of belonging, if you can be yourself, then they can be themselves.

Not only does the tone matter, the responsibility to set it is always there.

Always.

Stay Positive & Monitor The Tone

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Realistically

Being Realistic

Being realistic backs you into a corner you can’t do remarkable work from or engage with others in a meaningful way.

Many use realism as a way to hide from big ideas, from things that might not work.

Realistically speaking, we could always be more realistic. We could hide more, undersell the idea further and cut things entirely.

The alternative is to bring bigger, bolder ideas that carry an energy of determination, optimism and passion.

Better to err on the side of more than less, because you might just get it and encourage others to bring the same mentality forward.

When we opt for less –for what’s “realistic”– we might just get that, too.

Stay Positive & Better To Stretch Than Be Sorry

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