GarthBox

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

Photo credit

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

Photo credit

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

Photo credit

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

Photo credit

It’s not easy for us to know when another person is going through a crucial time in their life, their work or their relationships.

Yet, you’ll be subject to criticism for not seeing it. You’ll deal with the consequences, begrudgingly.

Who could blame you though, for tuning into your own life?

They can.

They will.

They need you to see them; to ask more questions and to listen more than talk.

It’s too damn easy to brush empathy off, but both parties hurt when we do.

 

Stay Positive & It’s Not Fair In Short, But It Is In The Long Run

Photo credit

Mind the gap, as in: pay attention to it, fill it, care for it.

In a world where it’s not worth competing on price or speed or size; what is it you’ll focus on?

Customer experience? Education? Flare? Connection? Philanthropy? Package design? Caring more?

There’s a lot of opportunity to differentiate yourself the more you think about it.

No need to race others to the bottom. Better to raise the bar.

 

Stay Positive & Mindful Of The Gap

Photo credit

A lot of time is spent on “free time” activities like video games, movies and hanging out. Some spend that time excessively to which they’re confronted–”Don’t you have anything better to do?”

But it’s hard to think of anything worse than time wasted by showing up to an event or meeting, but not actually being present. Your better off staying in bed and listening to the latest top 40.

If you’re going to show up, the best action you can take once there?

Be there. Fully. Presently. Wholly there.

 

Stay Positive & If You’re Not Showing, You’re Weighing People Down

Photo credit