GarthBox

Not a get together goes by that I don’t get my mind blown with a story someone shares.

A personal story. Something it had taken an hour or so (and maybe a beer or two) for them to be comfortable enough to share.

And time and time again, that story resonated either with me, with others in the group or even someone eavesdropping.

Once you put your story out there, it’s incredible how you can go from thinking you’re isolated, that you’re the only one who thought something or did something a particular way, to connecting with another (or an entire group) who has felt or acted the same.

There are more people out there like you than you think. So, what does this mean for you? Fight the comfort of keeping the truth to yourself.

You’re not only hurting yourself, but you’re doing equal damage to those who fear sharing their feelings in case those around them don’t feel the same. (You remember how good it felt when someone said “Really? Me too!”)

Alas, this has nothing to do with being an extrovert, but everything to do with realizing how easy it is for people to connect once a story is shared.

 

Stay Positive & I Dare You To Prove Me Wrong (Go Ahead, There’s A Comment Section Below)

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Three themes that continue to reoccur and place folks ahead of a project, of expectations, of others:

1) They bring more ideas. Then they refine those ideas, but still add more. No matter the industry, you’re in the idea business. Share them in every meeting and every email. Send ideas to departments you don’t work in, to your boss and to your friends and colleagues.

2) Don’t take anything personally. Don’t use your personality or the fact you put 20 hours into something that someone didn’t like as an excuse to feel terrible. Taking things personally doesn’t help you. In fact, it hurts you, often times so much so that you no longer put yourself out there. We need you out there.

3) Who you know matters. You can be an introvert with a huge network. Connecting with others is a decision, but it’s also an investment with a larger return than you could ever imagine. For every moment, attention, and care you give to someone new, it’s eventually returned two-fold.

 

Stay Positive & Take It Or Leave It

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Acting too soon definitely comes with a sting of pain now and again.

But no pain as great as that which one feels when they knew they should have done something …

but didn’t.

The pain of action is sort of like a pinch. It stays for a moment, but it’s easy to move on because you’ve already created momentum.

But the pain of inaction is a bruise that stays for quite some time and, despite all rationalism, often leads to more inaction.

Better to be too early than too late.

 

Stay Positive & Never Acting At All? Let’s Not Even Go There

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Forward. That’s the direction to go.

Do again that which you’re afraid to do again or that you flubbed at once–don’t backpedal.

Think of doing something once as a checkpoint. You wouldn’t go back to the starting line. The next checkpoint is closer to where you are now than where it would be if you backtracked to the start.

You’ve done what you needed to do, prepped what you needed to prep to get to the point of taking initial action.

The smartest action you take now is to do what you did again, and again, and again.

That’s the practice you need; not more time thinking about it.

 

Stay Positive & Practice Makes Perfect Practice

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If your prospect knew everything you know and felt everything you feel and understood every benefit of a product or service that you understand; then they’d be all in, right?

If yes, a logical response is to inform them up the wazzoo.

Now imagine a world where your prospect wished you knew everything they did, felt everything they did, understood every benefit of a product or service that they understand; would you be all in?

A logical response is to alter your product or service, the stories, what information you share and the feeling you invoke. It might mean going back on what you thought, admitting your wrong, telling someone no and, most importantly, becoming vulnerable.

Vulnerable, of course, is just another word for valuable. But you already knew that.

 

Stay Positive & Seeing Is Believing (But Who Is Doing The Seeing?)

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You’ve been using crutches you don’t need.

They aren’t even crutches to help you get back on your feet.

They’re crutches that prevent you from falling, flailing, and failing.

Some use their significant other as a crutch. “I can’t do X, I need to spend time with Y.”

Others use alcohol or they curb their self-esteem to prevent others from having the chance to.

The reality is: you don’t need the crutches. You’re preventing yourself from doing the work we need you to do when you use your crutches.

Turns out if it’s something that scares you, it’s something that’s worth doing.

What’s the point of being alive if you don’t try to do something remarkable, anyway?

 

Stay Positive & Crutch-Free

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If you’re an artist of any kind, let me share what your audience expects.

They expect your best.

They’re not hoping you’ll fail. They’re not waiting with bated breath for you to screw up. They’re not placing bets that your show will be an embarrassment.

They want you to succeed.

In fact, most audiences assume you already will. They’re simply watching to be part of that.

If you’re going to be hard in yourself, then you do that. But don’t think using your audience as a reason to cause frustration or pain or worry is worth it, because they’re not thinking or hoping what you think they are.

 

Stay Positive & People Want You To Succeed

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