GarthBox

But it’s not boring to the customer that’s there for the first time.

It’s not boring to the person who stopped by four months ago and wanted to see if you were doing what you said you were going to do.

It’s not boring to the investors who bought into the idea that you’d do one thing and you’d do it remarkably day after day.

Nor is it boring to those in your industry who see your competitors pivot every quarter, who don’t live up to their values every day and who go back on their promises when the going gets rough.

 

Stay Positive & Consistency Is Vital

Photo credit

The edge of exceptions is where heroes are made… and where businesses go to fail.

It’s a risky space with an upward tick and a downward spiral.

It’s where you’ve got to make decisions that the manual doesn’t advise you on. It’s where you either uphold your values or set them aside. It’s where you go the extra mile or you cut a corner.

 

Stay Positive & What’ll It Be? What Will You Decide?

Photo credit

Relying on data to make your next move is the lazy way of decision-making.

It plays to the short run, the immediate gratification of having a form of assurance around your next step.

Data, the way it’s often used, gets you to conform at the same time that it stops you from seeing why you started something in the first place (to make a human impact).

Long form data, though, the kind you can’t measure on a weekly basis–that’s important data. It’s the type of data that you can look at and feel what’s working and what’s not; There’s no need for a spreadsheet formula.

Data that’s even more important? Words. The ones your target uses online and off, what they say to their parents and to their friends considering a similar investment. Those words are much more insightful than whether or not the logo works better in the top left corner or bottom right.

What I’m getting at is that if you’re in something for the long haul, to have a real impact, to change the status quo, then you better be measuring for that.

 

Stay Positive & The Rest Is Just Distraction

Photo credit

If you want to grow, get better, beat out the competition then you need someone who is willing to push back on your ideas, someone to challenge you, someone to get you thinking about your business differently than how you currently see it.

If you don’t have someone to play devil’s advocate, it’s time to assign ’em.

 

Stay Positive & No, It Can’t Be You

Photo credit

The more larger projects you take on, the more you’re often inclined to spread yourself thin, to pivot from one project to another in hopes of advancing on all together.

The thing about pivoting, though, is that you stay standing in one spot.

Prioritize your large project, move forward with it until it’s either complete or the momentum you’ve built is unstoppable–Only then does it make sense to give another large project your attention.

 

Stay Positive & Pivoting Holds You Back

Photo credit

…and know that eventually that excitement will wane.

You’ll get disappointed because you worked so hard in that space and don’t want to leave it, but that something else that came along and stole your attention and excitement? That’s called the edge.

It’s fine to leave things behind. It’s fine to switch. It’s fine to follow the excitement.

The longer you stay in one space, the further the edge gets from you, and the edge is where all the fun is at.

 

Stay Positive & Keep Moving

Photo credit

Remember the first time you got sunburn last year? The human race is a forgetful bunch.

Consider this: How many actions will you take this year for the first time without remembering what you learned from doing it for the first time last year? Or the year before?

There’s a reason consistency is key to success and science points us to the fact that we lose the muscle memory we gained after seven days of not practicing our craft.

If you’re making the same mistakes on something you consider to be a passion of yours, it might be time to choose a different passion.

Writers write. Wine critics swish and spit. Basketball players shoot free throws… daily.

 

Stay Positive & You Remember What Matters By Doing, Persistently And Consistently

Photo credit