GarthBox

I’ve stepped into a number of breweries and brew pubs that have nailed it with the decor.

Their social media is on point and engaging.

Their staff is excellent.

But… you guessed it, their beer was sub par.

Too many entrepreneurs and marketers-alike focus on creating a buzz instead of directing their attention on what matters first.

If you boiled your business down to the one thing that must work for it to exist, survive, grow; What is it?

Are you doing everything to make that one thing remarkable first?

 

Stay Positive & First Things First

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You don’t need to come up with an idea that’s out of this world.

The majority of ideas any one person can come up with have already been done.

That’s not a bad thing. Quite the opposite.

The truth about ideas is that while it’s difficult to come up with new ones, it’s often easy (or at least easier) to make current ideas better.

Yea, that book you’re thinking of writing? Someone has already published one just like it. Instead of wondering what else you can write about, why not question what you could do to make your book better than theirs?

Think of everyone who has played a well-known song on the piano, shouldn’t they all be famous? Or is it how they perform, the emotion they put into it, the care that makes the difference?

 

Stay Positive & Better Is The New New

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Our egos makes it easy for us to admit that we’re needed.

Certainly you can think of someone who can use the information or a skill you have.

What’s more humbling is that they have something you don’t.

If you want to connect, set your ego aside to

1. discover what they know that you don’t and
2. learn from them.

There’s not a teacher in the world that’s not also a student.

 

Stay Positive & You’re In Need Too

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Each year, recap or team pow wow, people leave with holistically productive intentions.

Yet, as time wanes on, those intentions become funneled, they fall out of sight and the work that gets done is only the work that’s directly on one’s plate.

I’ve found that the best way to uphold those intentions (and subsequently erase the path to hell that’s often paved with them) is to keep as many items top of mind as possible.

You can do this by setting calendar reminders, daily, weekly or monthly (anything beyond monthly ceases to be kept top of mind). You can print out a list of what you want to focus on and hang it up in the bathroom and read them while you brush your teeth. You can save a document in your Dropbox or Evernote and read it every Monday morning before the start of the work week.

The possibilities are endless, but it’s this method of keeping content top of mind that keeps you acting on your good intentions.

 

Stay Positive & This Year’s Got Nothin’ On You

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When launching a new project, you can be quick to sprint, but it usually bites you in the ass because first expectations are tough to shake.

Launch a blog and write daily, followers will expect that in the future, and when you stop writing daily because it’s not really you–those who followed you will stop.

Create an Instagram account for your photos and pay a 3rd party service to like and comment others’ posts for you? Well, you’ll build your following quick, but you’ll be judged by the work you put out there and the frequency of it.

A business that churns out content, but only sends out one newsletter each quarter–well, that’s simply a disconnect.

Don’t worry about being everywhere all the time. Be there when you have something to say. Be there when it matters to those watching, waiting for you to show up and say “Hey, I made this.”

Reputation is simply about consistency of how and when you show up. Are you doing now what you will be doing five weeks, five months, five years from now? We hope.

 

Stay Positive & Reputation Is A Long Haul

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Whoever said the highway was the worse of the two options?

Of course, it’s the worse choice to the one proposing it. Who wouldn’t like it their way? But that’s beside the point.

Anything worth doing is worth doing again and again, implying there’s a long haul of sorts. Synonymous: long ride, marathon, endeavor, and yes–taking the highway.

It’s less crowded than you think.

 

Stay Positive & You’re Driving

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Anything you do is contagious to a degree.

Clean your work space and get rid of odd and old knick-knacks and I’d put money on your partner or colleague then doing the same.

Have you noticed that when you arrive home happy, that your significant other tends to then be happy? And when you show up frustrated and curt, they mirror your emotions?

How about standing up for something you believe in, or speaking up about the work culture and what you hope it would be? Have you noticed that more workers within the company soon become more comfortable with sharing their views too?

Be the choir and you’ll never have to preach.

Understanding that what you say, do, or feel is contagious also makes for a remarkable gut check. Would you want those around you to say, do or feel what you’re about to? If the answer is yes. Say it. Do it. Feel it.

 

Stay Positive & We Need You To

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