GarthBox

A friend once wrote to me years ago asking for my thoughts on the use of “what if” statements.

The answer I have now is much better than the one I gave back then.

It’s very simple.

If the “what if” statement makes you feel good or better or smart… then it’s okay to use it.

What if your project works?

What if people give you a standing ovation?

What if you hit a road bump in your timeline? What then?

For some (you?), it’s best to remove the “what if” statement from your vocabulary because the default setting is to consider worst case scenarios until you scare yourself to stand back.

What ifs are an easy way to voice your dreams, motivate yourself, and keep you feeling good about your next decision… if you let it.

 

Stay Positive & What If You Moved Forward No Matter What?

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It doesn’t take much for people to shrug off your story.

Here are some common traps company messaging can fall into:

• Setting high expectations and under-delivering
• Building a customer list instead of trust with customers
• Making the same commitments as competitors
• Hoping to make a splash instead of drip, drip, drip
• Trying to be all things to all people
• Confusing the brand feeling
  (you can’t be reserved and spritzy at the same time, yet many companies try)
• Being quiet is better than putting ourselves out there
• Add your own in the comments section?

 

Stay Positive & A Good Story Is A Bridge Over All These Pitfalls

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The best assignment you can ever be given is to try more  ____.

Try more intros to a story. Try more types of coffee grounds. Try more ways to show your significant other you care.

After all, the best smarts come from those with the most experiences.

 

Stay Positive & Just Try

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You will continue to struggle and suffer if you take everything anyone says personally.

True power is either in leveraging that emotion or ignoring it all together to focus on the next logical step, not emotional one.

 

Stay Positive & Respond Not React

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They’re likely not on the web.

They’re not in your office.

Nor are they back at your home.

The insights you’re missing are ones only learned in the wild, out there with the customer, with the prospects. Perhaps the lessons are even with other experts in your industry, your competitors or your partners.

One thing is for sure: The only way to get the insights you’re missing is to get out there, talk to people, ask questions, survey, probe, test, solicit feedback, give…

 

Stay Positive & What Are You Gonna Do, Just Stand There?

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You spend countless hours fretting over product copy.

You’ve got to describe it perfectly. Evoke emotion. Tell your story. Give the facts like height and price. Acknowledge how it relates to the current trend in society. Say how it will benefit the user. And so on.

In pursuit of writing the perfect copy, you forget exactly what you’re writing about: a gift.

And the best way to learn how to write about a gift is to give it to someone, in person, in that moment and to write from that feeling, write from the words you exchange, write from what the recipient of the gift does next.

To write the best copy, you’ve got to get out of the chair, out from behind a screen and experience the impact the product has, not just what you want it to have.

 

Stay Positive & Write From The Heart

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An interesting moment occurred during a board game that a friend was playing for the first time.

Unable to make up his mind on the next move to make, he said, “Dang. I’ll just do this and we’ll see what happens.”

It’s easy to see make this choice when it’s a board game. Of course you have to see what happens so you know for next time. It’s a learning experience and it’s easy to pre-forgive yourself for potentially making the wrong move because next time, you’ll make a smarter one.

It’s not always easy to take this approach with your muse… Once the decision becomes personal, it becomes difficult to forgive yourself in advance for potentially making a poor choice.

But why don’t you anyway?

 

Stay Positive & Life Is A Game (Treat It More Like One)

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