GarthBox

I grew up being told not to go to someone with a problem and without a possible solution to it.

At minimum, this works better than going to someone with a problem and without a solution.

Better yet, is to go with questions. Questions about the problem. Questions about solutions.

Sometimes you may be able to think of the one greatest solution to the problem, but often it’s one mediocre solution, a solution that could be made better if you had asked the right questions and gotten others with a variety of experience involved.

There will always be someone better than you.

Why not seek them out, ask questions and arrive at a better solution?

 

Stay Positive & Or Is It An Ego Thing?

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Two minutes can save you hours.

Two minutes can save you dollars.

Two minutes can save the trust others have in you.

It often takes only two minutes to read the email again before you hit send. Two minutes to walk away and reenter a room with a clear mind. Two minutes to double-check your math. Two minutes to send an email expressing your appreciation for something a colleague did. Two minutes to breathe some life into your work. Two minutes to come up with a better word.

Two minutes here and there add up… but not as much as not using them subtracts from your growth, your impact and your chances of success.

 

Stay Positive & It’s Not A Waste, It’s An Investment

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There’s a healthy kind of pressure and a not-so-healthy kind we regularly put on ourselves.

The latter is the pressure to succeed, to be perfect, to over-achieve, to bite off more than one can chew, to live up to someone else’s expectations, to prove someone else wrong, to be flawless, to get the most eyeballs or to check a box.

That kind of pressure destroys people.

It kills motivation, it depletes willpower, and it puts an ugly twist on passion.

Simply put, the healthier type of pressure is about doing.

It’s about trying your best, building off past experiences, coming to terms with knowing that you can only create something as great as the information and experience you have up to this point; it’s about trying because you only fail when you don’t, it’s about proving yourself right, doing what you love, and knowing that next time will be better…and there will be a next time.

These two types of pressure feel drastically different, but we often ignore one.

 

Stay Positive & What Do You Say We Stop Ignoring It And Start Changing It?

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Thinking goes that if you’re the first in a market then you’re guaranteed success.

There’s no sense in opening a coffee shop two blocks from Starbucks or selling T-shirts from the back of your car when an average consumer passes 15 retail stores a day.

As I often like to say, if you think that, then you’ve thought wrong.

There are billions of markets. Small and large. There are neighborhood markets, city markets and, certainly, markets of one (you?). Markets are often unpredictable because if one has always purchased Starbucks, that doesn’t mean they will always purchase Starbucks. The story they want to hear (and tell themselves) tomorrow may be different from today.

They may be inspired by a friend to try something local for a change tomorrow and then you’ve got your shot. Now you have a consumer you never planned for, never thought you would have because you weren’t first in the market.

The stories and motivations people have change, and rapidly.

Likewise, the stories people tell one another are told at the fastest rate they’ve ever been told. Brand conversion is now often an invitation to brag about it, on social, to other friends, to coworkers. And suddenly, your market is looking bigger.

Until the story changes again. And it will.

 

Stay Positive & Will You Be Ready?

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The economy has changed.

We’re expected to open doors.

The more we open, the more rewarded we are.

What door are you opening?

 

Stay Positive & If There’s A Line, Why Try Budging? Why Not Just Open Another Door?

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You can be irrational by picking up the phone on the first ring, showing up before anyone else, creating a product only a few are ready for, and using all your savings to pursue your dream.

Or… or you can compete with those who are.

 

Stay Positive & Which Will It Be?

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I toured a businesses establishment yesterday and listened to one of the founders tell the story of her and her husband’s business.

It went in this order: Date they pursued their dreams, how they got the funding, their philosophy for being in business and how they’re acting on that philosophy.

It was a short story. No longer than 5 minutes.

After, guests were going up to her complimenting her on the philosophy.

It made me wonder: How many loyalists did she just create?

It’s also worth noting that when she shared how she’s acting on the philosophy, she also shared how she has very little respect for other businesses that don’t hold a similar philosophy. She not only defined who the “insiders” were, but distinctly showcased who the “outsiders” were.

Have you?

 

Stay Positive & Own Your Philosophy

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