GarthBox

Bethany fuels her writing by connecting with different organizations, traveling, attending various events, and generously collaborating with individuals in her space.

Many times we fool ourselves into thinking that if we do the writing then the organizations will reach out, we’ll be able to travel, we’ll be invited to events and people will want to work with us.

The writing, the pictures, the sharing matters, but the doing, connecting, and getting out there matters more. It fuels the rest of our art.

 

Stay Positive & Stop Hiding (What Are You Chicken?)

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Fear prevents us from doing, trying, creating so much.

I often read and write about how if we could just overcome the fear then we could get to the work that matters, we can start creating art that makes a difference. As easy as it might sound to do after you let go of the fear, I don’t believe it is.

The main reason is a lack of imagination or the mental drive to picture something better than what already is.

You might have to get past fear to start writing a book, but to write a remarkably successful book, one must imagine a book that’s better than what is already out there.

Once we believe in something better can exist, then all we have to do is answer the call.

 

Stay Positive & Stop Settling

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There are two ways to react and one way to respond…

1) Prove them wrong. Use your anger, hate, logic, power, authority to break them down. Snap back and make them regret ever doubting you.

2) Prove yourself right. Rush to triple check your facts. Go back to research, find a new angle, support yourself for your own sake. Your self-esteem is on the line here.

3) Prove there’s more to uncover. Good, you made a statement, now go study the unknown and make another statement. As Bernadette Jiwa writes, “The act of digging into the unknowns is more useful than reaffirming what’s certain.”

 

Stay Positive & ABEU (always be exploring unknowns)

* For the difference between reacting and responding listen to episode 17.

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I’ve fallen in love with the story of Ernest Shackleton and his voyage on Endurance.

The short of it is the man, Ernest, wanted to explore uncharted antarctic territory by ship in 1915. He recruited mates. Set sail. And, miles and miles away from civilization his ship got stuck in ice. For more than 8 months they were stranded and the ice eventually crushed the ship. Some men then made the trek to the nearest civilization (again, miles and miles away) to get a rescue crew.

While most stories like this involve gruesome tales of people going crazy and trying to kill each other for food, warmth or for no reason at all. This story is different.

In Shackleton’s story, no one died.

The most valid and powerful reason why? It goes back to the ad he placed in the newspaper when he was recruiting.

He could have posted “Men wanted, between age 25 and 30, no children, will pay ~4 dollars a day,” but he didn’t.

When you’re recruiting, consider who you’re asking for. It can make all the difference when it comes to life or death situations. Especially life. Especially growth. Especially success.

 

Stay Positive & Go A Level Deeper In Communicating Who You Want

People like me don’t handle downtime well.

I need to always be moving forward, pouring my heart into something, and thinking about how I can put twists on other people’s (and my own) thinking. Not being active in something makes me feel like I’m rotting, that I’m standing still, and that’s not acceptable.

Maybe your clients are taking off for the holidays, maybe your work is a seasonal thing, maybe your partner has gifted you with taking some extra weight off your shoulders –  whatever the reason may be, we all have to deal with downtime.

Here’s how…

1) Connect with people who are better than you. When work and life is busy, we miss out on a lot; events, friends parties, and networking. Downtime is an opportunity to reach out to people who can make you a better version of you, putting you ahead of the race once things pick up again.

2) Read about other people doing what you want to do. Fiction or non-fiction, there are so many books out there that are interesting, captivating, and make you feel like you’re taking work-related risks in a safe way. Books are a way to get smarter about your profession so you’ll be better at it when things get moving again.

3) Focus on getting more work down the line. This ought to be a given, but so many see downtime as a time to take a break. Those who succeed in the long run are those that use their downtime to ensure they don’t have any more of it in the future. (Not saying you ought to exclude from personal time, vacation, spontaneous activities, etc,.) What can you do to ensure more work a month from now, three months, a year? Do that.

4) Get away from your specialty and try something different. Early on in our lives we’re trained to specialize. The big trip of it is success in your specialty ultimately involves connecting with people from other specialties. Downtime is your chance to take a class, a workshop, a seminar on something different and potentially who will open your eyes to how your work can impact their industry.

I think of my downtime like a pinball machine before the ball is placed in front of the launcher. Am I standing there and waiting for the ball? Or am I pulling the launcher as far back as I can for when it’s time to release?

 

Stay Positive & Make Downtime Work For You

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Completing our task list gets us in a rut more often than it gets us a raise.

What happens when you’re done? When your inbox is empty? When you’ve gone through all your task notes? When you’ve checked all the boxes? Then what?

Many just wait. I’m guilty of it.

We stand still and wait for the next assignment to be handed down to us.

I’m not sure this factory mindset will ever leave completely, but I am sure those who settle, who stop, who don’t take initiative to fight back will be the ones at the back of the line, who won’t get the raise, who will be the worker instead of the entrepreneur.

Will you rise up to not only ask what’s next, not only answer what now, but to do it without being told, to move forward without your job description entitling you to?

 

Stay Positive & It’s Not About Doing, It’s About Being

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