GarthBox

You wouldn’t want a surgeon that has never read a book about surgery to perform on you.

You wouldn’t want a surgeon that read a book 20 years ago about surgery to perform on you, either.

Doing the reading is necessary of a professional. But so is doing it again. And again. And again.

This reminder comes from a recent experience with a sales rep that more than a year ago clicked through slides about his target market based on customer research done by a remarkable person. I was asked a question by him that was answered so completely and thoroughly in that deck. I couldn’t help but wonder how more effective he could have been at his job if he had done that reading…again and often.

Stay Positive & Easy? Nah. Worth It? Yah.

You’re nearly there. Momentum has taken over. There’s no stopping it.

But that’s fine. There merely needs to be stopping the brain about it.

A moment to reflect, ask interesting questions, and mentally plan for success or failure.

More often than not, being almost to the end is a cop out from the work of pausing, scrutinizing, and, ya know, maybe delaying the completion (but for the right reasons, of course).

Our brains suck at letting us do this. Best you schedule it on the calendar the day before “done” is supposed to happen.

Stay Positive & Save Yourself The Frustration Of Having To Restart Something That’s Finished

“I’ve done this before” gets you the credibility, but it lacks a necessary element to ensure repeat success: trust.

“And here’s why it’ll work here” is the necessary talk track to get the buy-in and support you need.

There’s respect in the empathy it takes to realize that this is not that, but it is like it.

Just look at the way the successful growth brands describe themselves. You’ll see language “We’re like X but for Y.”

Take what worked and apply elements of the present focus to it.

Stay Positive & Credibility + Trust = Effectiveness

The emotion you’re embracing isn’t as important as that you embrace it.

Embracing it means you’re dancing with it. Working with it. Good or bad; you’re making the most of it.

Embracing happiness is better than telling yourself you don’t deserve it. Embracing anger is better than sweeping it under the rug. Embracing guilt gets you to a resolution faster than blaming someone for your action.

We need not always a different emotion; we simply need to embrace the one we’re facing better.

Stay Positive & Different Isn’t Always Better; Better Is Better

It only took a moment to pause and think to realize that if we put the railing on first, it would be more difficult to install the gate. So we installed the gate first.

It’s kind of the same with the list you have for your day. It only takes a moment to pause and think that if you do the easy stuff first, it will be less likely you’ll do the important work today.

Stay Positive & So Where Are You Going To Do First?

A bartender invested an extra 20 seconds connecting with the guest in front of me. It was magical for both of them.

The Thai restaurant had a large photo of two people on the wall next to the menu. It was the mother and son owners of the place. When you looked over the counter, you got to see both of them working together to make your food. That was magical, too.

A friend was at an arcade and it was clear the second employee following the first was there training. My friend got his quarters and rather than walking to go play games, looked at the new hire and encouraged her with a statement of good luck.

Stay Positive & It Only Takes A Moment

There’s a difference between a time stamped deadline… and a count down to it.

The same goes in the other direction: it’s far more valuable to have milestones leading up to the end result than it is to have a photo of the end result.

Both scenarios you must know what the end goal or deadline is, but that doesn’t drive progress as much as having it metered does.

One more reason for it to be metered? You can’t just move the finish line based on when you get tired because you’ve already established that those moments are milestones, not the finish line.

HT to the cocktail lounge that was marketing itself as an elegant, upscale, vibing place; and it was… until they handed me a menu that looked like it was designed (that’s even giving it more of a compliment than it deserves) like it was for a chinese restaurant. Someone moved what finished looks like rather than acknowledging they had another metered milestone before they got to a true finish.

Stay Positive & Keep Yourself On The Hook