Why Try To Get Out Of Your Box, When You Can Use What's In It?
As sure as the night will come, things will change down the line for you.
Your beliefs will change, your clients will change, your work will change, your eating habits will change, your passions will change, your dreams will change.
The fact that things will change doesn’t mean you ought not stand up for something now.
Stay Positive & Build The New
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I used to think remarkable businesses and brands hired workaholics and that’s how they got to be so successful. I thought putting more hours in than anyone else got you ahead. I was sold on the idea of working from a source of fear: being last place, not being good enough, not turning in more work than others would scare me so much that I wouldn’t let it happen.
Through a series of fortunate events that I’m still working to comprehend (and share, mostly through this blog) I found myself loving the work I do, staying as late if not later than others, being good enough, and turning in remarkable work. The only difference is that I’m working from a source of passion rather than fear.
Agencies, brands, businesses are catching on. They’re not hiring workaholics, they’re hiring passionate workers – workers who show up not out of fear, but because what they do is more of a hobby than work. (A hobby that pays I may add, and who wouldn’t be game for that?)
Maybe when I was growing up, it was hard to find jobs that called for passionate workers. I get that… with the industrial revolution and all. That time has passed, though, and businesses are designing positions that call for the passionate.
If you’re having trouble getting a job, you might want to consider that it’s not because you wouldn’t enter it and work hard; it might be because you’re not passionate.
If you’re having to sell yourself, it’s likely your work is from a source of fear because passion radiates itself, there’s no need to highlight it on your resume.
Stay Positive & To Be, Not To Seem
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On this episode of In The Box Podcast, we ended up with a lot more questions than answers. You can download the episode here and listen to us talk about giving advice to management, meeting people within their own worldview, how much it matters that your team sees a project the same way as you, the importance of showcasing business culture, and ebbs and flows of life.
Episode 31: Management Advice, Meeting People, Team Vision And More
Ebb and Flows Of Life – Do you think you’re the only one who has trouble with figuring out life? or that your problems are unique to you and others won’t understand?
Management – What’s one thing that you would tell the management of the world?
Meet People – Best way to meet people where they are at?
Vision – How much does it matter if others on your team don’t agree with your vision for a project?
Bonus – Does a business’ culture matter to consumers/clients? Is it worth showcasing the culture?
Stay Positive & Sometimes No Answer Is As Enlightening As Having One
There are so many opportunities to use maps. Sometimes it makes the most sense to.
Climbing a mountain, traveling a country, going through a corn maze. These are scenarios that maps don’t make the work easier, they simply give you a sense of direction. You still have to move forward, analyze each step, enjoy the detours. These maps are easy enough to work with; they help you explore in the long run, not help you find the short cuts.
Then there are times that maps are used when they ought not to be. From a marketing perspective, I can’t quite fathom following the map that some other agency has laid out, some other publication formalized or some other marketer says is best practice.
There are no maps, no shortcuts, no best times to post if you’re creating remarkable work. There is no map for art. It’s what’s created with the exclusion of navigation.
The only time to ask “what are others doing” is when working to figure out what they have not done, and to do that.
Do you know which map you’re using? Do you need it?
Stay Positive & Need Something To Follow? Try Your Heart
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I watched a business show over the weekend wherein a few contestants had to sell as many cupcakes from the cupcake truck as possible in a short period of time. They were racing against time, against attention spans, against people plugged in their own world.
Was it their quick gimmicks, on the spot catered remarks to passersby, and baker’s hat they wore that led them to sell a ton of cupcakes in a short period of time? Sure.
Sprinting to sell works… for the short-term.
Will any of those customers come back? Will they tell their friends? Did the contestants make an emotional connection with the consumers? Did they leave with their hearts as full as their stomachs?
The cupcake truck owners will dine nicely this week, but what about next. What stunts will they pull next week? Or the week after that? Like any clever ad, it eventually gets old… and sprinting to come up with the next attention-grabbing zinger is exhausting.
Better, I think, to ignore the sprint and realize you have an opportunity, you have permission, you have the privilege to use your voice and your magic for those who are going to stay for a while, buy two cupcakes because they care, and bring a friend back later.
Don’t let the fun tricks distract you from running your marathon, from fulfilling your mission. The five-year one, not the five-minute one.
Stay Positive & Amplify Interest, Don’t Waste Your Time Trying To Create It
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When the seas are rough…
When no one else is doing it…
When there’s no artificial path…
When it seems like the worst possible time… carry on.
As Winston Churchill said, “If you’re going through hell, keep going.”
Stay Positive & It’ll Be Worth It
To get a handle on your money, you need something worth saving for.
To make bigger and more important art, you need something worth working toward.
Care, energy, and focus is rooted in intention. Build it and motivation will come.
Stay Positive & Remaining Goalless Is Nearly The Same As Motionless
