Feng Shui

Garth Beyer

Feng Shui seems to be a dead term, but ever more powerful and noticed concept.

Last night my SO said it was dumb that she slept better when the closet doors and dresser drawers were closed. I reminded her there are thousands of ways that are impacting her sleep without her being conscious of it (and props for noticing these two simple and controllable parts).

Did you know the direction your feet point when sleeping matters too? Also, having your work computer in the room you sleep in takes a toll on the quality of your zzz’s.

What about the room you hold your creative meetings in. Surely you don’t have examples of disappointments hanging on the board from last week. That’s poor feng shui.

There’s a co-working space here in Madison that is absolutely electric, inspiring, and a perfect charging station for entrepreneurs. As far as I know, they’re not circulating any drugs through the vents. It’s all because of the way it’s set up: open, art on the walls, plenty of windows.

Ever wonder why some retail stores smell so wonderful? There’s consumer science behind it. People are more likely to purchase items when they are in a place that smells familiar and pleasant.

As for me, I rarely write anywhere besides my work place dojo, the book store or at my desk, my personal dojo where I control the smell, the sights, the seating comfort. I’ve learned to associate these spaces with a particular outcome of a great blog post, a wonderful beer column, a new idea clipped on my Evernote.

Small ways your rooms are set up can collectively have a big impact. More importantly, can collectively produce outcomes you want… again and again.

 

Stay Positive & Harmonize Yourself

In The Box Podcast

Episode 9: Referees, Fear x2, Haters And More – Podcast

Garth Beyer

On this episode of In The Box Podcast, we both thought we were covering a topic so there’s two times the fear talk, as well as discussion around what inspires something to become a referee, why white people riot, how to deal with haters and why working from home is a poor decision. Enjoy.

Episode 9: Referees, Fear x2, Haters, Working From Home And More

Referees – What inspires someone to become a referee?

White people + riots – Why do white people riot after their sports teams lose?

Fear – If you could give someone one tip on how to not live from a place of fear, what would it be?

Fear x2 – What was the last thing you were afraid of? Did you overcome it? How? If you didn’t, why not?

Haters – How do you deal with haters?

Working From Home – Do you think people should be able to work from home?

 

Stay Positive & Craft Those Connections

The Big Splash

Garth Beyer

The guy cannonballing in the pool may attract the views of everyone around…temporarily.

Olympic diver Mark Lenzi dove more than 10,000 times with few to no spectators before the world watched him.

It’s easy to forget every hero, every popular brand, every olympic star, started as unpopular, as obscure, as esoteric. Tiny splashes in a world-sized pool. Yet, now everything Apple does, everything Schwarzenegger says, everything Heidi Klum wears is a big splash.

But the big splash is the perception others have of you. Sure, it’s an honor, but you don’t see your splash as a splash anymore. It’s not some kindred act of getting laughs; it’s an art. Every splash to others is a dive to you.

Dive by dive by dive you’ll get to the point where everything you do is seen as a big splash, but don’t get lost in it.

 

Stay Positive & Centered On Your Dive

6 Lessons From Contagious (Why Things Catch On)

Garth Beyer

1) The moment you start paying people to share or putting a monetary value to them, then they’ll never do it for free again. Many managers rely on monetary incentives or prizes for good work ethic and behavior. Not only is it costly, but as soon as you do it, people won’t continue the behavior for anything less. Instead, focus on social currency. That’s why promotions and cool new titles work better than a pay raise in terms of employee satisfaction.

2) Social currency can be accomplished in three ways. First, sharing something amazing. Snapple facts are remarkable, as in, worth remarking to others about. Second, turn it into a game. Metrics that show people where they are in comparison to others (think Insurance provider rates and frequent flier miles) gives them status, which they’re happy to talk about. Third, make people feel like insiders by giving them something that’s scarce like Cadbury is or exclusive like a speakeasy.

3) Accessible thoughts lead to action. Music you play in a bar can sway people to order more French wine (if French music is playing) or German wine (if German music is playing). Essentially, we have to leverage triggers, but I’ve noticed when we’re so focused on making something out of this world, we forget about making it also top of mind.

4) For as much as I bash the lizard brain and encourage you to ignore the little voice inside your head saying you’re not good enough, any marketer can use the lizard brain to their advantage in a good way. Quite plainly, people share articles, stories, products that get the lizard brain going (excitement, amusement, anger, anxiety, etc,.). The sad insurance Superbowl ads didn’t get shared as much because sadness doesn’t spark the lizard brain.

5) Interesting, surprising and novel doesn’t lead to more buzz than average, uninteresting, and “meh” products because the latter is often ongoing and the former is more immediate.

6)If promoted, telling others helps us celebrate. If fired, telling others helps us vent. Sharing emotions helps us connect.

Book by Jonah Berger. Worth the read.

 

Stay Positive & Marketing Is About Spreading Love

Autonomy Is Overrated

Garth Beyer

The recent book you read was likely written by two or more people, even if there’s only one author name on it.

The viral YouTube video you shared last week took at least two people to make.

The witty design of a website that wowed you required more than a couple of people to build.

We don’t need more independence or more alone time. The epiphanies you go off on your own to have no longer compare to the ones you can have when you go off with a few friends, stay late with a handful of coworkers or talk with strangers.

You’re better of working to be less self-sufficient than more, and see what happens. We’ve spoiled autonomy by comparing ourselves to one another. “You think you’re better than me?!”

With groups, partnerships, and communities we have a better opportunity to make something remarkable, to have epiphanies that really matter, and create something incomparable.

 

Stay Positive & Don’t Fear Dependence (It’s Now Your Best Option)

If Given The Option

Garth Beyer

It’s better to be up than down. Optimistic attitudes, smiles, and focusing on what works is contagious.

It’s better to be on than off. Quit plainly, if you’re on, you’re functioning. Off days are the worst.

I bet you will agree with these two, but push back on this… It’s better to be out than in.

In feels safe. It’s your comfort zone. In means you’re analyzing, you’re consuming information, you’re gathering opinions, preparing for the out, the risky, the accountable actions.

In feels good.

Yet, you wouldn’t let yourself stay down, right? Nor off, correct? So, why in?

In a world of infinite knowledge, infinite emails, infinite blogs posts to consume, we feel the need to digest more before we can regurgitate something creative and original.

I’m all for yin and yang. An off day here and there makes the on days way better, but too many off days in a row… nothing good comes from it. Nor does anything good come from always taking things in.

Today, show out some love. Do something risky. Write something new.

 

Stay Positive & Get Out There

Something You’ve Never Done Before

Garth Beyer

It felt nice being told I would be doing something I’ve never done before. Being told made it easier for me. Someone else made the choice. Someone else picked me.

There are two interesting epiphanies I had from being told.

First, I had to do things I’ve never done before to get asked to do things I’ve never done before. I’ve made a habit out of conquering the unknown and she knew I would be able to handle it. In reality, she didn’t pick me at random. I gave her a reason to.

Second, if we merely wait for someone to pick us, someone to force us into a new space, someone to tell us we’ll be doing something we’ve never done before, we’ll be waiting a very long time.

Opportunities to charter new territory and dare greatly are nearly always self-proposed.

 

Stay Positive & Do Something That Scares You Everyday, Build That Momentum