GarthBox

There was a satirical video I recently saw about how amazing life is at age 30…. as long as you exercise five times per week, limit alcohol, avoid processed foods, sleep 8 hours, meditate… and the list went on.

It’s different at age 80 though. Walk regularly. Keep brain sharp with puzzles. Remain engaged in community activities. The list goes on.

Different in high school, too. It’s great if you can be the first to learn the viral dance, get in trouble (but not too much trouble), play sports, and share your snacks at the lunch table.

What I witness time and time again is people getting frustrated with the difficulty of life.

The reality is that what you’re going through now is no more difficult than what you went through years ago or will go through years from now.

It’s only different.

You made it through then. It should offer you some peace of mind to know that.

Fortunately for us, while we don’t have good control on that level of difficulty, we do have control of what exactly is different; what do we sign up for; what kind of legacy are we trying to leave now?

Stay Positive & Imagination Is Under Your Control

When you decide; it’s not that everything gets easier.

It’s a tectonic shift of what is hard and easy.

The hard stuff that was hard before deciding becomes easy.

The easy stuff (that is, the stuff that you didn’t have to do because you hadn’t decided yet) becomes hard.

The leaders worth following in the foot steps of don’t just do hard stuff… they do the better hard stuff.

And to get to better, we have to first decide to.

Stay Positive & Simplify Your Menu

Questions are powerful beyond the purpose of becoming informed.

They’re remarkable at combating frustration.

Why are they acting that way? What’s the most important task to do next? How did I get frustrated?

Of course, it’s not just asking the question, but answering them.

A Q&A with yourself goes a long way to mitigating or eliminating frustrations.

Which is all to say, that frustration? That’s on you.

Stay Positive & Auf Weidersehen, Frustration

The quickest way to getting something to be better is by making it better.

Bit by tiny bit.

So much so that no one can tell it has been made better yet other than you.

(No one notices a few screws in cabinetry that were lightly screwed in. Finish screwing them in and it has been better even if no one else notices it has been made better.)

Stay Positive & Then Do It Again

There’s not a single presentation, guide or training that doesn’t talk about how important it is to establish goals.

They miss an important factor… probably the most important one after establishing them.

To re-stablish.

Updating a business plan isn’t just good practice; it’s a working self-fulfilling prophecy.

And writing as someone who has achieved many of the biz goals I’ve set out to complete, I’ve felt most horrible about my success and my head has gone spinning when one of two things happen: I need to pivot a goal but haven’t yet because I’m so locked on the goals I set or if I’ve achieved the goals and have no additional ones made beyond those yet.

Both headaches are ones easily alleviated by regularly re-establishing the goals.

Stay Positive & It’s Worth Paying Yours A Visit Soon

Three reminders from a presentation I gave on AI to a room of roughly 20 business owners today.

• Set expectations with the audience as early as possible. Under promise then over deliver.
• Do all you can to know the people who will be in the room. Adjust your presentation to call them out specifically.
• Pause during your riffs to read the room. If it’s going over their head, call out that you are observing that, make a final statement, and transition on. “If you want me to circle back to this more at the end, I can.” goes a long way.

Stay Positive & Go On And Prosper

How long does a tightrope walker try to balance on a tightrope?

How long does there need to be tension on the tightrope for a tightrope walker to perform?

The answers may shock you.

Well, not really. The shock comes from that connection that we’re all tightrope walkers in our work.

Balance isn’t something we attain, it’s something we constantly work toward.

And the work worth doing? There’s constant tension. No let up.

Of course, you can always get off the tightrope…but what’s the fun in that?

Stay Positive & I’d Rather Break Records