Choices

There’s A Reason It’s Called A/B Testing

There’s A Reason It’s Called A/B Testing

Garth Beyer

AB Testing

Much of the time when pitching options the only rule of conduct you need is “Here’s option A… and here’s option B, which do you choose?”

No remarkable designer goes into a pitch with only one option. Doing so makes the audience feel obligated to find a reason to dislike it or pick on it or point out a miniscule detail they don’t care for.

Just showing option A is not a smart move.

Nor is showing five to 20 other options.

It’s called A/B testing, not A/B/C/D/E/F/G/H/I/J/K/L testing.

You can certainly develop a bracket system, but I would push on whether your ideas are great or if they are merely good, which is why there are so many to face-off.

 

Stay Positive & Just Think On This Next Time You Pitch Anything

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The Thing About Advice

The Thing About Advice

Garth Beyer

There’s a lot of advice out there. Really good advice. Advice because other people took risks, learned from them and don’t want you to make the same mistakes.

That is all good and fun, but it’s partly wrong.

I remember a time when I was younger and living with my dad. He was trying to tell me to not do something that he did when he was my age. I turned to him and asked if he regretted the choices he made. I said to him, “What if. What if I do everything exactly as you tell me, that I do everything you suggest the way you suggest it. Then what. Am I supposed to be happy? It won’t be my life then.”

True advice is when someone suggests you do something a certain way but doesn’t resent you if you don’t. This is what I want you to keep an ear out for with this new year.

I want you to take the risks, make the mistakes, fail, but fail fast. If something isn’t clear that it’s the wrong choice, then it’s up to you to see whatever choice you make as the right one and not let anyone else make that judgement for you.

 

Stay Positive & This Is YOUR Life

Garth E. Beyer

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What Is It That Drives Your Motivation?

Garth Beyer

Dear Garth,

I have been engaged in a series of processes, trials and tribulations in enacting a major lifestyle change, choosing to best emulate my thoughts and emotive responses in a physical manner. I find the faith in human ambition frighteningly low amongst many of my peers and I have a pressing question on my mind, as a friend. What is it that drives your motivation? You are perhaps one of the most influential and inspiring people that I have come to know and even the slightest of conversation on the question would be unfathomably appreciated. As always, I feverently wish you the best and I hope to talk to you soon. Feel free to respond at your leisure, I understand you are a busy man!

With the out most sincerity,
Seeker (maybe not so obviously not the real name)

 

Dearest Seeker,

If you are willing, I can offer even better assistance if I had more background knowledge on what has produced this current state of mind and tribulation.

However, I will still go ahead and explain a few theories of mine. Please note that I have made these realizations after much mind-ache and set backs, but I believe these are the golden nuggets of the little wisdom I have.

1. This is the most complicated one, so I thought I would put it first. You have to choose not to have a choice in whether you can be motivated or not be, whether you will kick out your to-do list or not, whether you can sleep in or not.

When people have a choice, it’s easy to choose the easy route, follow the status-quo, and do little. If you revoke this choice upon yourself (don’t feel that I am suggesting a dictatorship of humankind, only YOU have control of yourself, that is was I am aiming at)… as I was saying; If you revoke this choice upon yourself then “getting **** done” so-to-speak is not an option, it’s a life style.

2. There are two hard parts in the process of being motivated. The first is getting started. Starting an addiction that isn’t based on nicotine is as difficult as stopping an addiction that is. It’s going to suck and your life is going to try and reject your pursuit. I can’t tell you how many times I got headaches, sick, and all symptoms of sleep deprivation from trying to wake up earlier to write or stay up later to write. My understanding is the more times you bounce right back after getting knocked down, the more durable you become. It’s like building calluses around your passion.

The second hardest part I have come to find is what I call “the last 3,000 words”. It is gathering that positive mindset that starting and writing the first 32 thousand words will be easy and if you are going to believe that any part of it is going to be hard, let yourself believe the last 3,000 words will be the hard part (your goal is obviously 35,000 words). The reason being is that naturally we want to have reasons to stop, to not finish, to fold and throw down the towel. Too many people think the first 3,000 words are hard, or that halfway through, it will be too difficult, so they quit early. Fight that feeling. Imagine the last 3,000 being more difficult than everything else added up. The reason being is that when you go that far, when you get to 32 thousand words, the last 3,000 are easy, they always are and you will never quit that far into the game.

3. This one is simple. You have to fall in love with shipping. Shipping a product, shipping a song, shipping an idea, shipping a poem. Whatever it is, find a way to ship something everyday, fully completely finish something every day and give it to someone, share it, spread it. Once you start to ship, you can’t help but fall in love with it, so just keep shipping.

— I hope this helped and I look forward to discussing any matter further with you. I am never too busy for a friend.

Alas, reading over your request I fear that I may have neglected to answer your question specifically. You ask, “What is it that drives your motivation?”

To answer that question, it is my desired combination of selflessness and selfishness. I want as phenomenal of a life as possible, but I refuse to be the only one. The more happy I can make others, the more motivated I make others, the more I love others, the more happy, motivated and loved I can be.

With hope that I inspired,
– Garth E. Beyer

 

Stay Positive & Fearless: to ask, to try, to ship…

Garth E. Beyer

Challenge vs. Goal

Garth Beyer

A challenge is not something you want to do, that is called a goal. What remains unclear is which provides a better feeling of accomplishment. Do you feel stronger and more fulfilled when you finaly reach a goal or when you overcome a challenge?

Maybe the better question to ask yourself: Are you choosing goals that have challenges you must face in order to complete?

Choose goals wisely. In the sense of life logic, the more goals that require you to overcome challenges, the stronger the feeling of fulfillment and accomplishment will be when a goal is reached.

Stay Positive & Remember To Reach

Garth E. Beyer