Risk

IN THE BOX PODCAST

Episode 54: Leaping, Forgetfulness, Being Human And More (Podcast)

Garth Beyer

On this episode of In The Box Podcast we gave advice to those who are about to take a leap, discussed what it means when someone says one needs to be “more human,” what we buy online, how to respond to someone who you were supposed to follow up with weeks ago and not one, but two tips on how to not stress out about not remembering an idea you didn’t write down. Enjoy.

Episode 54: Leaping, Forgetfulness, Being Human And More

Leaping – What advice do you have for people who are about to take a leap?

Being human – What does it mean when someone says to be human?

Online – What do you buy online?

Forgetfulness – How do you respond if you forget to communicate with someone you said you were going to communicate with?

Bonus – You think of a great idea but can’t write it down — one tip on how to not fret if you can’t remember the idea later?

 

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Short Stack Opportunity

Garth Beyer

Short Stack Eats

Breakfast joint Short Stack Eats in Madison has a weekly blind special. If you ask them what’s in it, they charge you $12.95. If you order on good faith, it’s only $6.95.

The real perk of going to Short Stack Eats is if you ask once, you can always be braver next time since the special changes each week.

Think about that for a moment.

Is it an opportunity or a risk? Will we be braver next week? Can we change the way we see something from risk to opportunity?

We can certainly afford the risk of a breakfast, but if we have the mindset of risk instead of opportunity about something as simple as breakfast, do we wear those glasses when we look at larger decisions regarding entrepreneurship, leadership or creativity?

Can we afford to have that mindset?

Thing is, with decisions that matter, we can’t pay extra to know whether something will work for us or not. We may not have the chance to be braver next week in the same capacity. And in the real world if we end up getting something we don’t like, it’s not as easy to find someone else who will take it off our plate (pun intended).

Seems to me the only way to look at big decisions and blind specials is as opportunities.

 

Stay Positive & Be Brave

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The Opportunity Has Always Been Here

The Opportunity Has Always Been Here

Garth Beyer

Opportunity

The opportunity to poke around, to try new things, to experiment, to create something remarkable has always been here, but there’s a fundamental change sweeping the notion in terms of people’s perceptions.

In the past, the opportunity was seen as a risk.

See, there’s really no difference between an opportunity or a risk except in how you look at it.

More and more people are changing their perspective, altering their worldview, choosing themselves instead of waiting to be picked by someone else, waiting to be handed an opportunity. Instead, they’re making their own.

They’re flipping the switch of “it’s too much risk” to “this just might work.”

The beauty of this movement, this moment, is that the opportunity will always be here.

The opportunity to create your own job, do what few others are doing, to play chemistry with your hands (work), your legs (hustle) and your heart (art/passion).

There’s a reason every post ends with a reminder to stay positive. I’ve chosen my perspective. Have you?

 

Stay Positive & Unlike A Mediocre Job, This Opportunity Will Always Be Here

HT to all my idols who through them I’ve learned to take the opportunity. I’m alive. I’m an artist. Thanks.

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Where The Friendly People Are

Garth Beyer

I love the city, don’t get me wrong as you read. Downtown Madison, New York, Boston, Chicago, they are perfect. But I also love the country. Actually, some might not even consider it the country, it’s more the edges of town. That’s where I really love to be.

You don’t need to go too far from the heart of something to find people happy to see you venturing out on your own.

It’s the same story if you were on a motorcycle traveling from downtown Madison to the edges of it as it is if you were traveling from the safety of your current workspace to the just-a-bit-uncomfortable edges of it.

It’s ironic, really. We’re fed the idea we need to be in the heart of something to get the most out of it. Yet, no one waves to you as you pass by; no one pays you any attention; no one takes a moment to chat about your day or offer you something strictly out of selflessness and gratitude. It’s the people already at the edges that are there for you. The edges of your work, the edges of innovation, attitude, education.

They’re waiting for you.

 

Stay Positive & Don’t Make Them Wait Any Longer (this is what happens)

What Are The Chances

Garth Beyer

The chances are whatever you tell yourself they are.

Most great work never happens because there’s a chance of failure, there’s a chance someone might not like it, there’s a chance no angel will invest in it.

The innate decision to declare what the chances really are to you is what I dub Pulling Wisdom.

When you get your wisdom teeth pulled (it’s now seven hours post-operation for me), before any work is done the surgeon tells you all the risks. He even lays them out to you in a list you have to read and sign off. He says there’s a 10 percent chance of this happening and a 1 percent chance of that happening. You may feel drowsy and some people vomit after.

How is this process (that so many people go through) differ any from launching a new project, starting a business, writing a book, creating a new mobile app?

You can tell yourself there’s a 10 percent chance this particular group of people won’t like your art and a 1 percent chance that you will get an investor to fund everything you dreamed up. You may feel fear along the way, you might fail, and yes, some people vomit after.

Pull out your notes, write out the risks of your venture, state what the chances of this or that happening are and then sign off on it.

There may be people who are more qualified to be a surgeon than you, and I would never suggest you pull your own wisdom teeth out, but no one is better at getting what you want than you. No one is better at turning ideas into actions and actions into art.

The risks are the same for everyone. You just have to sign off on it.

 
Stay Positive & Keep Motivated With Lots Of Iscream Along The Way

Your Audience Is More Open Than You Think

Garth Beyer

When you create more connections, you’re bound to be more open. That’s something I love about the current state of society and the people in it.

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Part of me feels that I have Facebook and Twitter to thank for making people more open. Another part realizes that it is just a beneficial byproduct of the connection economy.

Yet, I see businesses and freelancers running with their arms held close to their chest so they don’t hit anyone, so they don’t make themselves open, so they don’t seem vulnerable. This is trite and counterintuitive.

I can barely begin to tell you how many people have told me things about themselves and their lives that they would never have mentioned eight years ago. Respectively, I owe it to them to be just as open (which is in our advantage).

It’s not a matter of mutual generosity, it’s more a risk at creating a symbol of trust.

This calls for you to reciprocate that risk. When you see that others are doing or acting as you do, you feel comfortable, you feel in place, you feel more willing to trust and invest in what that person is offering.

Just the same. If you want the business of those who are very open about themselves and their lives, you need to be open too.

This is why storytelling has become the largest importance of businesses, why brand matters, why sales are made on trust, not shininess.

 

Stay Positive & Open Sesame

Garth E. Beyer

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Catch Yourself

Garth Beyer

When you fall, fall hard. Learn from it and get back up.

But before you fall, try to catch yourself.

Too many artists get the two confused and try to catch themselves falling or rely on some other safety net to prevent getting hurt, to prevent failure. Don’t.

safety-net

What you want to do is to catch yourself losing track of your goals, or your motivation, or swaying into oncoming traffic. To do so, you have to develop three elements to your psyche.

1. Cautiousness

2. Observation

3. Mental Risk Taking

If you’ve read any of my content before, you’re likely wondering why I am advising cautiousness. I am all for a gamble, but you need to know the consequences going into it. To be cautious is to acknowledge the potential negative consequences.

To understand a decision, you have to observe everything about it. Have other people made a similar decision? What factors may affect your choice later that are not now? What are all the pieces that need to be in place before a decision can be made effectively? Essentially, what’s changing, in constant motion and how does it affect you?

Mental risk taking means to think through the unthinkable, the impossible, to explore every avenue available. Have you ever heard someone say there are only X number of ways to do something? The obstacle of mental risk taking is to think of one more way then what has already been thought of. Better yet, think of Parkour. Ask a regular pedestrian what is the fastest route to get from A to B and they will give you directions. Ask a tracuer and they will tell you to jump over this fence, run through that lot, leap over this creek and race across the rusted bridge. Something a layperson wouldn’t.

 

Stay Positive & Try Not To Fall, But When You Do, Fall Hard

Garth E. Beyer