Make a list of 3-5 things you MOST want your audience or customers to do.
The actions you MOST want them to take.
The results you MOST want to achieve.
Examine every aspect of your work to see if it aligns with those things and eliminate anything that doesn't directly drive to them.
That's how the things you want to happen actually will.
Now, on to this week's ideas...
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"The truth is we have plenty of time to do what we want, but don't pay close enough attention to how we spend (and waste) that time."
The idea that there's not enough time in the day to accomplish what you want is a lie.
It includes tips to help you optimize and reduce the time you spend on email, meetings, social media, and more.
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"The key here is not to make excuses, but to just say no. Pay attention to what makes you squirm the most, or which invitations feel the hardest to say no to."
There may be no more valuable skill to develop than the ability to say no.
It will help you learn to be clear on what you want, create tension for the asker, and use no as your default answer.
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"One of the biggest things I've really come to understand about myself over the last 17 years: The way that underrated might start off as just some feeling the world imposes on you. But if you figure out how to harness it? It can become a feeling that you impose on the world."
Steph Curry is quite a basketball player, but his story may be even more impressive than his on-court success.
Whether you care about basketball or not, you should take a couple minutes to read his explanation of what it's like to be underrated including the powerful advice his mother gave him when he almost quit basketball as a kid.
Her advice?
"NO ONE gets to write your story but you. Not some scouts. Not some tournament. Not these other kids, who might do this better or that better. And not EVER your last name. None of those people, and none of those things, gets to be the author of your story. Just you."
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"While Google Docs may seem simple on the surface, it's practically overflowing with out-of-sight options that can help you get more done with less effort."
It's one thing to use Google Docs, it's another to REALLY use Google Docs.
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"Anonymity was a technology that allowed me to widen my vision and there was so much to see without myself in the way."
Do you think your writing would be better if you didn't put your name on it?
Stacey D'Erasmo conducted an experiment where students of her writing class submitted things they wrote anonymously and she found across the board the writing was stronger.
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"Maybe if we all gave each other the space to be complex people — not reduced to public perception, our professional bios, our LinkedIn profiles, others' narratives of who we are — we might understand each other better and give ourselves the room to be messy but wondrous human beings."
People are complex, but the way we think of each other (and ourselves) tends to be overly simplistic.
Chad Dickerson points to his own life as an example of this and explains why we'd be better served to recognize we all contain multitudes within us.
In his case, he's just as much the kid barely removed from a trailer park with an illiterate grandfather as he is the Duke graduate and company CEO.
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"If you make art without learning how to market it, you'll probably burn out, get resentful, and blame everyone else for your failure because they don't 'get it.'"
Making money from your art doesn't make you any less of an artist - it actually enables you to become an even better one.
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"Speaking to customers about pricing can be stressful. But I promise you that not talking to them and attempting to interpret their silence is more excruciating."
If you run your own business or are in the process of starting one, you'll find some useful tips in this one.
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"The Big Break is a myth. Something we tell themselves out of laziness and fear of the work ahead. If Big Breaks do happen, we'd be better off not counting on them and focusing on what we can control — the work."
What would you do if you knew you were never going to get a big break?
You'd focus on putting in the work.
That's why Jeff Goins suggests recognizing your big break is never coming can be beneficial to your career if you learn to practice when no one's watching, prepare for lucky moments, and be patient.
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"You're not going to 'trick' people into getting what you want. And even if you occasionally can, it's going to keep you from getting what you want more often than it's going to help you get it."
If you're the kind of person who hates negotiating, you're going to love this post.
The tips include to be honest with yourself about what you want, be honest with the other party about what you have to offer, and be willing to walk away.
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