~Joel’s Blog
Thinking You Get To Choose
Every day we learn something new about running our company, especially since it is internet based (for the most part).
Communicating isn’t easy. Doing it well, much less easy.
Sometimes it feels so hard, it’s tempting to drift into a bad attitude. Clear thinking becomes difficult. There are some days when that is really tempting.
Ever have days like that?
The good news is that we get to choose our views.
We have a slew of digital tools that are anything but simple to use. A few of you who receive this newsletter also send out newsletters, and we can almost hear you snort while slapping your hand to your forehead. We feel you.
Still, anyone who has used technology of any kind has at some point declared–loud enough to startle someone–“I hate technology!” Come on now, be honest.
You know you have.
When technology works, it’s nearly miraculous. But when it doesn’t…sigh.
We sigh a lot at Prepare For Rain.
When Worlds Collide
Between Microsoft, WordPress, Apple, iTunes, Adobe Creative Cloud, Amazon, Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, HootSuite, CreateSpace, Twitter, LeadPages, AWeber, vCita, Instagram, Trello, Evernote, DropBox, EventBrite, HP, Toshiba, iPad, iPhone, Canon, Linksys… and a bunch of other pieces of tech, there’s a lot that can go sideways. And you know what? It does!
It’s amazing how many of these things have become totally embedded in our lives when not many years ago they were just a creative idea in someone else’s innovative head. But they’re here to stay. Sigh.
So we keep at the steep learning curve, embracing the amazing benefits these tools bring us. It’s part of the deal of building a company like ours. When we can, we delegate. Quite a few of you readers have helped us in the past–or do now–with various aspects of marketing, designing or supporting what we’re creating.
Embracing the Challenge
And we’re glad we get to do all of this. Because all of these tools enhance our ability to inspire and influence people to “prepare for rain” in their lives.
Thinking about your life as a field gives a strong metaphor. Fields grow things. Either crops or weeds, but something is growing on that field. Your life is like a field. If you want something positive to grow in your soil, you have to plant it. That means work. Hard, hot and demanding work. For our dreams to be realized, we must lean in and act. Act like we mean it. Because our actions become the seeds of our life.
We each get to choose every day how we engage our lives.
We can approach life’s challenges with an attitude of I’ve got to do something. But it sure feels better to intentionally seize the day with a full-bodied I get to do this.
Go ahead. Close your eyes and try on each attitude: get to versus got to.
Which one feels better? Which one empowers you?
Amazing isn’t it? What a difference one little letter can make. One is positive. The other is negative.
Just think what a difference your consistently positive choice will make.
Getting There
Sure, we sigh a lot at Prepare For Rain. But we laugh more than we sigh. A lot more.
Because we get to be fully involved with what matters to us. We get to meet the coolest people. We get to collaborate. We get to learn and share. We get to struggle. We get to wonder when things won’t be quite as hard…and worry a little along the journey. Even then, we get to make a difference. We get to discover more dreams we have. We get to come alongside people and help them bring their dreams into reality. We get to see our work impact others in positive, life-transforming ways.
You get to, or you got to. It all starts with your choice. Isn’t it fantastic that you get to?
Engage here. Do you ever catch yourself in “got to” thinking? How do you improve your mindset?
Prepare for rain. #prepareforrain