Author Archives: ljgale

Hey, 13

Things I would tell my 13-year old self:

  • Embrace the weird. You won’t look, sound, smell that strange ever again.
  • Accept imperfection. 99% of your audience won’t notice mistakes. The 1% who do doesn’t care.
  • Watch yourself speak. Best way to improve confidence.
  • Don’t compare savings account (or schmeckle) size. They change and don’t really matter after high school.
  • Ditch the TV, get a guitar. Serves the same purpose for introverts. The latter has much more long-term benefit.
  • Back up your music collection to Dropbox (not an external hard drive).
  • Get pictures with grandparents. Just you and them.

Who knows, though. Would I be where I am today if I wasn’t an awkward, self-conscious, lazy, scared, envious little bitch?

Guess that’s the fun of looking back.

[Happy bar mitzvah anniversary to me.]

Thanks, mailman!

What are the worst things about email inbox management?

  • Sorting through the junk mail offers?
  • Never-ending deliveries?
  • Keeping track of important messages?

All that stuff is challenging. A pain, really.

But it’s only a fraction of your job.

For postal workers, however, that’s 100% of their job.

All day. Every day. Forever.

Moral of the story?

Appreciate your mailman.

Make the call

What’s the most important day of the year?

Your birthday.

It’s the annual audit of your people:

  • Who cares about me?
  • Whom do I care about?
  • Who am I?

If you want to be part of the answers to the aforementioned questions, it’s simple:

Make the call.

[Happy Birthday, Nana. Hope you got my voicemail yesterday!]

Secrets

Have trouble keeping secrets? Simply cannot resist telling someone about the juicy info you just got?

Here’s the secret to keeping it a secret:

Tell someone.

But have that someone be the person who told you the secret.

Saying, “You would not believe…” or “I have to tell you something…” or “Guess what…” seems to feel good no matter whom you say it to.

Yes, I’m suggesting spilling the beans to the person who confided in you.

It may sound strange, but it works.

Tell someone.

Missions and promises

Mission statements describe what you’re trying to do. Your customers appreciate the effort. No doubt.

Promise statements describe what you’re going to do. Your customers appreciate the guarantee. No doubt.

Which is more powerful?

Aren’t promise statements more beneficial for customers? Guarantees instead of goals?

And aren’t promise statements more beneficial for organizations? Clarity instead of confusion?

Promise yourself you’ll figure out your promise statements.

 

Shrink it

A blank sheet of paper. A messy house. The mountain of email.

That’s not the way to look at it.

Rather:

  • One sentence.
  • One room.
  • One reply.

That’s how you get stuff done.

Subject

What gets your email opened?

The subject.

What gets your email read?

The subject.

What gets your email read again?

The subject.

So, what do you spend most of your time writing?

Advice and buffets

Going to the internet for advice is like going to dinner at a buffet. There are:

  • Lots of choices.
  • Diverse perspectives.
  • Zero costs for getting more.

So, the key is selectivity. And moderation.

Because if you take it all, you might be rolled out on a stretcher.

Especially if you go every day.

Uncomfortable meetings

Who appreciates meetings that have:

  • Gone longer than 30 minutes.
  • People speaking just to hear themselves (not get fired).
  • Time dedicated to reading memos out loud.
  • People IM’ing other attendees.
  • People IM’ing non-attendees.
  • People checking email.
  • No clear objective.

Answer: No one.

The solution?

Standing meetings.

Because having one’s time wasted sucks. But having one’s time wasted while standing is, to most, not acceptable.

Just

It’s just this.

It’s just that.

Using “just” when you write or speak does your subject no justice.