What are you going to do today that is:

• Fun.
• Challenging.
• Thought-provoking.

It’s tough to have one thing cover all three.

So, you probably should get crackin’.

If today’s a day off, enjoy it.

If today’s a workday, enjoy tonight.

It’s Christmas.

Don’t forget to celebrate.

This blog is daily, Monday through Friday.

The Daily show is daily, Monday through Thursday.

Seth’s blog is daily, everyday.

Saturday Night Live is weekly, Saturdays.

Santa is annually, December 25th.

Notice a pattern?

Consistent delivery of the goods.

You know what to do.

Some words are not worth saying. Phrases, too.

• You’re wrong.
• I told you, so.
• Just (in the sense of being the only thing, not in the moral sense).
• Stupid.
• Honestly (as a preface).

Obviously there’s a slew of more offensive words. They’re not worth saying, either.

But the ones listed above?

They’ll ruin your credibility almost as fast.

When someone walks into your store, they’re not looking for a new blouse or a baseball mitt or a new car.

They’re seeking something intangible.

• A new look.
• A greater edge.
• An enhanced identity.

Sure, an individual item can help get them there.

But often, it’s the add-ons that get them what they really want.

The necklace to wear with the blouse. The batting gloves to wear with the mitt. The tinted windows on the car.

And when they get what they really want, you have more than a customer.

You have a client.

A client for life.

Yes, social media sucks to do.

But here’s a good way to look at it.

Social media is how some of your customers, fans, students consume their content and ideas and info. If your content and ideas and info is what they need, it’s your duty to provide it via their preferred medium.

Here’s the reversal.

If you don’t distribute your content / ideas / info via social media, they’re lives will be worse off.

So even though email is more effective, social media is important, too.

It’s your duty.

[HT to Maria Popova]

When it comes to having a plant in your office, you have two choices:

• Have one.
• Don’t have one.

The former will make you 10-20% more productive than the latter.

Your call.

P.S. Fake plants work, too.

[HT to an uncited yet believably reasonable stat from a lifestyle magazine]

One question to ask when sending an email:

Would I enjoy getting, reading, engaging with it?

If the answer is “yes,” then proceed.

If the answer is “maybe” or “no” or “I don’t know,” then don’t hit send.

Choose right, and you just made the world a better place.

Chose wrong, and you’re just another piece of clutter.

You pick.

These thoughts:

• More popular than me.
• More wealthy than me.
• More opportunities than me.
• More beautiful than me.
• More WHATEVER than me.

Stop giving a shit about he or she or them or it.

And here’s the thing with all those above thoughts:

If you swap out an “I was” for “me,” it feels a lot better.

It’s a lot more productive, too.

A wise old yogi once said, “What you do in your positions is less important than how you begin and how you end them.”

It’s true.

And it applies all over life.

• Jobs.
• Relationships.
• Projects.
• Days.
• Nights.
• Massages.
• Vacations.

You name it, and it applies.

Ease in. Ease out.

The middle is less important.

[HT to yogi Natalie for sharing this wisdom.]