Invisible Progress, Those Two Letters, and a Cure For Anger
👏 No one clapping? It doesn’t mean you haven’t scored.
We believe that our business is doing well only if it is being met with a metaphorical applause (verbal compliments, page likes, sales growth, high fives, etc.)
This is not always true. Not all progress is visible.
Author and entrepreneur Shane Parish says it beautifully:
“Not all progress is visible. Not all victories are celebrated. Just because others can’t see the results doesn’t mean you’re not getting better. Just because someone is ahead of you doesn’t mean you are on the wrong trajectory. Just because no one notices doesn’t mean it doesn’t matter. Just because there is no applause doesn’t mean you didn’t score.”
When we work for ourselves, we search desperately, and endlessly, for proof that we’re doing well. Remember that success is sometimes invisible.
🤖 Should you be using ChatGPT?
The last twelve months have seen us using the letters ‘A’ and ‘I’ a lot. One question that I’ve received from virtually every small business owner I’ve spoken to is: “should I be using ChatGPT?”
The answer? Yes, but in moderation.
Don’t be convinced that it is the one thing that is going to save your business; but don’t be shy either to understand and experiment with how it can be of help to your work.
3 ways I’ve recently used it (as a non-tech, brick and mortar business owner!)
- Having it help me write a business plan for a small business loan program
- Using it as a brainstorm assistant for event theme ideas for my coffee shops
- Having it act as ‘devil’s advocate’ and poke holes in one of my new ideas
- Writing these newsletters 😆
3 ways you might be able to benefit from it:
- Help with writing taglines or body copy for your emails or social media posts
- Mock perspectives on people’s reactions to a price change in your business
- Brainstorm assistant for lead generation ideas for a business in your industry
Spend at least 10 minutes with it, then decide if it’s right for you
And no, ChatGPT has not written this email. I promise!
😠 How to stop feeling so 😡 with others
Businesses involve people. People are complicated and irrational. Things that are complicated and irrational can make us angry.
Are you still with me?
If you are, then consider that anger is based on two judgments: 1) I have been harmed, and 2) I need to take some sort of action towards them to get payback.
In the time then between stimulus, and response, is this key moment to actually evaluate both of the assumptions above: have I actually been harmed? And if I have, is retribution useful?
Stoic philosopher Seneca, in discussing how our impressions aren’t always what they seem, explained that “we must always allow for some time to pass: a period of time reveals the truth.”
In this vein is another golden nugget of wisdom from existential psychologist Rollo May:
Human freedom involves our capacity to pause between the stimulus and response and, in that pause, to choose the one response toward which we wish to throw our weight. The capacity to create ourselves, based upon this freedom, is inseparable from consciousness or self-awareness
People in and around your business are going to make you absolutely f$cking livid. Think about those two judgments before acting on your anger.
👋 for now, and keep an eye out for an email next week!
Best,
Jeffrey
