Are You Living On Default Settings?

The length of a meeting doesn’t need to match your calendar’s default setting.

An hour isn’t automatically better than 30 minutes. A meeting isn’t always better than an email. And the way something has always been done isn’t necessarily the way it should continue.

Defaults are useful. They save us from making endless decisions. But they can also quietly make decisions for us. Every once in a while it's worth asking if your default could use an update.

Your Reputation is Your Brand

Your Reputation is Your Brand

You show up as a "brand" the second you engage with someone. Your brand is your reputation, which is a promise others learn to expect from you.

When your product is shipped to their door. When your music shows up in their headphones. When you meet your new boss. When you are asked for advice.

Intentional or not, the promise is there. Better to be intentional, and consciously say: people like me do things like this. The best time to work on it is 5 years ago. The next best time is now.

Value and Validation

Put 100 employees in a room, and the only thing everyone would likely agree on is that they would like to be paid more.

But there is something else we all want at work and beyond. We want to feel valued, respected, and assured that what we do matters.

Sometimes difficult people simply feel unseen. You can strengthen almost any relationship by sincerely acknowledging someone’s effort, input, or presence.

Take a few seconds today to let someone know they matter.