Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much!
Maintaining relationships can be hard work, and we all have our little pet excuses that pop up when we may not be in the mood to put in the effort on a given day. The easiest excuse? I need to do this just right to accomplish my goal, otherwise it won’t be worth the effort. But… when was the last time someone interacted with you “perfectly?” What would that even look like? The truth is that “real trumps perfect every time,” because it’s the only consistent way to create trust. Period.
It’s that time of year for plenty of posts on how to “transform” yourself for the new year, and setting goals to better yourself is certainly a worthy pursuit no matter when you do it. But I can’t help thinking that sometimes, we get so caught up in trying to live up to other people’s expectations that it’s easy to lose sight of what makes us unique as individuals. Whether online or out in the world, we live in an era when those expectations are always on display, and our mistakes, mishaps, and embarrassing moments are more public than ever.
You want a recipe for boring, cookie-cutter content? Probably not, but I’m going to give you one anyway. Start out by considering your own opinion, and then forget all about it. Instead, work on producing what you think other people want to see, and saying what they want to hear in the way that you think they want to hear it. Avoid saying anything that could remotely be construed as controversial, mix in some loosely relevant jargon, and put a bow on it with a vague inspirational quote.