What a Miserable Amazing Day
Welcome to February, the heart of the winter. I spoke to a friend in the Midwest this morning who was proclaiming how excited he was to finally see the sun.
As the CEO of a company, I send regular notes to my team. I use these notes to convey positivity and develop culture. Two years ago today, I tried a little social experiment to demonstrate the power of two important LITSG principles, Attitude is Everything – The Power of Positivity and Choose Your Attitude… Own It.
I sent the following email to my team on February 1, 2022:
It’s really cold! It’s dreary and miserable. It’s the middle of winter. The days are very short. The temperatures are low. February 1 may very well be one of the most challenging days of the year. Not much daylight. A long way from the fall season and what seems like a very long way to spring. No really great, fun holidays in January or February. We are homeless. We don’t have an office. We haven’t seen each other in person in months. We are dealing with a number of meaningful challenges in our portfolio and in our industry. COVID lingers and lingers. Every day seems like a new fire to fight. At times it feels hopeless and draining. This just sucks and I am tired.
A few minutes later I sent the following email:
Today is the best day of my life! The sun is shining. I work with an amazing team. I am truly inspired by and appreciate each of you. I am grateful for our company and you being a part of it. I am truly grateful to be alive and healthy and smiling. I am fired up and motivated to conquer the opportunities we have ahead of us. I love the intellectual stimulation of working with you to win. We are making considerable progress on many fronts. We made so much progress in 2021 and our plan for 2022 is robust. Our new office is going to be amazing. I anxiously await our arrival there and the “re-launch” of our company. Life couldn’t possibly be better.
Go ahead and re-read each again. Both are factually accurate. Both are exactly 125 words. Both use the same font. Same situation, same number of words, vastly different perspectives. I will tell you, I struggled with the first paragraph, and it took me considerably longer to write. It’s not easy for me to find the negativity lens. The second one flowed quickly and naturally. I had to keep adding words to the first, and I had to cut down the second a lot because I couldn’t come up with enough for the first paragraph. It was a challenge to match the word counts exactly, but I did it.
So, as you read this, which are you? Did you wake up today feeling like the first paragraph or the second paragraph? How do you feel most days? I wake up every day feeling like the person writing the second paragraph. While everything is not perfect, every minute I have an opportunity to have a positive impact on those around me, and that is core to who I am. By extension, I believe this is core to who we are as a company. Go embrace today and choose a positive attitude and tone.
I used this email as an illustration of how powerful our lens of the world can be. It was my goal to encourage my team to choose their attitude. It was a reminder that we each must own it and choose how to approach attitude.
Go out today and embrace the day. Fine happiness, positivity, gratefulness, and beauty in the world around you. Make your day the best day ever and help someone else do the same.
Regards,
Scott