An Inside Scoop From An Outside Perspective

What’s it like working in an industry in which I have absolutely no history? To sit at an open space tribicle (three cubicles), and have a Mac desktop dock downloaded with software dedicated solely to this industry?

While I’ve never been directly asked this verbally, the eyes say a lot. When the company for which I work for is introduced, I’m assumed to be one of them. One of my co-workers. The presumption is an honor - but once the preliminary introduction is out of the way and the perfunctory handshake is shook, they really want to know, what’s my position if I’m not in their league? A marketing administrative assistant? Wait, how can I be a Girl Friday if I only work Tuesday-Thursday?

I have one program that individuals, kids, parents, college students, teachers use worldwide, so what’s so special about that? Microsoft Word. It can be painfully slow, but in the office it’s my fourth best friend. (Looking at me sucking up to my boss and co-workers.)

You see, I’m a copywriter and somehow the graphic designers around me found a reason to carve a space out for me.

What’s it like?  

Liberating

I wake up every workday knowing that I get to dress the way my mind thinks and my co-workers design.

What’s it like? 

Stimulating

I get to live by the 4 C’s: Collaborate. Create. And receive and offer Constructive Criticism.

Yes.

We manage to live successfully by them. Relatively drama free.

How?

•    You have to have a clear and open mind and open space that allows for open dialogue.

•    You have to have a trustworthy relationship with your peers, co-workers, leaders; whomever you are interacting with during your creative collaborative and constructive criticism sessions.

•    You need to learn to listen attentively and respectively.

•    And learn to talk tactfully; criticism and insults are not synonymous.

•    You need to learn to differentiate that just because a project is a “No” doesn’t equate that you’re a “No.”

•    And learn to take a compliment.

•    And give compliments every once in awhile. For every criticism, find a compliment or word of wise encouragement. That’s what makes it constructive. The compliment may be futurist: “When you do “this,” because I know YOU are capable of it. It will rock the mismatching socks of the audience and ca-ca poo-poo is going to hit the fan. It’s going to be awesome.” Even that kind of praise is welcome. Wacky. Deserved. Memorable.

I don’t have to be a mother to appreciate a well-behaved child. I don’t have to be a painter to take notice of an Albrecht Dürer piece of work. I don’t have to be a firefighter to sound the alarm of a burning building. I don’t have to be a baker to know when my taste buds are getting a dose of delicious pastry. And I don’t have to be a graphic designer to sit amongst them and their dexterity at visual branding.

I have no history in the industry I’m working in; at the tribicle of desks I’m sitting. But I have a future here. I will not design, but I will definitely be coming back because my Microsoft Documents and their InDesign Software tend to coexist quite well.

Be Thankful.

What if you woke up with only the things you were thankful for yesterday? Don’t wait until November to appreciate all of your blessings.

We all have days (or weeks) when it feels like the world is crashing down around us, but there are still many aspects of our life to be thankful for, hidden due to the overwhelming stress added onto our daily lives.

Below are a few questions to ask yourself:

Think slowly and answer thoroughly. Don’t skip or dismiss any of them. By the end, you will have a healthy list of things for which to give thanks. Knowing and feeling like your life is blessed and full of things to be thankful for will come back ten-fold and spread like wildfire.

1)    Who loves you?

2)    Who/What made you laugh?

3)    What compliments did you receive?

4)    What tasks did you accomplish?

5)    What food nourished your body today?

6)    Who were the positive people that you interacted with today?

7)    What physical tasks were you able to complete today that others could not?

8)    What were you able to buy with the money you are fortunate enough to have?

9)    What was the most peaceful/relaxing moment of your day?

10)    At what moment of your day was someone else dependent on your time and talents?

Perhaps write these down and start collecting varying answers day-to-day, and soon you will see that your life is full of things for which to be thankful.

The things you take for granted, someone else could be praying to have.

Absorb the Compliments

To this day, I still remember a class activity that affected my self-esteem and me. I never felt bad about myself and often received compliments from family and teachers. This class activity was a little different though. We each wrote our name at the top of a sheet of paper and began passing papers around the classroom. Everyone anonymously wrote a compliment on that person’s paper. The first thing I realized was that I had to compliment everyone in my class, even the kids who didn't like me or ones that I didn't talk with much. Finding and acknowledging positive traits about everyone was not as much of a challenge as I had anticipated. At the end of the activity, receiving a page full of compliments and reading through them, a grin grew across everyone’s face. It was a great activity; looking back I realize how practical and beneficial this mentality is, and should be continued on a daily basis, for a lifetime.

Receiving compliments is a challenge for many people. Approximately two thirds of compliments get rejected, credit gets passed on or they get ignored. If you gave someone a gift and when they opened it, immediately insulted it and told you to return it, how would that make you feel? Rejecting or re-insulting a compliment is much like that - Instead, we should be absorbing these feel good claims. Below are a few tips to help avoid the habit of rejecting compliments:

 

Do not:

 

Ignore it (e.g., changing the subject)

 

Refuse it (“yeah right”)

 

Feel obligated to return a compliment quickly (could come off as insincere)

 

Comeback with an insult to yourself  (“Oh, I wish I didn’t look so fat today”)

 

Seek more reassurance (“Are you sure?”)

 

 

Do:

 

Say thank you, with a smile (simple and sincere)

 

Elaborate how that makes you feel, if you feel comfortable (“Thank you for noticing! I am proud of it!”)

 

Believe it (many people forget this one)

 

Remember it (take a mental note)

 

Return a compliment later, or pay it forward (smiles and compliments are contagious)

 

Write it down (reference past compliments when you need a pick-me-up)

 

 

By following these simple rules, you are more likely to receive compliments, and sincere ones. Believe them. Embrace them. Build upon them.

 

Remembering someone complimenting a shirt, it will make you wear that shirt again, and this time with more confidence.

 

Remembering someone complimenting a presentation or project result, you will feel more confident speaking or performing that skill on the next project.

There is a difference between being confident and being cocky. I’m not saying to rub the compliments you receive in other’s faces, negatively. Reflect on compliments in private, and acknowledge your own personal strengths and gifts.

Small, Kind Gestures Go a Long Way

You know those little favors someone will randomly surprise you with –that helps make your day a little bit brighter? Those little acts of appreciation and kindness are, unfortunately, under-used. Little details are often overlooked: not necessarily on purpose but because in this constant world of busy-ness. These little things help others understand how much you care. It’s things like that, when they aren’t done we don’t necessarily miss, but when they are done it seems so simple, yet greatly appreciated.

Rick Hanson, author of Hardwiring Happiness: The New Brain Science Of Contentment, Calm and Confidence, tells The Huffington Post,

“The way to "hardwire happiness" into the brain, then, is to take in the good -- being present to life's tiny, joyful moments. Lingering on the positive improves the encoding of passing mental states into lasting neural traits. That’s the key here: we’re trying to get the good stuff into us. And that means turning our passing positive experiences into lasting emotional memories.”

Below is a list of things to consider trying to incorporate into your personal/business habits. Not only to let another person know how much you care or appreciate them, but to feel good yourself as well. Spreading kindness should and can be a never-ending cycle.

      1. Send thank you cards. Hand written.

      2. Reach out to mentors when something they have taught you, helps you overcome an obstacle.

      3. Compliment others: strangers, clients, co-workers, friends and family.

      4. Practice manners. Always. Because of how busy we all are in our own lives, please, thank-you

          and holding the door open have become a rarity.

      5. With a smile say, ‘Hello’ to a passing stranger.

      6. Shake a hand. Give a hug. Say, ‘I love you’.

      7.  Teach someone, something.

      8.  Let someone out ahead in traffic.

      9. When in-line at the store, let someone with lesser items ahead of you.

    10. Offer your seat for someone that needs it more than you.