How you interpret the world is custom to you. I find getting started can be the hardest part. Once I’m into it I’ll keep going. Of course it depends what the “it” is. I put together some short non-AI sentences to help my students get started. Most of these I have synthesized from my own studies and professional experience which I put next to them in parenthesis in some cases. I hope you can use them as needed in your businesses, schools, and churches if appropriate.
- People don’t really want to know the truth, they really just want you to confirm their truth.
- We start bending at an early age because we are doing something that is not authentic to our true self.
- Think about hype versus reality. By reality I mean science. Marketing departments will often capture the public’s imagination but fail to meet it with reality. Worse they will have crappy service.
- Look for journalistic piffle. Is it an article with 100’s of hyperlinks embedded within it? It’s probably crap.
- Can you find correlations between company products?
- Try to put words to the perceptions you receive from others. Use their words and tone.
- Does a product leave you with an emotional imprint?
- Try to create analogies in your writing when explaining complexity. Maybe it was one of those cars that goes just fast enough to slow you down on the highway.
- My professors would always hammer me with this one. Be careful not to apply what we call “overfitting” or being too discriminatory.
- A good pedigree and past performance does not guarantee you success today. (speak with any of the talented people out of work)
- Always take the initiative. (Semper Fi, USMC taught me this one)
- Often times we can use technology for purposes it was not intended for.
- When you are mapping subjects or trying to figure something out, look for the natural and scientific barriers.
- If you put structure in your writing, it will provide some meaning as well.
- When writing don’t worry about the competition, just get started. You are not just competing against other writers, but also against other forms of entertainment. It’s tough.
- Write to resonate and not reach. (I think I lost the war on this one but I still believe this is a better way.)
- Organization in documents is about retrieval. (This is well known, but I lived it as a tech writer while managing a huge archive of documents.)
- Make sure your observations are rooted in science and delivered with kindness if required. (As an aside, see my other article, “Do you want to be right or do you want a relationship?”)
- If you are too angry and up in your own head with emotional recycling, you can’t hear the nature around you. (who doesn’t love a good rehash?)
- Like you, I have a collection of estimates…..
- Is there a cadence and consistency in how someone speaks?
- Sometimes it’s fun to connect over complaints. (see my checkout charity article.)
- Technology is taking the place of skills in many industries. (ugh, aren’t we all living this now?!)
- Talk about learned complacency…or the normalization of bad behavior. (In business we need good leadership.)
- Students learn by telling, by doing, by teaching others….(this is my personal teaching philosophy, not saying it’s endorsed)