One of my friends advised me to make my emails shorter.
“No one wants to read a long email…. people have a short attention span!” She is undoubtedly right.
Yet as a writer, I LOVE filling a page with words…. It feels so good…like finger painting! You can play with word choices, word sounds, word lengths…even how words make you feel. (And you know that words carry energy!)
In almost every other written piece I’ve done — (except 30 or :60 commercials) –from articles, newsletters and press releases to books, videos, and website content, I’ve never had to be so careful about keeping my writing brief.
I’ll do my best to be succinct. (If you want longer emails, let me know. Ha!)
Back to my point. How do we make a difference in this rush-rush world of short attention spans?
I suggest we focus on sending positive messages to our brain. The brain doesn’t know good vs. bad, right vs. wrong. It accepts whatever we tell it.
We can choose to think positive thoughts — that become positive feelings… that evolve into positive actions.. with positive results.
Besides that, we get to choose our response to other people’s words. We don’t have to react. We can take a deep breath, think about it, and respond in a way that makes us feel good.
For instance, as a young child, I once got a checkmark on my report card. The teacher wrote on the side of the card, “Lynn likes to socialize too much.” Who would have thought I’d remember it now – over 50 years later?At the time, I didn’t even understand what the word, “socialize” meant! When my mom read the teacher’s message, it didn’t bother her. “That’s fine,” she said. “You’re not supposed to talk in class, but
being able to socialize is a good thing.”
Lesson: While we can’t control events or other people’s words, we CAN control our thoughts.
As an exercise today, I invite you to give yourself a positive affirmation as your “go to” words when you need a mental boost.
Here’s one, “Who I Am Makes A Difference.” (Thanks to my buddy, Sparky Bridges for that!)
Short enough?
With love,Lynn
P.S. November 7th-14th is Blue Ribbon Week. Let’s honor people who make a difference in our lives — from the clerk at a store to a waiter, healthcare worker or even a friend or relative. Over 40 million people have been honored with a blue ribbon and the goal is one BILLION by the end of the year. Let’s do it! Go ahead and get ten free blue ribbons at: http://www.blueribbons.org.
THANK YOU!