Always Send Snail Mail

There has been a decline in sending cards, much to the detriment of everyone involved. People send emails. They message. They send pictures. They tweet. But let me ask you, don't you feel so much more special when someone takes the time to hand write a note to you, put a stamp on it and send it to you in the mail?

That's what I thought.

Sometimes it's depressing to get the mail. You want to avoid getting bills or corporate letters trying to convince you to get yet another credit card.

But somewhere in the back of your head, you're hoping someone sent you something else - something personal that makes you feel cared for. You're hoping for a letter, a note, or even a newspaper clipping someone thought would interest you. You're hoping someone remembered your birthday or anniversary, or just sent you something to wish you luck. You're hoping someone sent you a note saying thank you.

Never underestimate the power of snail mail. Yes, it takes some time. Yes, it takes some money. But the pay-off is worth it. People love getting mail. You know this - you have felt it yourself.

It is a relatively small thing to drag yourself to Michael's (or another craft store) rifle through the dollar bins, and pick up some blank note cards. It takes only 5 minutes to write a short note that will brighten someone's day. Even if you hand deliver such a note, it makes a difference.

I can honestly say, every time I hand someone a sealed envelope their face lights up. In a day in age when people don't take the time to do this, it makes an impression. It sets you apart from other people because it shows you value people. And that is impressively awesome.

Classes in Awesome

I'll be honest. I thought a lot of that self-dev crap was well, crap. Hooey. Pointless.

Of course the older I get, the more I realize how important self-development work really is to getting me where I want to be. This includes the visualization exercises, goal-setting, practicing, and of course learning.

The visualization exercises I get. That took me very little time to perfect because I have an incredibly active imagination. I mean, how else could I write a book in 2 weeks time? The goal-setting thing I get. I read enough self-help books (courtesy of a few mentors and a life in the church) to figure out how that can work - and I made it work for me. Even practicing I could get behind. I mean, I'm a writer. Blogging daily is my workout. The performance happens in the novels. But learning, ironically, was a different issue.

There are a few types of learning that lead to awesomeness. First there's school. School is *actually* useful, despite your memories of tests covered in drool and nasal instruction. School helps a person figure out what they like and don't. It helps to hone some basic skills, like the ability to research and communicate (very important in pretty much EVERY field in which it is worth being awesome). But school has limits. Required school only goes to a certain age. Elective higher education has resource constraints, as does continuing education classes and conferences. So what happens to those of us who are left without time or money to devote to these pursuits?

Well the second option is probably the easiest. This is the kind of learning that is fun and easy to do - the self-help learning. For people who enjoy exercises and self-exploration, this is a candy store. There are tons of books and workshops available (let alone videos and podcasts). When I got hooked on this stuff, I found it invigorating. The reason was because it helped me create a road-map to where I wanted to go and who I wanted to be. If I could get stuck in learning, I might get stuck here. Except of course, self-development books don't actually get me to improve in a particular area. They provide a framework, not content. And as we know, we need content.

The last type of education is the one I have been digging my heels to avoid. I'm not sure why, but I just couldn't get behind reading more about writing. Generally I find a lot of what people write online and elsewhere when plying their trades to be bullshit. Okay, let me clarify. There are the people who DID it, and do it because they're passionate and reading their words is INCREDIBLY helpful. Then there are people who are clearly selling something. They make me want to vomit. Yes, so that's why I drag my heels. I don't like to vomit.

Unfortunately, it is necessary to read up about your area of expertise - or the area in which you *want* to be awesome. One reason is it actually helps you get better. Practice does make perfect, but without that added benefit of knowledge it wouldn't make your trade awesome. Sometimes I'm too close to a project to see its flaws. When I can read someone else's words about style or world-building, it can help me figure out where I could improve (and we can ALWAYS improve).

Another reason is it saves time. I could wander around in the dark bumping into every other thing, or I could switch on the light and walk the easiest path through the room. Learning about your field is like that. Rather than wasting time and effort on things that may or may not work, why not read about someone ELSE'S mistakes and use their knowledge to your advantage? That's what I fully intend to do, now that I'm through with stumbling around in the dark (how ridiculously stupid of me!).

The moral of the story is, learning is required in order to become impressively awesome. Actually, learning is required to be worth your salt and it needs to be several different types. Add in some practice, visualization, and goal-setting and you're well on your way to being impressively awesome.

Did you have some stumbling blocks to being impressively awesome? Are you just now realizing what you need to learn more about? How did you get there? What are you doing now? Feel free to share comments below!

Effort + Time = Impressively Awesome

A collection of handmade Valentines

It's easy to think of people who blow others out of the water when talking about being impressively awesome. I think particularly of the Martha Stewart types. My mother is one. I assume I learned it from her.

Why do I say this? Because every time I do anything, I do it big. This includes whenever I've been in a teaching situation. When I was an AmeriCorps member at a school I actually made little Valentine candy bags for all the students (I think that was 50 students). When I was a teaching assistant at UCSB, I physically met with each individual student in my discussion sessions (75 students each quarter) to get to know them. When I was teaching speech and English Comp at SBBC, I made sure to give my students a holiday card with a few pieces of candy before the winter break. This past Valentine's Day I handmade Valentine's Day cards for each of my 80 students so they would have examples of what they could do to make their own cards for family and friends (it was an art class - taking home the example is so much cooler than just looking at the one attached to the board!).

Why are these examples of being impressively awesome? Because they show effort and time. Whenever you put effort into something, you'll do well. This is because you can do no less. When you put time into something, you'll do well, because you can do no less. Both effort and time are an indication of care - of intention and purpose. Positive intention and purpose inspires others to think more positively of you, give you the benefit of the doubt, and generally be impressed with you even if others are more skilled or talented. Effort and time are always worth the cost, especially if you're looking to move to the next level in your relationship, career, or life. The result will always be impressively awesome.