Communication Can Make It or Break It
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Last week, I was excited to receive a letter from a charity I had recently donated money to. I flipped it open only to read that they needed more money. To my surprise there was only a small portion of the letter dedicated to how donations are helping. I was upset and shocked to think that a charity with such a good reputation within the community wasn’t more sensitive to how they communicated with their donors. As a donor, I want to hear how my “little bit” is helping, what new programs they have in place, and how many lives were saved or enriched due to improved services. In my eyes, this letter came across as negative and ungrateful. Why should I donate again if what I’m doing isn’t helping just the littlest bit?
In discussing my point of view with the charity’s marketing director, it became clear that it was in no way meant to come across as I had perceived it, but they needed to be made aware of their error. Instead of communicating their position on the matter, many people might have simply not donated another penny. A miscommunication is understandable but if it was a different situation, it could have cost that charity a donor/client.
Opening letters, reading email, and conversing with people are everyday occurrences; miscommunications are bound to happen and could cost you a client, a business partner, an employee, an interview, a job. So to make the most of your communications, it’s best to practice taking a little more care in writing. Even the smallest of memos or the shortest of sentences could mean the difference between “make” or “break”.
~Amanda~
Victories in Disguise
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There was a point in my past where I hit a career high. I was doing what I loved in an environment I had sought for what seemed like forever. Having reached it at such a young age, I was grateful and thought it was all up from there.
I could not have been more wrong.
Only a month into my career high, I hit my career low. Not fitting into my new position, I was set free. Being the eternal optimist (no hard feelings!), I knew there was a reason why I was now looking for another path, so that’s what I set out to do. It made me realize I had to find not only a design career, but a design career that fit who I am.
You see, even though we may love and crave the careers we choose, it might take some time to find the right environment to really excel in. With so many options and so many different kinds of companies out there, which one works for you?
Finding the right work environment is not something that happens overnight when there are so many choices; patience and resilience are necessities. While testing the waters, occasionally failure might rear its ugly head. Personally I don’t call it failure, because failure means you let the experience decide you shouldn’t try again. In reality, it’s all part of our professional and personal growth and is necessary in order to find the right “fit”.
I always remember that without great failure there cannot be great success, so I use this as my motto to not be afraid to take risks and put myself out on a limb again. The universe has a funny way of blessing us with opportunity. It may not come in the pretty package we expect. If we’re open to “whatever will be, will be”, we can turn our experiences into great victories instead of great defeats.
~Amanda~
Positive Design for Positive Change
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Why do you do what you do? Myself, I am drawn to graphic design because I am an advocate for positive change; I believe that can be an underlying drive for pretty much any job. I try to align myself with projects that will contribute to better things and it makes me feel good to know I’ve made a difference in my own creative way.
In a single ad campaign (or any other form of design), designers can create awareness about a social issue, promote healthy living, inform or educate, fundamentally creating change – and a positive one, at that. What power! It can be harnessed and used to do so much good if we make conscious choices and become aware of the impact we create on the world around us.
Design can also take on forms that are very superficial and manipulative, to only increase the size of someone’s bank account, so we must be careful in how we utilize this great power. Yes, of course, everyone wants to have fat bank accounts – but not at the cost of something meaningless or hurtful.
We designers are at the forefront of change. We are the beginnings of fresh ideas, new ways of thinking, and have the ability to really make waves. Whether we realize it or not, people make decisions based on our designs.
No matter what you do for a living, your decisions also have an impact on the world around you, even if it’s just a “small” impact. So I would say think of the kind of impact your next design or project or decision will make. And make it a good one.
~Amanda~
Positive Thinking: What Do You Want Tomorrow to Look Like?
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Sometimes it’s hard to stay positive in this world of uncertainty and setbacks. Unfortunately these things are part of life, so training your brain to think positive when times get rough is essential for a happy, fulfilling life. But the real secret is… it’s all up to you.
I know what it’s like to swim in a pool of pity, even for months at a time. I’ve been there and eventually I realized that it wasn’t working to bring me the good things I needed. I wasn’t seeing any opportunities ahead, no prospects, nothing good… and that’s exactly what I got. I consciously made an effort to get myself out of the funk because I couldn’t really lose anything but my negativity. It was slow going at first, but positive thinking eventually became part of my everyday thought process and good things eventually followed: a new job, better pay, more opportunities.
Yes, to have negative thoughts is natural and perfectly human – but one must not let those negative thoughts become who they are. I’ve known too many people who have used not-so-bad situations in life as crutches to not bother recognizing any good in their lives. And it doesn’t surprise me that they struggle through life and end up merely surviving. Being near them was toxic for me, and didn’t give me the energy to be positive. Like breaking any other bad habit, negativity needs to be treated in the same way. We need to be conscious, aware and willing.
Unhappy experiences are all opportunities. As the starting point in your next chapter, they’re the perfect time to be planning and thinking positive so you will attract all the good things you are deserving of. The possibilities are endless, really… so when you’re at your lowest of lows or maybe “just” having a bad day, the timing couldn’t be more appropriate. In the end, it’s all up to you: what do you want this moment to be and what do want tomorrow to look like?
~Amanda~
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