How we do things

How do you do things?

Do you answer email in the evenings? Do you or don’t you? Whether you clearly state you don’t, or think you’ll do it “just this once”, you signal to the world how you do things.

Do you take on other people’s deadlines as your own? Or do you operate on a timeline that’s healthy for you? Whether you clearly state you do the latter, or you make exceptions for the former, you signal to the world how you do things.

Do you work with anyone who pays? Or do you have specific criteria for who will be a good fit to work with you? How we behave signals to the world what’s important to us.

We send signals whether we mean to or not. Better to think about them ahead of time and send them deliberately.