Fonts

While no marketing expert, I am going out on a limb to say there is likely a great deal of study surrounding the use of fonts in advertising materials.  Have you ever picked up something to read only to struggle to read the script because of the font selection?  And notice how words are italicized, highlighted, and bolded to draw attention to those areas?  Even font size can make a big difference in how the materials are absorbed by the reader. 

A recent conversation at my office landed in the world of font selection, and interestingly we found that some people have strong opinions about fonts they do or don’t like.  And amazing to me, I learned that some people are quite satisfied always typing in the default font.  No offense to the creators of Calibri but I really dislike this font, so I’m not sure why anyone would choose this default font voluntarily.  But on the other extreme, I loathe fonts that are so squirrelly that it looks like hieroglyphics.  Apparently, I rest in the camp of those with judgmental thoughts about fonts.  And I’m not even apologetic about my stance.

Lots of psychology inventories use common-day associations to help people understand their personality types: colors, animals, the four elements.  What if we did the same with fonts?  Open a Word or Google document and it’s easy to find an almost unending list of font options.  Try writing everyday words like happy, angry, hot, and cold and find fonts that match your perception of the word.  Then, type your name.  Metaphorically consider two font choices: The font that you project to the world and the font that aligns with your internal compass.  Maybe they are the same font, or perhaps two different fonts are selected.  Are there metaphoric fonts you would prefer to be associated with?

We all make daily choices that market ourselves to the world.  The inventory taken about the way we market ourselves could be analogous to the font choice – style, size, bolding, italicizing – and how we are portraying our “self” message to the world.  If it appears that the readers in your world understand you, then likely your font choice and word selection are working for you.  However, in the moments that you feel misunderstood, first consider the words chosen.  If those words are accurate with your internal compass and you are still misunderstood, think about the ways in which you are conveying the message.  Life is full of plenty of font choices that can create nuisance to the words.  If life is a typewriter, then font choice is the power we have been given to construct the meaning within the message.

Changepoints:

Open writing software like Word or Google and type a simple message about yourself.  Pause and consider:

·       What type of messages do you tell yourself about who you are that are untrue?  Where do you have a harsh view of yourself or an overinflated perspective?

·        How do these messages get conveyed to those around you?

·        How can you challenge your false self-concepts so that you begin to align your personality font with your truer identity?

·        Who are the people in your life who you identify as being authentic?

o   How does their authenticity benefit you and those around them?

o   How can you assimilate these traits into your own practice?

Selecting a font on a computer is an act of aligning the tone with intention, and it is a good theory to utilize in our own lives.  

outSIGHTin, LLC: Creating awareness as a changepoint for improved organizational results.

Memes

Memes can be a creative communication tool.  These little pictures pack a powerful punch because they deliver a message with such clarity.  My coworker is the queen of memes and will send the best images to match the situation we are facing.  Usually, she addresses a challenging situation with memes that will us have gut-laughing.  It instantly diffuses the unpleasantries by shedding light in comical ways.  Often it is just a picture.  If any words are used, they are few. 

These little icons are so effective because they rely on imagination, shared understanding, and brevity.  Next time you pick up your phone, look around at the world of memes and find just how many exist.  And therein lies the rub: finding the right meme.  Sometimes it takes searching many phrases until the right imagery pops up.  To make the meme work, however, requires that is conveys an accurate message.  Therefore, rarely will the sender just use a random meme.  An art and science were used to find the perfect image.

When communicating something that could evoke stress, misunderstanding, or tension, consider the process of developing a meme.  Memes work because they first think about the topic at hand and then winnow it down to an image that captures the concept.  They also work because the recipient is in mind when capturing the icon.  Lastly, it rests on the philosophy of simplicity and directness to communicate.  By using a shared understanding of the topic being conveyed, the meme gets right to the point with imagination and succinctness.  And, usually, it breaths oxygen into an otherwise weighty conversation.

This isn’t to say that all communication woes in the world can be dealt with through memes, but the mindset can often be applied in a universal way.  There are enough critics, downers, sharp-tongued people in the world already.  We don’t likely need to add to this equation.  Instead, think like a meme and see how the conversation unfolds.

Changepoints:

Using a smartphone, go to a meme setting and scroll through images:

·        Which images resonate with you?  What about their composition strike a chord?  Is it the color usage, picture choice, or brief word selection that you appreciate?

·        Consider a time when a meme was sent to you and it was highly effective.  How did it change your mindset?  How did the communication alter?

·        In what ways could you adopt the philosophies that make memes so successful?

·        What parts of your world could benefit from the metaphoric use of memes?

o   Who are the people who would appreciate it?

o   How might those relationships change?

If it seems pretty obvious to use a meme-mindset to deal with challenges, just embrace the well-known meme and say, “Thanks Captain Obvious.”

outSIGHTin, LLC: Creating awareness as a changepoint for improved organizational results.

Stars

Star treatment.  Shine like a star.  Star student.  Be a star.  Hollywood star.  These are phrases we often hear about special, high-performing people.  We correlate the attributes of stars hanging in the night sky with amazing brilliance.  This is a fair assessment since these celestial lights stand in stark contract to the blackness of the evening sky.

Most of us know that stars are located light-years away, are burning masses, and the largest is the sun.  However, there are lesser-known facts about the 200-400 billion stars in the sky that have lessons to teach.  The next time you look at these constellations or praise someone for having star qualities, remember the pieces of information that often don’t come readily to mind.  When we see stars twinkle, it isn’t because the star is doing something out of the ordinary.  Rather, it is the movement in the earth’s environment that creates this fun sparkle.  It’s the quietly working atmosphere that lays the backdrop for the star to get credit.  Also, stars with the most mass are the ones that live the shortest period.  The requirement to produce so much energy shortens its lifespan.  Having a great amount of mass comes at the cost of it burning faster.  Sometimes a steadier presence can have its own reward in a longer existence.

The next nugget of wisdom to consider about stars is profound: Stars are in perfect balance, yet stars are in conflict with itself.  There is a gravitational pull of its mass that is constantly pulling it inward.  Left unchecked, stars would merely collapse.  This doesn’t happen, however, because there is a force that pushes back: Light!  The core of a star produces enough energy to balance the gravitational pull.  The result is the illumination we see at night.  This is remarkable given how far away stars are from earth.  And yet, we can see their beauty with the naked eye.   

It makes sense why we use the analogy of a star to characterize greatness.  The physical brilliance is noteworthy.  Yet, the symbolic brilliance is equally noteworthy.  It is the subtle working of the atmosphere that creates the glimmer we admire.  Perhaps this is the important role you take in the world.  Also, it is the star with lesser mass that paces the longest.  Maybe you take this steadfast approach to life.  But regardless of the role we take in the universe, it is important to remember that stars shine not because it is effortless.  The harmony comes because the internal core of the star works in balance against gravity by using its own source of energy.  Each of us has this ability within, so we are all tasked with the responsibility of shining in the environment we’ve been given.  Let us all be our own star.

Changepoints:

Next time you look up at the night sky and see stars, pause to observe them, and consider:

·        Upon looking at stars, what human attributes come to mind?  Are you currently modeling these traits?

·        Think of a specific time when you felt positive about yourself.  What behaviors did you engage in to get to this point?

·        Are there potential shifts in your atmosphere that will help produce a needed glimmer of self-encouragement?  How can you foster your internal core to produce energy to make a difference in your world?

·        How can you create inner balance to ensure you don’t burn out quickly? 

o   What inspires you to stay engaged for the long run?

o   How is the world around you benefited from this approach?

Balance in life comes from an acknowledgement that life has a gravitational pull, and we have the internal power to create light that works with it.  This is how we glow.

outSIGHTin, LLC: Creating awareness as a changepoint for improved organizational results.

License Plates

I’m not a car person, so my knowledge in this area is slim.  Yet somehow I landed myself in a strange new curiosity surrounding license plates.  My coworker recently purchased a car and decided to get the new “vanity” plates available in Iowa.  Considering there are 25 types of license plates you could find in Iowa, it is pretty amazing that one particular license plate has risen to the standard of “vanity.”  But these plates are cool.  They are all black with stark white lettering. 

These license plates are so sweet that my son and I created a new game about them.  We call it, “Is your car cool enough?”  Here’s the premise: If we see a car donning these all-black plates, we ask ourselves if the car merits such a swanky license plate.  On a scale of 0 – 10 we rate the driver’s decision to purchase a vanity plate given the car they drive.  The game is a lot of fun when you have endless miles of roads in front of you.

During the time when we created this game, my son was struggling with something in his life, and I was trying to get him to focus on areas other than this challenge.  He stated that it was all he could see around him.  I empathized with his discouragement and offered this analogy: Previously when we drove down the road, we paid no attention to the license plates on cars.  Now, we can barely pass a vehicle without trying to note what type of license plate it carries.  Did anything change about the cars from then until now?  No.  Our perspective and focus changed, however.  When we decided to shift our eyes to something specific, we created newfound energy.  The world around us felt different even though the environment hadn’t changed because our lens towards it had.  How we drive down the road of life is our choice to make.  When there appears to be traffic jams, road construction, or unaware drivers, consider if the journey might be more enjoyable if you pay attention to the black license plates around you.

Changepoints:

Next time you are in a vehicle traveling down the road, see if you can notice things you weren’t aware of before:

·        How does it change your experience being in a car when you decide to have a new focus?

·        What are the benefits of recognizing the power of perspective during times when we can’t control our environment?

·        Once you decide to shift your focus, does it feel almost automatic to do so again in the future?

·        Who are the people in your life who can readily identify the metaphoric “attractive all-black license plates” on the road of life? 

o   What traits do they model that you could embrace?

o   How are their lives benefited from a positive mental mindset?

The world is full of cool license plates if we choose to look for them.  And the ride can be more enjoyable when we allow their presence to enter the road of life.

outSIGHTin, LLC: Creating awareness as a changepoint for improved organizational results.

Three Words

In the past four months I have watched death impact several lives.  One individual I didn’t know personally, but I know their parent.  Another was a relative of a dear friend.  Lastly, was an individual who was part of my formative childhood years.  The circumstances surrounding each passing were different, but one thread remained the same: Upon their death, people sought to convey the essence of their loved-one while they were alive.

We can all relate with wanting others to know about a person’s mark when their after-life crossing arrives.  Putting language to someone’s soul can be complicated.  None of us are the highlights or lowlights of our life.  We are the sum-total of our waking hours.  To winnow it down to a short phrase is challenging.  But it’s what a tombstone or epitaph requires.

My own dad has been gone for over 25 years.  One would think I could summarize his life succinctly after all these years.  But when I was given an opportunity this summer to purchase a memorial bench in my childhood playground, I struggled with the limitations the plaque allowed.  I only had a given amount of space to communicate a message about my dad.  After much thought, I ended up with this: David Fleming – A Noble Hearted Leader.  Brief, but true.

Given the recent deaths surrounding me and the memorial process for my dad, I thought about how our lives might be shaped if we pre-wrote the intended message for our lives.  If you had an allotment of three or four verbs and adjectives to describe the legacy you wish to imprint in the world, what would they be?  I think mine might say, “Devoted to Language.”  It could also say, “Advocate for the Unheard.”  Perhaps it would read, “Complicated Enigma.” 

In corporate environments, executives are coached on the necessity for brevity when creating mission statements.  If employees can’t recite it effortless, the odds of sustaining the purpose of the statement diminish.  A simple sentence can drive home the point.  Research a few organizations and you will get the concept.  One of my favorites is from TED, the Technology, Enterprise, and Design non-profit that now devotes its energy to expanding ideas globally.  Here is its mission statement: Spread Ideas.  Brilliantly simple because the powerful two words carry the water.  Two, three, or four words.  Think about how you want to define your life now.  The unfortunate part of epitaphs is that they are written after the fact.  Organizational mission statements, however, describe the current purpose.  As you think through your personal description, let’s end with three words I believe to be true about you: More Than Enough.

Changepoints:

Visit a cemetery, read an epitaph, or study a corporate mission statement:

·        What are the benefits of proactively writing a personal mission statement versus waiting for a post-life description?

·        How does the process of selecting a handful of chosen words create a focus around purpose and energy?

·        What will you manifest when your eyes are focused on the core of what you wish your legacy to be?

·        How will your time on earth be better aligned with your values if you determine the way you wish to pre-write your story? 

o   How does your lens affect which positives and negatives enter in?

o   What ways can you align your actions with your beliefs about yourself?

The concern about post-world accounting is that it is timebound.  The beauty of a present-day message is that it is flexible, expandable, and transformable.  Choose your words wisely. 

outSIGHTin, LLC: Creating awareness as a changepoint for improved organizational results.