Search

Not everyone will understand your journey. That’s fine. It’s not their journey to make sense of. It’s yours.

Zero Dean

Author | Photographer | CG Artist | Filmmaker

Zerosophy

Sentences can be interactive

by

Lessons Learned from The Path Less Traveled by Zero Dean

That sentence you stumble on may be deliberate. Clarity & ease of reading is important. But not everything is intended to be read in the same way or at the same speed. Writers may intentionally slow down or speed up readers depending on how they want information to be ingested.

— Zero Dean (@ZeroDean) December 26, 2018

Lessons Learned from The Path Less Traveled by Zero Dean

This is not an excuse for poor writing, it’s simply to say there’s an art to writing that goes far beyond simply conveying information so that it is understood quickly. Sentences can be interactive.

— Zero Dean (@ZeroDean) December 26, 2018

A dark time for some

by

For some people, this is one of the most difficult times of year. Some smile & pretend everything is ok when it’s really not. I’ve been there.

People who are in the darkest places may tell you that they’re good when you ask because that’s the socially appropriate answer to “how are you?”, not, “I’m really struggling.”

Amongst the fake smiles & insincere cheer, if you truly care about people, take the extra moment to express it to those you come in contact with in a meaningful way.

Your time, attention, and a listening ear are some of the best gifts you can give to someone and they cost nothing.

Talk is cheap

by

How do you show people that you mean what you say? That you can be trusted? That you have a good heart and character? The key is in the word “show”. You show who you truly are by what you consistently do. And when your actions are congruent with your words.

Talk is cheap. Don’t just say you care about something. Don’t just say you believe in a cause or a way of life. Take action and show it. And remember to show what you believe in when it matters, not just when it’s in your own best interest.

“The true measure of a man is how he treats someone who can do him absolutely no good.” — Samuel Johnson

Originally published December 6, 2014

Silent appreciation is easily confused with silence

by

Silent appreciation is easily confused with silence.

If someone has done or is doing something that you appreciate, respect, or admire, take the time to acknowledge it in a meaningful way. It is an extremely easy and effective action that amplifies good feelings & positivity and helps to ensure that the things you appreciate continue.

Lessons Learned from The Path Less Traveled by Zero Dean

Related:

Lessons Learned from The Path Less Traveled by Zero Dean

Complaining vs Encouragement

by

You can be someone who looks for and complains about what they don’t like — or you can be someone who looks for and encourages the things they do like. One of these things will nearly always leave you feeling better than the other.

You can wish that more people did a certain thing — or you can actively begin showing appreciation to those who already do. And once again, one will nearly always leave you feeling better than the other.

The fact is, how we approach and seek to overcome problems can leave us feeling better or worse. Combating a negative situation with more negativity is rarely effective. But seeking ways to fight negativity in a positive and empowering way often is.

Encouraging the types of things and behaviors we want to see more of not only leaves us feeling more empowered than complaining does, it helps set a positive example for others to follow. This, in turn, helps to create more of the type of people and behaviors we want to see more of and less of the type of people and behaviors we don’t.

Encouragement is extremely powerful in that it not only nurtures the people you give it to, it nurtures the very thing you are encouraging. And this, in turn, brings into the world more of what you would like to see.

• • •

And remember:

1. It’s ok to show appreciation for things that you feel should be or are relatively common. People love recognition for the good things that they do.

  • You can thank someone for returning their grocery cart to the carousel
  • You can thank someone for cleaning up their mess in a public place
  • You can thank someone for holding the door for someone else
  • You can thank someone for any positive action you see them perform

2. Perception isn’t always reality. Just because you think someone appears successful or isn’t the type of person (or company) that could use positive feedback doesn’t mean your assessment is accurate. When everyone assumes their feedback won’t be significant to the people (or companies) they give it to, few people provide feedback. So instead of the perception that someone is being buried with praise, the opposite is true.

The point is, always take the time to show meaningful appreciation for the things that you like regardless of how “liked” you think they are.

Silent appreciation is easily confused with silence.

Lessons Learned from The Path Less Traveled by Zero Dean

Related:

Social proof vs social media

by

Always remember that social media responses are not an accurate representation of people’s actual interest in your offerings. Users of social media platforms are always working against mechanisms that are intentionally kept a mystery.

Be very careful about using the response to something you or someone else posts as an indicator of its actual value. Lots of quality content goes unnoticed. And lots of crap gets promoted. Social media systems can easily be manipulated to make one thing appear more valued or popular than another.

Every platform has algorithms that are designed for the host’s benefit, not your own. And as long as there is a financial barrier between who can afford to pay for views and who cannot, it will never be a fair system based on the quality of the content.

• • •

People can pay for all the things that can make them appear valued, popular, desirable, and successful. People can pay for views, pay for likes, pay for followers, and pay for engagement.

And all these things become part of a psychological phenomenon called social proof. And social proof can easily be leveraged to influence people to act and behave in ways that they wouldn’t if they knew the reality of a situation vs. what marketers and others want them to perceive to be true.

Social proof can also deter people from pursuing a chosen path because they get discouraged when they compare the results they’re getting with the results that someone else appears to be getting. It may simply be that someone is paying for those results. And even if they’re not… as I wrote in It’s your life and your path — keep going, “Remember, you’re living your life and walking your own path, not someone else’s. Just because someone else is making progress towards their goals is no reason for you to stop making progress towards your own.”

And as I wrote in Rejection, “If you believe in what you have to offer, then don’t stop offering it simply because some of those you offer it to reject it.”  It may not be that what you have to offer is being rejected or ignored at all — it may just be that it is going unnoticed or hasn’t reached the right audience yet.

Related:

Lessons Learned from The Path Less Traveled by Zero Dean

A way forward

by

Lessons Learned from The Path Less Traveled by Zero Dean

 

Always seek ways to make progress in some area of your life even when you come to a standstill in another. Often, the key to making progress on one path can be found by making progress down another.

There is nearly always a way forward even if you have to take a step back to get there.

Opportunities await those willing to put in the effort.

Keep going.

Related:

Lessons Learned from The Path Less Traveled by Zero Dean

+ More
zero-dean-logo-600
Search
Instagram Twitter Youtube Pinterest Amazon Reddit Soundcloud