Linguistic research tracks patterns in how thanks is articulated.“You’re welcome” doesn't always come across as polite anymore.You’re welcome’s positive politeness orientation can make it seem snarky or braggy.The alternative phrase "No problem" reflects the fact that offsetting a sense of imposition or obligation is now a cultural norm.

The Reply To A 'Thanks'

When looking at the pattern of how we respond to thanking over the past 50 years, there are two things that are striking. One is the rise of the phrase “no problem” as a popular alternative to “you’re welcome,” and the second is the fact that, despite the feeling that “you’re welcome” is fading fast from our lips, there is not overwhelming evidence that this is true. Studies still show it as the most popular response to “thank you” for Americans .

The Last Fifty Years Of Thank You Replies

this doesn’t mean that it will lose its old meaning as a genuinely polite phrase. “You’re welcome” was the most likely response when responding to more elaborate thanks (e.g., thank you so very much vs. thanks). But to a more casual “thanks,” “you’re welcome” might come across as snarky while “no problem” doesn’t have, well, the same problem.So, yes, there might be some sarcasm behind the “you’re welcome,” but don’t lose hope - there is often still a lot of gratitude too.

The Bottom Line

Expressing gratitude can risk sounding snarky. What phrases are preferred?

communication

Communication

The Sarcastic “You’re Welcome”

Creating a clear, more focused mind starts by making decisions about how we spend our time every day. When those choices are in line with our values, interests, and passions, this is referred to as personal agency.

Personal agency

When people notice that their mind is racing or they start to become anxious, they are typically thinking about something in the past or in the future.<ul><li>It is normal for the mind to wander. If this happens, gently return your awareness to your breathing and come back to the present.</li><li>To refocus on the here and now, you can start by noticing the sensations in the body. If you are compassionate with yourself and approach the practice with curiosity, openness, and forgiveness, you will be more likely to try it again.</li></ul>

Being present

Studies have found that jotting down thoughts in a journal can improve well-being.The Bullet Journal is an organizational system but also an exercise in mindfulness — one that requires you to continually re-evaluate how you are investing your time and energy and then decide whether those things are worth it.

Try the Bullet Journal method

Choose just one or two reliable sources and read them at a specific time each day. For example, you can listen to a news roundup podcast while commuting to work or read a newspaper at breakfast.We have all been inundated by a relentless news cycle, a fire hose of information coming at us, that can leave us feeling anxious, angry, or even helpless.

Reduce information overload

Messy spaces tend to prevent clear cognitive thinking. It has a distorting effect that can bleed into other aspects of a person’s life — not only their emotions but their productivity.

Declutter your physical space

If there are people you care about whom you have lost touch with, don’t be shy about getting back in touch, she urged.We need the support and levity of people who make us feel good. It might even inspire a “chain of positivity” where the person you contacted feels inspired to do the same with others.

Reconnect with the people you love

personaldevelopment

Personal Development

mindfulness

Mindfulness

5 Ways to Calm Your Anxious Brain

From the moment we first open our eyes in the morning to the moment we go to bed, we’re confronted with a barrage of decisions. Which outfit should I wear? What should I make for dinner? What’s the fastest route to take to work today? Our minds are often full of a continuous stream of tasks, and it takes a toll on our mental well-being. 
With so much information coming from different sources—from news to social media outlets to our own family in the background—our brains can feel completely overwhelmed.

The Brain Is Always On

The truth is, our mind isn’t at its best or at its most creative when it’s being held under the weight of thousands of tasks and projects.
We need to work on clearing our mind and freeing up space—both physically and mentally—to allow our creative ideas to start flowing.

Declutter Your Mind

Try something called a “brain dump” in the first hour of your day. This exercise, which only requires 10 minutes, can help you empty your mind of negative thoughts and streamline your focus on what matters most.
It works like this: Take a few minutes to write down on paper everything that’s weighing you down, letting your mind flow freely onto the page. If you think keeping everything you need to know neatly packed away in your head is a smart way to run your life, you’re probably hurting your productivity and stifling your creativity.

The Brain Dump Exercise

One can try embracing quiet reflection and moments of doing absolutely nothing. When you disconnect from distractions, you give space for your mind to create new pathways.
If you’re hesitant to break away because you feel that you’re on a roll, be mindful that it might be a false impression. Your brain needs downtime to remain industrious and generate better ideas.

Being Passive

It’s been proven that spending time in nature relieves attention fatigue and increases our creativity. If you’ve been using your brain to multitask—as most of us do most of the day—and then you set that aside and go on a walk, without all of the gadgets, you’ve let the prefrontal cortex recover.
That’s when we see these bursts in creativity, problem-solving, and feelings of well-being.

Be In Nature

Our never-ending obligations are important, but those flashes of creativity, the ones that come to you spontaneously in some quiet hours, are pushed to the back of your mind.
Honouring your passion can help you tap into your emotions and boost your creative genius, but only if you allow yourself the space to pay attention. When you open your eyes first thing in the morning, rather than rehearse your multitude of to-dos, remember to reflect on the ideas that enliven you, the ones that fill your cup with meaning. Those are the ones that should be at the top of your list.

Respect Your Passions

You’ve decluttered your home for remote work. Now declutter your mind.


creativity

Creativity

scienceandnature

Science & Nature

How to quiet your mind by doing a brain dump

After you’ve established a product-market fit and have your demand generation in order on the marketing and outbound sales side of things, it’s important to ensure that your reps have their calendars full depending on the deal size. 
Once that’s solidified, founders should be looking at the average deal size, the speed — how fast the deals are going through the sales cycle, not just in total but by stage — and then on top of it too is the conversion rates.

The Most Important Metric For Startups

Many companies map out their ICPs(Ideal Customer Profile) but don’t take it to the next level. But imagine only having ‘first-round calibre talent’ in your pipeline. It’s like having the best of the best — the 20% of your customers that create 80% of your revenue but that’s all that’s in the pipeline. That is PCP, the Perfect Customer Profile.

Perfect Customer Profile

This first operating system is about applying the 20/ 80 PCP rule mentioned above to your targeting. Then from there, you need to execute on doubling your average deal size year over year. “It’s really stacking strategy, process and then execution all the way down to what you say, when you say it, who you say it to, and the order you say it in so that it’s fully comprehensive.

Three Core Operating Systems: The Whale Scale Operating System

Most SaaS founders have developed an excellent primary sales engine to cover the front end. They may have retention rates in the mid to high 90s but then don’t have a secondary sales process in place where they don’t speak to their customers. Customer service is more of a nurturing process where you “take care of customers after the fact. But if you seed and sell the entire time that you’re doing that, you’re not only providing value to the customer but then you’re really truly understanding what the biggest problems they have are and then continually solving them.

The Exponential Expansion Engine

Referral is the single best way to double the size of your company repeatedly. “We got that Amazon Whole Foods deal. It was through a referral. That was a $20 million deal that changed the entire direction of the company.” Companies like Tesla, Slack, and Dropbox have been able to drive significant growth through referrals.

Referral Operating System

<ul>
<li>The pathways: the type of incentives you have. </li>
<li>The emotional peaks the customer has: If you think about the emotional experience of the buying process, you have to understand those peaks and then align with them accordingly.</li>
<li>The sales process: the behaviour design that determines how you align the customer emotional peaks with the sales process.</li>
<li>Persuasion: Humans have mental shortcuts and 90% of decisions are made through our subconscious. This step is about tapping into that subconscious and the mental shortcuts that people take through an influence strategy.</li>
</ul>

The Four-Step Referral Framework

Breaking down sales strategies that founders and entrepreneurs need to adopt to amplify revenue, specially in startups.

marketingandsales

Marketing & Sales

business

Business

startup

Startups

Founder-Led Sales Strategies For Startups ⎪Predictable Revenue

Entrepreneurs cannot simply replicate Apple or Nike’s PR strategies and expect the same results.For starters, startups begin with a clean slate and no brand awareness. Therefore, an entrepreneur’s focal point for generating PR will often focus on one or more startup-specific objectives, such as:<ul><li>Educating the public about a new product, service or idea</li><li>Raising funds to build or grow the business</li><li>Generating trials of its products or services</li><li>Acquiring new customers</li><li>Attracting top talent</li><li>Staking out its place amongst the competition.</li></ul>

PR for startups vs. established companies

Startups can do this by being clear about what they want their audience to know about the new brand, how it will differentiate itself from existing companies and how it will otherwise add more value than its competitors.Startups can identify short-term opportunities to introduce their brand by figuring out where their audiences are and communicating with them directly

Jumpstart your path to brand awareness

An established business has a track record and press activities to build on, so its PR strategy might be about continually feeding the editorial pipeline to keep the brand in the media.Entrepreneurs are pulled in a million different directions every day -- which doesn’t leave a lot of time to devote to building a PR strategy on their own. That being the case, entrepreneurs need to determine what resources are available to help them develop a PR strategy and consider whether they have these resources in-house or if they need to invest in an outside PR firm.

Continually feeding the media pipeline

Startups must specifically address the unique needs and challenges of being a new company while creating their PR strategy.

What Startups Should Do Differently When It Comes to PR

Drawing is the process of layering shapes, lines, and scribbles on top of each other until you get a happy result.
Sketching is the process of roughly putting an idea on paper. It is used for exploration and a great way to brainstorm. When you make a mistake, use it to your advantage, or if you can't, move on.

You can sketch

Use free-flowing lines that are loosely and lightly drawn. You can do it by adjusting your grip on the pencil so that your hand is relaxed. It doesn't matter if your lines are wobbly. It will improve with muscle memory by drawing often. <ul><li>Focus first on the general shapes, such as size, shape, angle, etc. Don't think about the details yet.</li><li>Don't be a perfectionist.</li><li>Use a gentle amount of pressure.</li></ul>

How to sketch

<ol><li>Sketch a circle loosely. Don't worry if your lines are not great. Remember that you're going to work in layers.</li><li>Refine the shape. Find the areas that need improvement and sketch over until you get closer to your desired result.</li><li>Keep repeating until you get closer to what you want. Rotate the sketch to help your eyes look at the shape from a different angle.</li><li>Define the shape. When you are happier with the form, use more confident lines to define the shape.</li></ol>

How to sketch - step by step

Find objects to draw around the house, or google search "random objects." Fill an entire page in your sketchbook, following the four steps:<ol><li>Sketch loosely</li><li>Refine the shape</li><li>Refine it further</li><li>Define the desired shape</li></ol> Some ideas to draw: fork, apple, banana, laptop, jacket, hat, hand, foot, eye, key, lamp, cat, dog, bird, boat, tree, flower, car, a person sitting, a person standing, helicopter.

Drawing challenge

problemsolving

Problem Solving

entertainment

Entertainment

artsandculture

Society, Arts & Culture

How to Sketch

In order to advocate for yourself you must seek in you your strengths, the things that vitalize you among those that drain you, and knowing which environment empowers you and enables you to do your best work.
Other people won't advocate for you and they most certainly won't speak up in your absence.

Gain career clarity first

Once you've identified the goal that you want to achieve, start thinking about the things you need to do to reach it.
Take a couple of hours to brainstorm some solutions to your problems and try to talk to your manager about these solutions you've come up with.

Create a roadmap for your end goal

It's important to develop your confidence at work. When you're showing up as your authentic self, the easier it will be to advocate for what you want. With a higher sense of self-confidence, you'll have more influence when approaching your manager or other teammates.
If you believe in yourself, they will be more likely to believe in you too. Make sure to be cognizant of your triggers and during these moments, counteract them with something positive, and remember to focus on what you can control.

Developing your confidence

There are people at your company who will show their support for you. Look for people who are most likely to be aligned with your values.
They can help to refine your questions, help you practice having the conversation, and actually aid in increasing your confidence.

Find your allies

When you have an open conversation with your manager, start by sharing how you value their feedback, that you are strongly committed to achieving your goals, and how much you're willing to support the team and the company as a whole.
Then, you can share some possiible solutions that you've discussed with your colleagues such as redistributing draining tasks and re-prioritizing deadlines.
End the conversation by bringing it back to your strengths, interests, and needs as an individual.

Understanding your manager's expectations

Keep in mind that you are doing amazing work. You have exerted great effort and you deserve a pat in the back, so even if you don't get the outcome you want, be kind to yourself and think about how much you've learned, improved, and grown through the whole process.

Prepare for pushback 

career

Career

corporateculture

Corporate Culture

teamwork

Teamwork

leadershipandmanagement

Leadership & Management

Ask an Expert: How Do I Advocate For Myself at Work?

Beyond the love and romance, the novels of Jane Austen has a layer of steel and resilience that may inspire us in uncertain times.
Jane Austen's own life was a lesson of perseverance: She published six novels in seven years and died at the age of 41. When she was 25, her rector father retired. Austen, her parents and her sister spent the next eight years travelling between small properties in Bath, relatives' homes and seaside resorts. Much of this life is reflected in her heroines.

Jane Austen: a model of perseverance

<ul>
<li>Displacement. In Sense and Sensibility, the Dashwood sisters and their mother are stripped of their inheritance and must leave their family home.</li>
<li>Feeling trapped by familial friction, and walking to feel liberated. In Pride and Prejudice, Elizabeth Bennett strives for freedom by walking about the countryside to get peace away from her family life.</li>
<li>Imperfect families. Austen pioneered the way she showed families as flawed. Before that, parents were shown as perfect and harmonious.</li>
</ul>

Prevalent elements in Jane Austen's novels

Austen's heroines are often required to persevere. Elinor Dashwood wrongly believes Edward Ferrars has married another. "I will be calm, I will be mistress of myself" is inspiring a strength of character.
The emotional growth of Austen's characters is another facet that can inspire us at a time of uncertainty. Many of her characters acquire a growth mindset - thinking that life should be lived by adapting to challenges and learning from your mistakes.

Jane Austen: Her heroines' growth

<ul>
<li>Jane Austen's writing was prescribed to WWI soldiers suffering from severe shell shock. Rudyard Kipling's 1924 The Janeites celebrates this wartime association. It is about a group of soldiers who bond through their love of Austen.</li>
<li>Even the author of Winnie the Pooh, AA Milne, bonded with fellow soldiers over his love for Austen.</li>
<li>Winston Churchill was consoled during illness when his daughter read Pride and Prejudice to him.</li>
<li>During the present-day lockdown, many enjoyed the richness of Austen's novels.</li>
</ul>

Jane Austen's writing as a tonic

Her novels may be mischaracterised as romantic escapism, but at their core, they have a lot to say about perseverance – and it makes them perfect reading for now, writes Heloise Wood.

motivationandinspiration

Motivation & Inspiration

What Jane Austen can teach us about resilience

Meteors, or shooting stars, are pieces of space rock burning up in the atmosphere as gravity pulls them towards the earth. Most meteors are created from icy comets which undergo sublimation due to the sun, turning from ice to gas.
The ice evaporates and forms a stream of debris, slamming into our atmosphere and creating a spectacular display of meteor showers in the night sky.

Meteors

An annual meteor shower happens when our planet comes into a debris stream of a comet. Some major meteor showers like Lyrids and Geminids deliver 20 to 70 meteors per hour in a sporadic manner.
Meteor showers are best seen from the Northern or the Southern hemisphere, or more practically, from a remote village.

Meteor Showers

Find out what causes shooting stars and how famous showers get their names.

technologyandthefuture

Technology & The Future

Meteor showers, facts and information

Abstaining from all news would probably look like you're about to betray your civic duty, but watching every story in real-time is a betrayal of your sanity.
Consider checking in on the news once a day for 45 minutes, preferably in the morning. Listen to radio news or a popular news podcast, or browse the main headlines of a newspaper. However, do not watch cable news or look to Twitter.

News consumption

Be intentional. Focus on the positive, and avoid posts whose primary goal is to make you angry.
Consider removing social media apps from your phone. Access them only on your computer and only for a set period of time in the evening.

Treat social media with particular care

Give your work the focus it needs, be present with your family, rediscover the joys of high-quality leisure, and experience gratitude.
You cannot reclaim your focus when your day is consumed with insistent negativity. Reflect on what you need, then get on with purposeful living.

Focus on living well

Anxious uncertainty caused by the pandemic and political unrest--amplified by social media--is breaking us. It's time to push back.

The Sarcastic “You’re Welcome”

5 Ways to Calm Your Anxious Brain

How to quiet your mind by doing a brain dump

Founder-Led Sales Strategies For Startups ⎪Predictable Revenue

What Startups Should Do Differently When It Comes to PR

Amir L