[author] [author_image timthumb=’on’][/author_image] [author_info]Workplace: covers the issues and activities of managing the moments of our day-to-day business lives. Momentum was my four-year radio program on the same topic and five of my seven books speak to daily business skills. Let’s explore what affects us every day (or some days) that we go to work.[/author_info] [/author]
However you travel to work, commute messages are bombarding you on every straightaway and at every turn. Commute messages and experiences can set the tone for our days and evenings – angry and agitated or uplifted and cheerful. When I travel to and from work, I notice reader boards, license plates, billboards, radio ads, and bumper stickers. Maybe you notice these. Maybe your commute includes reading a book and/or listening to your own playlist. Maybe you sleep while someone else drives.
Whatever your mode of travel, be mindful of what your commute messages are doing to your day.
Anvil Fence has a reader board with consistently great messages. Their current commute message: Smile Like You Mean It.
Bumper sticker favorites: “Too Great for Hate” and “Country Before Party”
Customized license plate messages are typically upbeat puzzles to decipher during a commute. GR8LIFE made me smile. A red Tesla Model X said PLGD IN. A white car still has me puzzling on the story behind the message: STRKE 3 (yes, I know it is a baseball reference, among other things – so what did the owner mean when choosing this?).
A license plate from a few years ago that sticks in memory: PO10TL. Get it? “Potential” is the word. When I posted about it then, the owner replied that his wife drives that vehicle and they chose “potential” as their message to remind us all that everyone, no matter how they look, sound, or experience the world, has potential. THIS is a positive commute message.
And then, there are the radio ads. Some are positive messages about upcoming community events. Many messages of late are negative: “too fat?”, “not enough money?”, or about broken things our company can help you fix. I find myself changing the channel. I want good commute messages that are e positive and uplifting so that the tone of my day, the mindset for my next meeting, and the readiness for my return home are also positive!
Notice what you are taking in. Determine to filter the commute messages you accept and refuse to be affected by the negative messages coming your way.