Try it. And tell me how it goes.

The past couple days I’ve been struck by calls and emails from people asking me for advice on matters business and personal, asking me for my thoughts, advice and counsel.

I mean, who am I?

But seriously, it’s meant a lot to me.

Thus, Friday morning I asked:

today: tell someone they matter. especially if you've never told them before. (why? http://bit.ly/11ZQPw #oldgold )

Why? To try to fix a couple things. Like: what happens when the markets and metrics for attention, value and impact break down? And: how can we figure out the impact we have if the traditional markets fail us, if we don’t get feedback, if nobody tells us?

The simple goal: to tell people they matter, to help give them the verve and confidence necessary to push uphill, to help them fight through the dips, to help them keep moving forward.

The much-larger goal: to help make meaning “pay”.

Clicks, page views, followers, these are the metrics we see everyday, but they aren’t enough.

That’s why I like what Jen and Frank are doing with thankfulfor; that’s why I care about supporting people living lives “too meaningful to ignore” *; that’s why I proposed an idea a couple weeks ago:

Let’s take the idea one step forward. Pick out one person “living a life too cool to ignore”, and tell them. Reach out to one person that you follow online everyday but have never said hello to. And share with me the results, privately or publicly. I’m sincerely interested in what happens.

Try it. And tell me how it goes.

* Yes, I’m switching from saying “too cool to ignore” to “too meaningful to ignore”. Just seems more powerful.

Hello, I'm Taylor Davidson.
I'm an early-stage VC and a photographer. If you liked this post, please subscribe to this blog. For more like this, check out the archives, and follow me on Twitter @tdavidson.
  • http://www.sambr.com/ sambr

    I just emailed Nick Onken to let him know that I appreciate the photographs he makes and the information he shares. Thanks for giving me the motivation to reach out.

  • http://www.taylordavidson.com/writing/ Taylor Davidson

    Thank you for telling someone they matter, and for touching back to tell me.

    Pay it forward, right?

  • ericajoh

    Thanks for the idea! Am interested to see how people will react to this.

    And yes, “living a life too cool to ignore” is far more powerful than “too meaningful…”. I just love that expression. It reminds me of something I read online not too long ago though. “Ignore everybody”. I can not yet remember whether it was only a quote, some piece of advice, or part of the title to a book. If somebody knows, feel free to point me in the right direction.

  • http://www.taylordavidson.com/writing/ Taylor Davidson

    You mean the other way around, right? “Too meaningful to ignore” is much more powerful than “too cool to ignore”…

    So, did you tell someone they matter? How did it go?

    “Ignore everybody” comes from Hugh MacLeod's “Ignore Everybody”.

  • ericajoh

    Oops. Yes.

    I haven't heard anything back from the person I told… yet.

    And thanks…

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