I'm currently serving as president of my building's condo association. It's not a huge building, just over a couple dozen units, but it's big enough that things can sometimes go sideways. Of late, I've been dealing with a situation that includes a possible squatter, legal complications, harassment, and threats. It's a mess. The police have been here. Lawyers are involved. Eviction proceedings are not fun.
And yet, through all of it, I've stayed relatively calm. No yelling. No blame games. I haven't let myself get angry at people. I've just focused on what needs to be done.
I'm not saying that to brag. It's just how I try to approach things. Because -- and yes, I admit, this is a weird flex -- this is not that dis-similar from the deliverability consulting work I've done, the various email sender scenarios I've helped to troubleshoot.
If you're sending mail and your delivery to Gmail or Microsoft suddenly tanks, you're often stuck having to respond to something that you didn't cause and can't directly fix. Or more accurately, you're left with something that you can't fix by just telling Google or Microsoft to change their mind. Because you can't force them to change their mind. You can only look at what you're doing, identify what might be tripping a filter or policy, and adjust.
You move the lever. To stand there and lament that someone else won't move the lever for you, that gets you nowhere.
Control what you can control. That's the mindset I keep coming back to, both in this condo drama and in email consulting work. I can't change how someone else acts. I can only change how I respond.
So here's the takeaway: Stay calm. Write it all down. Map it out. Then make a plan and move forward. Getting mad about it won't help you. Fixing it might.
I'm currently serving as president of my building's condo association. It's not a huge building, just over a couple dozen units, but it's big enough that things can sometimes go sideways. Of late, I've been dealing with a situation that includes a possible squatter, legal complications, harassment, and threats. It's a mess. The police have been here. Lawyers are involved. Eviction proceedings are not fun.
And yet, through all of it, I've stayed relatively calm. No yelling. No blame games. I haven't let myself get angry at people. I've just focused on what needs to be done.
I'm not saying that to brag. It's just how I try to approach things. Because -- and yes, I admit, this is a weird flex -- this is not that dis-similar from the deliverability consulting work I've done, the various email sender scenarios I've helped to troubleshoot.
If you're sending mail and your delivery to Gmail or Microsoft suddenly tanks, you're often stuck having to respond to something that you didn't cause and can't directly fix. Or more accurately, you're left with something that you can't fix by just telling Google or Microsoft to change their mind. Because you can't force them to change their mind. You can only look at what you're doing, identify what might be tripping a filter or policy, and adjust.
You move the lever. To stand there and lament that someone else won't move the lever for you, that gets you nowhere.
Control what you can control. That's the mindset I keep coming back to, both in this condo drama and in email consulting work. I can't change how someone else acts. I can only change how I respond.
So here's the takeaway: Stay calm. Write it all down. Map it out. Then make a plan and move forward. Getting mad about it won't help you. Fixing it might.
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