Curiously Strong

As a marketing communications guy, I pay a lot of attention to smart, on-point slogans. There are some good ones out in the marketplace now, and there are some that miss the mark. 

Of course, the best ones always stand out. I find these to be clever, succinct, simple and often thought provoking. 

One of my favorites is actually the ALTOIDS slogan. Yep, the breath mints.

Not only is the packaging well done (they are not a client of ours, by the way) and unique, but so, too, is the slogan: Curiously strong mints. 

Ponder that for a minute. Whoever came up with that one deserved a promotion! 

It is clever, connecting back to the brand quite nicely and naturally. 

ALTOIDS are indeed curiously strong, as are many people in our world today. I like studying these curiously strong individuals and learning from them – soaking them up like a sponge. 

Who do you know that is curiously strong? What traits do they possess?

Why do they stand out among the crowd?

This stressful season is a time for curiously strong people to shine, and a host of them certainly are in heroic fashion – from doctors to nurses, to teachers to parents, to neighbors and countless others, known and unknown. 

What do curiously strong people have inside of them that provides them this keen sense of strength and equilibrium? 

I see a couple of attributes, primarily three. 

The first one is buoyancy, a trait curiously strong people possess in droves.

These buoyant folks may be faced with a serious problem that brings them down for a second, but they always pop back up like a fishing bobber – stronger, more determined and more willing to keep going in the midst of staggering challenges.

They tell themselves in the middle of the long road, “Don’t quit” and, in the dark of the night, “Don’t give up.” And they also ask themselves: “What can I learn from this?” 

The second trait I often observe with curiously strong people is their sense of positivity. Call it the power of positive thinking or just having a good, optimistic attitude. 

These folks don’t build up obstacles in their mind. They are not intimidated by other people nor do they try and emulate them. They are comfortable in their own skin. Also, they tend to replace a negative thought with a positive one. 

An old saying states: When fate throws a dagger at you, there are two ways to catch it. Either by the blade or by the handle. Catch the dagger by the blade, and it may cut you, perhaps injure you. But if you catch it by the handle, you can use it to fight your way through.

The inspirational Norman Vincent Peale once said, when reflecting about this timely word picture, that “when faced with a big obstacle, seize it by the handle. In other words, let a challenge rouse your fighting spirit. You can’t get anywhere without a good fighting spirit. So, get it going. It will draw your latent powers into action.”

Positive people possess a true fighting spirit, and this tangible quality emanates magnetic power.

You want to be around these people. They radiate energy. They make things happen. They inspire the team and have a caring spirit. 

They tend to never give up, never give in, never give out. They give it their all, and their conduct is always beyond criticism. 

It rubs off on you, and you end up mirroring these qualities to others. Positivity has quite a ripple effect on others. 

Don’t get me wrong: It is not a whistling through the graveyard type of mindset. Instead, it is staying real and hopeful and reassuring while navigating life’s continuous uncertainties and inertia. 

The third attribute I see in curiously strong people is a real sense of insatiable curiosity. They are always learning, absorbing information, asking probing questions, working every day humbly to get better personally and professionally. 

I was with a highly successful executive a few years ago. We were in the car together for several hours heading to a talk in Tennessee, so I had the opportunity to pick his brain.

I asked him a bunch of business questions. One question I posed was what propels him forward every day. He said, “Glen, I want to learn something new daily. I just stay curious. That is a central focus of mine. It motivates me.”

This person walks the walk in this daily curiosity effort. On the ride back, he equaled the amount of questions I asked him and more so. 

Well, these are just a few quick thoughts on the curiously strong topic. May we all hang tough during this particular life chapter we are writing together, and may we demonstrate tremendous strength and endurance while weathering the storm. It makes such a big difference.

Let’s be buoyant, stay positive and remain curious, especially right this very minute. And then in doing so, we will earn the respect of a watching world. 

Strength for the journey.