Typos, Typos Everywhere!

I suffer from a chronic case of typosis.

My suffering stems from two problems. First, I type a bit faster than my laptop can sometimes keep up (that’s from my days as a secretary). Second, my mind races pretty fast and my fingers have all they can to keep up some days.

That’s still no exuse, um, I mean excuse. Even speel check – I mean spell check – doesn’t always catch my Gramma errors (or is that grammar? hmmm.)

And even when I try my trusty “read it backwards” proofing tip, I still miss things.

I’m not alone. As an administrative assistant, I worked for an incredibly busy executive in the auto industry and couldn’t for the life of me figure out how this guy got promoted when his typosis was so bad.

Yeah, I was in my twenties at the time and thought I knew a lot more than most of the world. I’m feeling much better now.

The reality of the matter is that Entreprenurial ADD doesn’t allow us to “worry about” spelling. That’s what spell-chcek is for right?

But then in our haste, we forget to hit the speel cehk button and our missive is fojangled.

Yes, the previous typos were on purpose. Any from this point on are not intentional.

I am blessed beyond belief to have not one but two sets of keen eyes scanning my blog and newsletters from time to time. I am grateful to them every time they email me (privately of course) to point out the errors on my pages. Other writers may call them nit-picky, but as my friend Mark pointed out, typos damage credibility. You look foolish, and whether you want to admit it or not, you’ll end up with less credibility in the world.

I see my ‘back seat editors’ as my front-seat brand guardians. They tell me when I’m doing well, and keep me humble when I need improvement. I’m the first one to tell you I’m flawed. They’re the first ones to help me keep my mouth shut.

And PRIVATELY is the way to do this. I know I’ve blown this myself by publicly posting a typo correction on someone’s facebook page (sorry, Ted), or blog, so I stand as accountable as the next person on this issue. Posting publicly isn’t usually the fastest way to fix the typos (I’ve learned), so publicly posting only spouts YOUR intelligence, which is what makes it come off as rude, when you may really be trying to be helpful (again, sorry, Ted!). And maybe you meant to be insulting. I’m just trying to see the good in people here.

So if you write, be grateful for your editors – whoever they are – even if they’re volunteers! And if you edit, be vigilant, but also be sensitive to the people for whom you edit.

And if you’re an entrepreneur, slow down. I know it sounds counterintuitive, but as my video suggests, taking time to be “in the moment, at the moment” is one of the best tips I’ve ever learned to help overcome typosis.

Thank you Mark and Bonnie. You are my champions.