Starting the New Year off in Style

Here's an article about one of my clients (Igigi.com). It talks about the line being named after a goddess among other things. Their clothes are amazing and I wear them all the time these days because they are so well made.

I love celebrating my client's successes! Congratulations Yuliya and Igigi!

Be kind anyway...

While this quote is attributed to Mother Teresa and inscribed on the wall of her home for children in Calcutta, the original version (called the Paradoxical Commandments) was written by Dr. Kent Keith in 1968.

"People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives. Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some unfaithful friends and some genuine enemies. Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and sincere, people may deceive you. Be honest and sincere anyway.

What you spend years creating, others could destroy overnight. Create anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness, some may be jealous. Be happy anyway.

The good you do today will often be forgotten. Do good anyway.

Give the best you have and it will never be enough. Give your best anyway.

In the final analysis, it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.

What's your game?

A few months ago in working with a client on the edge of giving up her consultancy, she said to me, "But I don't see you making a million dollars. How do I know I'll be successful?"

I laughed - she thought my game was "make a million dollars" because that's what all the marketing books and "How to's" assume: that you're in it solely or mostly for the money.

My game is "Spend time with my son." As a result, my work is structured so that I can often work at home, work remotely, work part-time and be flexible while still making enough money to sustain us. My son is my priority - he is what I value. So I work to make sure I can be with him as often as possible.

Once she really got that, her attitude changed - she actually went into a bit of shock. She had been assuming that "success" meant huge sums of cash. In that moment she realized that she could define her success conditions any way that suited her. Within 2 weeks her income doubled and her hours going way down and she decided to take a two week vacation to see her family - which is what she values.

Exercise:
How do you define success?
What assumptions are you making that no longer suit you?
If you knew you could not fail, how would you define success?