I met Maria three days ago in New York. She practices hairdressing in a Manhattan salon. She’s lived in the US for four years and is married to a man who, like her, is from Portugal. He’s been in the US for almost 20 years.
During our chit-chat “where are you from?” hair-salon conversation she told me how much she loved Australia (especially kangaroos) and had always wanted to get there.
“Oh my gosh,” she said over and over again – “I would LOVE to go. It’s such a beautiful country”.
In fact, she explained, she has a dear friend in Adelaide that she missed and would really love to see.
A couple of years ago, she came very close to taking the trip and visiting Australia. But, her husband’s work situation changed and they didn’t go.
Now, she said, she’ll need to go ” in another life”.
Maria is probably in her late 40s.
But part of her has quit. A bucket-list trip abandoned.
The decision, the resignation, that she can’t achieve a goal that makes her heart sing has really stayed with me.
I’ve felt sad about it.
I started to think about how in business we can all have something we really want not go to plan. A bump in the road. A failed goal.
The business idea that didn’t really get off the ground.
The newsletter that we were so excited to share with the world that didn’t dazzle our readers.
The new product we launched to an embarrassing non-response.
We abandon the idea or goal.
Quit.
Stop.
We move to a new goal, pretending the failure doesn’t matter.
Or, we decide that success is for others, not for us.
And, figure that maybe we’ll be successful in ‘another life’.
It really doesn’t have to be that way.
I truly believe we have infinite potential to create the results we want in our lives both personally and in business.
It takes having some grit (that stick-to-it-ness) and…
- Surrounding ourselves with great people – like-minded people who support our dreams and support us to not quit when we hit a bump in the road
- Staying committed to our education – and uncovering the gaps that may have been the cause of a failed goal
- Focus and clarity of vision – really knowing what we want and making that a priority over all other priorities
- Taking risks – being willing to take a risk knowing that we may feel uncomfortable, out of our depth, stretched beyond our comfort zone
- Reflection – checking in with ourselves to recognise if we’ve gone off track, and correcting our course when we need to
Here at HerBusiness, we are so committed to supporting you to reach your goals and visions.
And to you having what you want now, in this life.
Here’s to doing what you love,
Suzi Dafnis
CEO
HerBusiness
