From Mellow to Militant to Middle-Ground

From HERE... Answering every call.... saying YES! way too often!

To HERE....

To HERE: Or at least that's where I'm heading!

I’ve never had a “small” vision for myself  or for my life – not really.  And when I finally realized all that was REALLY possible through being my own boss, I came to a STARK realization:  The MAIN thing holding me back wasn’t that I had no money to invest… it wasn’t that  my kids were too young to really pursue what I wanted… and it wasn’t that I didn’t know the right people – or enough people.

No – those were just stories I told myself… excuses for mediocre achievement…. excuses that continued to push the BEST of what I could do / create / be / enjoy further into that black hole called “someday”.  So, I decided that the ultimate “equalizer” that I shared with the Donald Trumps and Oprah Winfreys of the world was TIME, and I set about becoming a militant protector of my own.

Anyone who interrupted my work day = the enemy.  People who called when I was working = the enemy.  If they had the gall to start the conversation with “What are you doing?”, well they were MORTAL enemies.  After all, what did they THINK I was doing?  Watching soap operas?  NO! I was up to something.  =)  Immediately, I began achieving at a faster pace. I got more accomplished, and produced more work and less apologies.  Work was good.

Life, though… had lost its flavor a bit.  My conversations were all TOO purposeful.  I had NO tolerance for anything “light” or “fanciful”.  Truthfully, I can slip into this mode quite easily and must defend against it, but this is no way to live.   Still, I had to also recognize that prior to this “militant” view, I was too mellow.  I allowed all sorts of things to suck up my time.  Play.  Phone Calls.  Errands.  Phone calls. Mindless activities.

So, I headed for “middle ground”.  I still protect my work hours…. and vehemently resent them being wasted.  But, I  now leave my militant TIME DEFENDER hat at the office, so I can come home…. enjoy a bottle of wine when cooking dinner…. snuggle on the couch… and even look forward to those NO PURPOSE NEEDED phone calls used just for “catching up”.  Now, I’m still not “water cooler” material, and probably won’t ever be found watching soap operas** with friends while digressing  into conversations about bad husbands, clothes folding, or shopping.  But hey… I’m a work in progress! =)

** By the way… did you KNOW that soap operas were originally small stories created to SELL soap????  Yep.  Simple opportunities for product placement.  And it wasn’t until relatively recently that we added 2 – 3 minute segments of “commercials”.  Of course, most commercials are so insanely, undeniably  INeffective nowadays, we’re quickly heading back to the age of product placements instead of commercial interruptions.  I’ll be glad to see it.   Of course, those businesses at the forefront of this return to placement marketing will get the lion’s share of the profit associated with it.