“You Won’t Like Me When We Are Finished”

… That’s how my strategy session began.  Not very comforting I would say. In truth, I trusted this friend and if I wasn’t ready to hear the harsh truth, I wouldn’t have asked for his help.

So we began by defining a few categories, those that brought in money and those that didn’t, what absolutely needed to be done and what was left over. Of course in my eyes, I had nothing that was left over and everything I did was on the list for possible revenue.  Did I say he was not afraid to call me out? And that happened more than once I will add. I’m not a real strategy kind of girl. I’m a great student however. If you tell me what I need to do, I will do it.

After a few hours I was so glad it was time for lunch so I could absorb what was being discussed and I didn’t have to remove any more items from one category to another….for a short while anyway. You have to understand that in order to add anything to a category you need to eliminate something else. Should I remind you that I have relationships with everything I do so eliminating something is like breaking up with someone. I hate that!

We are on the last hour and  he has complimented me on my attitude as well as the fact that I haven’t totally lost it or ended up in a pool of tears. The truth of the matter is that I already knew my outcome but it’s so much easier to hear someone else say it for you….I may not have allowed the tears to flow but then again, I had done so much crying over this that I don’t think I had any more tears to share.

Guess you have already figured out that the last program I put together in my wonderful brain is on hold. It was draining me, making me more cranky than I’ve ever been and taking my eye off my real goals. I invested a lot of time, energy and money and that was a difficult pill to swallow but my plan going forward was solid. The content I developed will be used in other programs and I will go forward using the tools I have in place and add this content to the mix. I was on the right path, I just took the wrong fork in the road….for now. I need to be on this path where my purpose and passion is.

So what did I learn from this entire process?

~Don’t be afraid to dream but stop before it becomes a nightmare.

~Ask for help when you have lost your way….something most women don’t like to do.

~Find someone that will not only be your friend, but will tell you when enough is enough.

~Get back on track and be as amazing as you know you are.

My friend told me a story that I replay over and over in my head.  Here is the shortened version.Two men are in the men’s room. One is wearing a very expensive suit and is throwing twenty dollar bills in the toilet. The other man asks him why he is doing that? He replies ” you don’t think I would put my hand in the toilet for a quarter do you?” I hope you got the metaphor….I heard it loud and clear.

Happy Selling!