I wish our society would stop teaching kids and adults to be anything but themselves. It’s such a waste of human potential. It makes people crazy. It made me crazy. Thank god I figured this out or I’d be in some loony bin somewhere.
Nothing worse than feeling embarrassed to be yourself! Or thinking you need to suppress your best features because they deviate from the watered down norm. Way easier to do what comes naturally in every life situation. That said …

It’s really difficult to be a business owner if you’re not yourself. I know folks will recommend that you be Professional (aka fake) and suggest you wear stiff clothes and cut off your hair if it looks too wild and not wear dangling earrings and talk without emotion and never reveal anything “personal.”

What a bunch of business hogwash! I supposed you might get some business doing that, but at what cost? Your sanity, your loss of self, your selling of your soul to the business devil?

Who comes up with this bogus advice? Why would we act differently just because we’re selling something? Especially if we believe we are helping others with the thing we are selling. Does being fake when you are selling something sound like a good idea?Are you wearing different masks — one for play and one for work and one for family and one for friends? Not sure? Notice if your center of personality gravity shifts when you go to work or meet with clients. You’ll be able to notice once you turn your attention to it.

If that happens, try to pick one tiny personality trait and refuse to change it for your next client meeting. How did you feel after acting more like yourself?

Thanks! Leave a comment if you  please … G.

I’ve been swamped with design work this year. That has required me to utilize many of the skills I acquired being a waitress for six months after graduating early from high school. For the first three months, I sucked at my waitressing job. The night supervisor Wanda used to get really annoyed with me. I couldn’t seem to wait on more than one table without falling apart, without feeling tremendous pressure. Then she gave me some advice that catapulted me to “best waitress” category: be friendly, listen, constantly circulate through my station of tables, update them on their orders, and never go into the kitchen empty-handed.

When I gave Wanda my notice a month before I left for college she said, “I had decided to fire you! But then you found your waitressing groove.” And groove it was. I sometimes had four gigantic parties of ten sit down within ten minutes of each other, all wanting coffee refill after refill. But I kept them all happy!

I’ve adapted Wanda’s advice to keep myself moving forward with all my design projects. I organize my clients like they’re all seated at imaginary tables. Instead of only focusing on one client and ignoring the others until the first one is done “eating,” I keep moving through the tables making sure everyone has what they ordered, starting with drinks, appetizers, main course, desserts, check. (And I’ve added follow up.) (more…)