Green Grass

Last Saturday night, I saw someone that I had not seen in a while. After the usual how is your husband, your acting/writing, she said to me,” I heard your business is doing very good, you sure know how to reinvent yourself and your business. Also, I heard your girlfriend retired with lots of money and moved to a palace in Ghana.”

Sometimes your brain tells you the grass looks greener across the street. But why is this? Everyone else your age already have children. If you had just finished college when you were supposed to, you’d have a successful career by now.

As a financial planner and tax preparer, I see the data. We sometimes overlook all the invisible, unwritten, and clearly underappreciated advantages we each have. I said to her, “girl, we were born with all the value we’re ever going to get. No job, no relationship, no status, wealth, or accolades could make us worth more.”

The legendary personal achievement philosopher Jim Rohn said, “Income seldom exceeds your personal development”. As business people we become laser-focused on the bottom line. If we aren’t bringing the right mindset to the table, material success is likely to be fleeting, as is well-being in our relationship, hobbies and health. In the best-selling book by my friend, Get Out of Your Own Way: Overcoming Self-Defeating Behavior by Dr. Mark Goulston, a psychiatrist and co-founder of the Heartfelt Leadership, says, “One of the greatest tragedies you can experience is to come to the end of your life and realize that it has not been everything you’d hoped it would be. Even more tragic is to realized that your failure to fulfill your hopes and dreams was due in large part to your inability to get out of your own way”.