Dimes DO Matter!!

With Mother’s Day coming up this Sunday, I have had my mother on my mind more than usual.  If you know me, you knew my mother.   The nut didn’t fall far from that tree for sure!

She was very mean and demanding.  She required excellent behavior, good grades and I often believed that the only reason I was born was to be her slave. She made me do dishes and laundry and help with cooking and household chores.  No work, No play was her rule.

You probably won’t believe this, but I could be a little sassy at times.  Once she was on my case about something and I told her to ‘shut up’.  Before I could even blink I could feel some of my body parts being rearranged and if that wasn't enough, I also got grounded for the rest of my life.  To this day I cannot even utter those two words and when I hear them I relive that scene all over again. If she were here to read this, she would say, "Mission Accomplished!"

I got my entrepreneurial spirit from that mean woman.   She was a smart and savvy businesswoman herself and helped me start my first business.  She was educated as an accountant so she took on the role as my bookkeeper.  She was a stickler for the most ridiculous things. She would drive me crazy the first of every month hounding me for the check register, bank statements and sales receipts (no computers or Quickbooks back then). And I kid you not...I lost a couple nights sleep once trying to find a TEN CENT discrepancy for her.  I gave up.  I handed her a dime and said, “here’s a d@#n dime, just fix it”.   She gave me THE LOOK.  That “I’m going to rearrange your body parts”  look. So I quickly backed away and said, “Just kidding….I’ll look again” and thank goodness I finally found my mistake and I never made that one ever again.

So, in memory of that very mean, demanding, stickler of a Mother, I'm privileged to share a few of her quotes that have impacted my entrepreneurial & business career…and my life.

“If you can’t do it right, don’t do it”

“If you give it a “half-a$$ed” (one of her favorite terms) effort, you get similar results.  Why waste half your time if you’ll have to just do it again?” 

“Walk the walk, don’t talk the talk”

“Your actions speak louder than your words even though many times no one notices the actions unless they are wrong”

“Stop your whining”

“You have two choices…..accept it or change it.  Pick one and move on.” 

“Life isn’t fair”

“Everyone lives in this same sometimes-erratic universe.  You didn’t get it any worse than anyone else.  Enough already with the theatrics.”

“Lead, Follow, or get out of the way”

“In some things you’ll be the leader, in some things you will be a follower.  Know which is appropriate and if you aren’t willing to do one or the other….get out of the way!”

“Say ‘I’m sorry’…”

“No excuses.  No drawn-out reasons. Just powerful words and an attitude of sincerity.  Problems get solved much faster this way”    

“Learn from your mistakes”

“Success doesn’t mean that you need to be perfect — or anything close.  You just need to be honest about those mistakes and learn from them.” 

“Grow up”

“Part of growing up involves listening and learning from others. You’ll get much better at making your own decisions.”

“Be grateful”

“Be grateful for everything.  Even the bad things in life make you a better ___(fill in the blank)____ person / wife / mother / business owner / friend, etc”

“What goes around comes around”

“Payback can be cruel. Everything you do…or DON’T do…has consequences.  Character and integrity matter. So does personal responsibility and fairness.

“Dimes are important”

“This is an investment.  You someday will want to sell it and reap the rewards of all your hard work. You’ll have to prove its value to someone else… so…FIND THE DIME!!!”

Wishing all Moms a very Happy Mother's Day!!

Lynn