Continuing on with our series (...saga?) about ways not to sabotage yourself, here's a novel idea: When you say or do something stupid, apologize sincerely and move on. I know, I'm crazy like that. Whoa, mama! I believe in taking responsibility when I say something stupid and apologizing. But apparently I am crazy like that, because, just yesterday for example, I received an email from a certain crazy man who had previously cursed me to the high heavens for not returning his clippings. Now, that I had returned said clippings and apparently redeemed myself as a human, he emailed me again, not mentioning his un-medicated, un-scripted outburst, and proceeded to quote Shakespeare.
Well, I enjoy Shakespeare also... but I much prefer people who are somewhat stable adults; those are the people whom I am going to focus this business on. I worked with enough raging, moronic bi-polar types in TV news, thanks. I'm set.
Some of you are thinking, "Wow, it must be so wonderful to be perfect, Carlota, sorry I'm trying to make it here on Planet Earth!" Simma down, I never said I was perfect, nor wanted to be. Perfection tends to be very boring. I'm one, overly-sarcastic woman with not enough cats. In fact, just this week, I truly mortified myself by saying something highly offensive to a client. I experienced that level of mortification wherein time stops and you see slowly, oh so slowly, your life passing you by. (Note to self: This time, don't buy the Wham! Make It Big album. Just don't.) But I am an adult, so I apologized. Profusely. My client, being far more mature than me, accepted my apology in the most gracious way possible. I did NOT ignore it, or blame it on someone else or quote Chekhov. It's not Chekhov's fault, I behaved poorly. (True story: Russians of a certain generation will sarcastically invoke Pushkin to make a point, as in, "So who do you think is going to clean up this mess? Pushkin?! Pushkin's going to clean up your trash?")
Many people talk about achieving their goals, right? The inability or refusal to apologize after hurting other people can really derail your dreams. The world is very small. If you're going to be that kind of malicious douche, news gets around. I'm sure that crazy man who emailed me Shakespeare genuinely believes we're BFFs again and that soon we'll be hanging out, and all is well. Or, at least that's what he told himself. Me, I'm a simple girl and I don't lie to myself. Because that's the worst kind of sabotage.
Want some help achieving your goals? (You can quote Shakespeare to me, if that's what gets you going...) Email me @ carlotazee@gmail.com, and like my Facebook page, "Carlotaworldwide Creativity Yenta," for a free consult!
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