I am a successful… what?

This has been the latest in the endless list of questions I ask myself (just to make life more complicated than it already is). My boss also has a set of questions she uses to analyze any person. While that is proprietary information, my contribution to that was -  ‘Do you like yourself? – My theory is that if your answer is yes, you are likely to be happier, more successful and better off in life.

That was the origin of my current line of thought. One can ask ‘I am a good … what?’ but the thing is, ‘good’ is very commonplace. Your breakfast is good. The weather is good. So, the question is ‘what am I successful at?’. Considering everyone is supposed to be born with some talent, everyone ought to be successful at something, right? I am leaving the definition of success open as well, the answer shouldn’t be too difficult to find. But it is.

I think I am a good consultant, not a successful one. Similarly, I am a decent life partner, dutiful daughter, sister and aunt, enjoy reading and writing, have entrepreneurial inclinations, a new-found love for money, a dormant artistic tendency and a flickering flame of ambition. (phew!) But not quite ’successful’ by most standards. So these days, anything I do, I ask myself if I am going to be successful in it. Similar to Jack Welch’s ‘be in businesses only where you are no.1 or 2 and get the hell out of rest’.   Turns out to be a bad idea. Cos then I ought to get the hell out of my job, my marriage (how? no.1 & 2 is occupied by in-laws, my husband and I didn’t make it to the list), my kitchen and my wardrobe.

Remedy: I wanted to do many things like a pro, now I tell myself to do it like a child. Not like the uber-competitive children of these days who want to win Junior titles, but like when I was a child. To give an example, my drawings never won any prizes but I had a jolly good time making them. My mother and the nurses in the hospital (where she was once admitted) liked them, btw. And I never drew things I knew I couldn’t – hands for example. so all my figures had their hands tucked behind (LOL!!!). I never drew animals either. Anyhow, you get the point. The idea is to do things that make you happy and stay away from whatever hassles you. May not be much of a success mantra, but we don’t care about success anymore, remember?

It’s a Green World!

This post is about one thing, the value of which I never realized till one ‘aha’ moment (or ‘duh’ moment, if you insist) – ‘Money’! It still isn’t everything… but it comes quite close. Especially after spending as if I were to single-handedly lift the country out of recession, I have come to love money more than ever before. I mean really love it, I want more of it, I can’t have enough of it; ok, you get the drift.

So now, what do we do? I can be a better consultant – actually read up on stuff and be up-to-date, put in heart and soul (whatever is left of it) in work, etc. but at that rate it will take me years to earn a wee bit more. They aren’t going to double my salary anytime now, in spite of my attempts to show increased consumer demand, right? But, no complaints. I have a job after all (touch wood). Since the said job takes up all the time I have, the only way for me to see more money is to follow the good old ‘penny saved – penny earned’ principle.

I am starting to write accounts and to watch expenses like a mother hawk. I may not give updates like one of my favorite bloggers does, but I will keep track of it (the way I am supposed to keep track of weight. Jennifer however, does. Seen her photo-blog on my blogroll? It’s brilliant). Therefore my friends, you have seen me spend; now you will see me save (only to spend later, but still). And if I don’t get you a gift on your birthday / anniversary, you will understand, right? Like many companies are doing now, I promise to make up for it in good times. I know it’s the thought that counts, but my thoughts are quite expensive. So there!

I will also let you on the tricks I hope to learn in my ‘save-money’ mission. I am tempted to call for ideas to make more money but I am afraid I’ll end up with random ‘earn from home’ ads or worse ideas. No thank you! I am working on it myself. Till then, every penny will have to launch a freedom struggle to get away from me.

Saying the right things

He is not much into words, you know. He is your typical, silent man of few words. But once in a while he says these things that are so…right. In the middle of a mad fight he says something that touches me and makes me feel like a microscopic organism.

One of those days, I was being real nasty – ballyhooing how everyone says I am good for him, but no one has said till now, that he is good for me. So he says, ‘everyone knows you well’ and I retort ‘and no one knows you?’.

“Only you do” – he said quietly. Damn!