Everything is figure-out-able!

Here’s something I’d love to share with you!

Marie Forleo is a fabulous lady we can all learn a lot from. She’s an entrepreneur, writer and an optimist. Her husband, Josh is an actor.

She shared a story at an event which might help all of us in looking at our lives with a different perspective.

Marie and Josh were married for 7 years. They were both doing really well professionally but things weren’t all that great on the personal front. They decided to do something about it and looked out for couple counselling. The main issue was that she was always working! She loved her work so much but at the same time she felt bad that this was the reason she might lose the man she loved.

Marie realised that they never went on a vacation together. They did travel but it was only work related. She decided to do something about this and booked a 4 day trip to Barcelona to celebrate Josh’s birthday. He had been wanting to visit this place for the past 7 years!

Tickets. Check. Bookings. Check. Packing. Check. They were all set to leave. She had coaching calls scheduled till the very last minute they needed to leave for the airport.

They left on time and would have made it just in time only, if only, they hadn’t hit a major traffic jam!  They entered the JFK airport and went straight to the check in counter.

The lady at that counter looked at them. She looked at the computer screen. And she looked at them again only to say, “I’m Sorry. You’ve missed the deadline to check in your bags.” Marie and Josh tried to convince her. After all, it was 4:55 and the flight was to take off at 5:45.

After a brief argument, she finally said, “I’m really sorry.  But you’re not going to make it.”

Her heart sank. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. Because those words – you’re not going to make it meant a lot more than that to Josh and her. She looked over and at the disappointment on Josh’s face – not about the trip, but really about them.

In that moment, she remembered a lesson that a tiny, but mighty woman taught her years ago. This woman was only about 5 feet tall, full of energy and was almost always at some work. Her name was Miriam. She was Marie’s mother.

Miriam always looked out for discount coupons and freebies. She purchased stuff that offered value for money. She had a little radio. It looked just like an orange with a straw sticking out (the antenna). And of course, it was for free! She had got with a pack of Tropicana orange juice.

Whenever Marie got back home from school, she would listen to the music and figure out where her mom was in the house. One day she followed the sound which seemed to be at a height and was surprised to find her mom on top of the roof. Marie asked her, “Maa! Are you okay? What are you doing up there?” Miriam replied saying the labourers were asking for 500 bucks to repair the leakage in the roof. She had the material and decided to repair it herself.

The next day, Marie got home and tried figure out where the Tropicana radio was playing from.

The bathroom! Miriam was retiling the bathroom. She said she had all the equipment needed and didn’t need someone else to come and fix the tiles for her. This is all from the 80’s. There was no google, no youtube to give you a demonstration and answer your ‘how to’ questions!

There was a day when she got back but couldn’t hear the sound of the radio. She found her mom in the kitchen with that radio dismantled into 20 parts! And as usual, her mom preferred to repair it herself 😊

Marie asked her mom, “Maa, how do you know how to do everything yourself? No one’s taught you how to do this.” Miriam looked at her daughter and said , “There’s nothing we cannot do. Always remember. Everything is figure - out- able.”

Everything is figure – out – able! Yes, indeed. Everything is figure - out – able!

At that very moment, Marie realised that she has to figure her way out. She ran down the staircase to a store for bags. She picked up a huge duffle bag. The plan was to dump all their luggage and carry it all with them instead of checking it in!

They frantically began to start dumping everything they could in that bag. The cops at the airport came to see where all that noise came from! Josh managed to convince them to take care of their empty suitcases and both of them ran towards the security check. It was 5:20 pm.

They had to be in the aircraft (which had been rescheduled to depart from another terminal!) in the next 20 minutes.  The guy at the security check figured out who Josh was. And called out to his colleagues and friends to come and take a selfie with the actor! Clearly, not a good time for him to be recognised.

They started running towards the gate, which was obviously, the farthest one in the line! She took the duffle bag from him and asked him to run first to stop the aircraft. She ran as fast as she could with that bag. It was 5:40 pm. She saw him waving at her. She couldn’t understand if he was asking her to keep running or not bother to run at all. She decided to keep going and finally she was there!

The airhostess welcomed them and said – Hi! Welcome aboard! You made it! 😊

They made it. Marie and Josh looked at each other and they knew this was worth it. 

They recently celebrated their 13^th anniversary and have made it a point to go on a vacation every year.

Isn’t this a classic example of winning when you know you can do it? If you believe you can figure a way out, give it a shot! Believe in yourself. Take the first step. Follow the road and you will find solutions on the way that lead you to your destination.

Remember. Everything is figure- out-able!

If you believe you can, you can. If you believe you can’t, you are right!

– Henry Ford

Leaders Are Learners

Imagine. You are 60 years old, a billionaire and have founded a big business empire. 

AWESOME! Isn’t it?

Someone who works with you asks you a question. And, you don’t know the answer.

How comfortable would you be in saying ‘I don’t know’? Might not go too well with the ‘image’!

Here’s the story of a billionaire in the US. His name was Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart.

Sam was 60 when he went on a trip to Sao Paulo, Brazil.

His host family got a call from the police department saying, “Come bail out Sam Walton. He’s in jail.” They rushed to help.

"We didn't know who he was, and we found him crawling around the floors of stores", said the police.

The worried family asked Sam what he was doing! “I was just measuring how wide the aisles were with a tape measurer. I was trying to figure out if these Brazilians knew something that I didn't know."

A successful billionaire definitely didn’t need to crawl around the floors!

There is something in great leaders that sets them apart from the rest – they are lifelong learners. They look out for new learnings all the time, anywhere and everywhere. They are not afraid to say ‘I don’t know’ or ‘Let me learn this!’

What we can learn from Walton is - that there’s always a lot left to learn at work and in life!

At times, a lot of us feel we have mastered our areas of work. Or, shy away from telling others we don’t know something.  Maybe it’s a good idea for all of us to find what is our equivalent of ‘crawling on the floors’. Look out for someone who knows more than us and learn from them.

Try to find one good thing in each of those around you. They maybe your family, friends, colleagues or absolutely anyone!

Learn that one thing from them.  Become a lifelong learner!

“Leaders are learners.” – John C. Maxwell

How would you want to be remembered?

I came across a powerful story in the book – ‘How YOU are like Shampoo’ by Brenda Bence. It is a story about someone I’m sure we have all heard of. Alfred Nobel.

He was a successful and wealthy Swedish industrialist in the late 1800s. Alfred Nobel had single -handedly invented dynamite and the detonator – the apparatus that causes dynamite to ignite. He made millions with these inventions and lived a perfect life that we dream of!

He had a brother – Ludwig Nobel who was also a very well-known, successful businessman. Ludwig passed away in 1888. The obituary that showed up in the morning paper the next day, however, was switched and was Alfred’s! So, he had the rare opportunity of reading his own life story. But there was something that had a strong impact on him when he read it.

The obituary was labelled – Alfred “The Merchant of Death” because of his work with dynamite and detonators. He realized instantly, that his personal brandwould forever be associated with death. That was not what he wanted. He decided to take control and do something about it.

He made a plan and developed the Nobel Prizes for three things he really cared about- peace, literature and science. Alfred Nobel also left his millions to the establishment of these prizes when he died in 1895.

And look what “Nobel” stands for today! The Nobel Prize is the highest possible award in peace, literature and science. We have all heard of it. Many of us probably didn’t know about the other work he had done in his life.

That’s because he was successful in changing his personal brand so that his name would stand for what he wanted it to stand for.

This is a perfect example of what a personal brand is and how essential it is to communicate it. 
Maybe we should ask ourselves, what would the headline of our life story be?  

Alfred Nobel

Are we communicating what we would want to be remembered for?




“Though no one can go back and make a brand-new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand-new ending.” – Carl Bard

How to Craft an Extraordinary Personal Brand - the Michelangelo Way!

Needless to say, Michelangelo was one of the greatest artists of the Italian Renaissance period. His sculptures and paintings never fail to leave a person awestruck even today. The statues of “David”, “Pieta” and the ceiling paintings of Rome’s Sistine Chapel, including the “Last Judgement” are all his creations. He was also a talented architect and poet.

Michelangelo was asked how he created the masterpieces that he did. And his answer was simple. He saw his works of art embedded in the stone. He only went about chipping off the parts that were not required. That’s how his creations came into existence.

Isn’t that a brilliant way of finding the extraordinary in the ordinary? I think we could use this approach to craft our personal brand too!

The difference between extra ordinary and ordinary is just that little ‘extra’! We only need to take that small extra efforton a daily basis in chipping away what is not a ‘work of art’ in us. Get rid of all that is not in sync with your desired personal brand. Everything that you don’t want to be known for.

Make a few small chips from your personal and professional life starting today. Craft the brand you desire to be. Take small steps. Be consistent.

And ‘extra’ ordinary won’t seem to be a daunting task. Become that masterpiece!