I have been ahead of the game in business industry wearing too many feathers in my cap from food-to-fuel to business development to education and now coaching. Success did not come easy but when it did it came in abundance and do you know why? Because I was very passionate about all that I did and I never gave up. Successful business people are very affirmative and strong in what they believe and they will never try to be what they are not. I don’t know if you are aware but probably the most damaging business myth to come along in decades is personal branding. You are not a product that can be sold you are a person with your own individual characteristics. So, real entrepreneurs do not think of promoting themselves but they think about converting their ideas into successful and profitable business models. I had a mini epiphany half-way through my career, I realized, I had it all – fantastic family and friends, successful businesses, estate home, luxury car, beautiful kids and more beautiful grand kids, yes I am a grandma! Amidst the hustle of making so much money and keeping up with relationships, I forgot to stay happy, I forgot who I was.
Then one day there was a loud awakening and I literally mean a loud awakening, living in Toronto with unpredictable weather, I woke up with a thud, because of an unannounced thunderstorm and then I couldn’t sleep, and it is then that I looked around me, I had everything any one could dream of but I wasn’t happy and I asked myself why but I had no answer, I couldn’t fall back to sleep, So I reached for my phone to check my emails and I saw an email from someone who I was mentoring for his start up business. He wrote me a very nice thank you note saying “I cannot thank you enough, for all that I have learnt from you and I wish you loads of HAPPINESS IN YOUR LIFE just as you helped me gain mine. Now that was the tipping point in my life, I started practicing what I preached.
So it’s not only that one email, I realized that I did and I still do whatever I can to help others and to fulfill my obligations with my family and friends but never thought about what makes me happy. I didn’t have to wait for someone to make me happy I have to do this to myself. Hence my journey to happiness began.
Whatever I have done so far in my life I do it professionally hence I decided to become a certified coach. An executive coach specializing in Happiness. You must be wondering how you specialize in Happiness. It is ironic but we as humans have forgotten to be happy amidst our socio-economic lifestyles. We need to learn to be happy, believe it or not, there are courses in universities like Yale that are teaching students to prioritize happiness and there are classes being held on Happiness.
You don’t have to be an extrovert to be happy, and happiness does not mean that you should be grinning like an idiot all day long just to be happy. It’s the contentment within that brings happiness. So I decided to make Happiness my daily decision. Like Pharell Williams song “clap along if you feel that happiness is the truth because I am happy”.
From the Desk of CEO
