Success & T.E.A.M. Work

 By: Mary Grace Musuneggi

When I think about success, I recall Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “Definition of Success”:

 To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;

To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;

To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived.

This is to have succeeded.

I appreciate the way this poem gets to the heart of success–it’s not just about one person existing alone; success is about people connecting and sharing their experiences. In professional environments, I have often seen people find greater success solving problems when they work with a partner. Better yet, it’s important to have a T.E.A.M mentality: Together Everyone Achieves More.

Some of us are self-motivated, and once we make the decision to go after something, we do it. For others there needs to be a person behind us moving us along – a coach. Besides the obvious sports coaches, today there are people to coach us in every area in our life. There are career coaches, life coaches, fitness coaches, business coaches…

Sometimes they are called consultants; people who you can consult to get good input on how to reach your goals: financial consultants, marketing consultants, investment consultants, make-up consultants…

To reach your personal goals, make a list of people you think would make a good coach or consultant to help you find (and take!) the right steps to your life goals.

Chances are that what you are trying to accomplish in your life has been done before. Who do you know that has been down the road you want to follow? What qualities do they have that you need? How did they do what they did? Would they be willing to share their knowledge? Can you follow in their footsteps?

Read the “Richest Man in Babylon.” Learn the value of having mentors – a group of like-minded people who can inspire and fill the gaps in what you can and cannot do on your own.

Build a mastermind group. In Napoleon Hill’s book Think and Grow Rich, he demonstrates the value of having his own special group of people who have an interest in his success. If you don’t have all the skills you need—and most people do not—gather together a group of talented people who can complement your talents.

The best people for your group will be those who have a vested interest in you—people who will also benefit if you are successful. For instance, in my business I have people we count on to provide us with products and services for our business. The more successful we are, the more of their services we use. That means our success helps their success. So we have asked them to be part of our team. We also started a program many years ago called “Friends Helping Friends.” We ask our clients and business associates to introduce us to their friends, family, organization members, and business associates. When they do and these people become our clients, we reward the introducing client with invitations to special events including our “Friends Helping Friends” Gala event that is held every October.

Most of us already know many people who can help us, but for some of us we will have to go out and find those people. This is “networking,” a process to get you out in front of the people who have the information and skills you need to reach your goals. Sometimes networking starts by joining a group with similar interests to yours. This can be a social or business group. Sometimes networking just means being out in your community, getting involved in your church, attending classes at the local community college, or working to raise funds for a charity.

But the fact is, we never have to go it alone. When we meet a challenge and we know we can’t move forward without more information or experience, we need to find the people who have it and make them a part of our team.

The most successful people know what they know and what they don’t know, and they surround themselves with a T.E.A.M. of people who fill in the blanks.

Know What You Know…And What You Don’t Know

 By: Mary Grace Musuneggi

Many years ago when I moved into my first home, it had a metallic black, silver and orange wallpapered bathroom. I had to replace that wallpaper.

Being a “type-A” personality, I cannot wait for anything. In fact, I am so bad that I don’t play board games or go golfing…I never like having to wait my turn.

So I had to replace that wallpaper immediately.

Money was tight back then, and I knew I could only afford the project if I did it myself. I rationalized that I was an intelligent, well-educated person, so I should be able to do anything. It’s a good thing I didn’t apply that same kind of logic when I needed to have my gall bladder removed or when I had to have a root canal. As it turned out, hanging the wallpaper was just as painful.

After three days of stripping, measuring, cutting and hanging, it was blatantly apparent that I had no talent for wallpapering. So in the end I did what I should have done in the first place: I called a professional who charged me twice the price she normally would have because she needed to undo the damage I had done before she could do it right.

That experience taught me the cheapest way is never the best way. Talent, expertise, and knowledge are invaluable tools that are worth paying for.

Being intelligent actually means being smart enough to know what you don’t know. So, I don’t hang wallpaper, I don’t perform surgery, and I don’t do root canals. My interior decorator, my surgeon, and my dentist all appreciate that. And in return, they do not do their own financial planning.

I also know that with certain things I can do, there are still people who can do them more efficiently. Filing, typing, housecleaning, yard work, changing the oil in my car…I certainly can do all of these, but they are not always worth the investment of my time.

I learned to delegate to people I know I can trust to do an excellent job. Being the best you can be means letting others be the best they can be at what they do. This leaves me more time to dedicate to my business without neglecting the other things in my life that are important.

In his Financial Literacy article, Hank Coleman explains eight tasks that are never worth anyone’s investment of time because the professionals can probably do them cheaper and faster. Plus, their expertise could guarantee a better outcome. Can you guess what made the list? Here it is:

1. Mowing the lawn
2. Cleaning the house
3. Fixing anything that has to do with your car
4. Cutting your hair
5. Doing your taxes
6. Financial Planning
7. Building your own website
8. Cleaning your swimming pool

And I have added some others to my list:

1. Grooming the dog
2. Washing and waxing the car
3. Cleaning the outside of house windows
4. Catering the big holiday party
5. Researching anything

How many others can you add?

Take stock of your capabilities. Get a good understanding of what you can do…and then you will know what you can’t do. Do what you can do and delegate what you can’t.

A Mother’s Wisdom

By Mary Grace Musuneggi

Although my mother passed away over 15 years ago, I still think about her every day. And with Mother’s Day approaching I think about all the special things she used to do. After she retired, she began to write in a Grandmother’s Keepsake Journal that she eventually gave to my son. It was filled with stories she wanted to share. There was a page for her likes and dislikes, everything from colors to foods. There were pages about her friends as a child and as an adult; her school years; her various jobs; her travels. And what I found most revealing were her thoughts on politics and religion.

A few years before she died, she purchased a Mother’s Keepsake Journal for me. I must confess that I have not been very diligent about completing mine, and I actually misplaced it for some time. But recently I discovered it in my storage room with a number of books I had boxed up many years ago when I moved into my current house. It holds lots of blank pages, but one completed page shares a story from my year in Kindergarten. This page asked me to describe my first memorable accomplishment.

I had not yet turned five when I started Kindergarten at Boggs Avenue Elementary School in Mt. Washington. Kindergarten in those days was more about socialization and constructive play than educational courses. So every day we sang, played, and did art projects. I really liked to play; I liked to sing; but my talents waned when it came to art projects.

One day, however, the teacher gave us a mound of clay to mold and ask us to try to make an animal. I tried and tried and nothing seemed to happen. My clay continued to look like a mound to me. Then suddenly the teacher came over, picked it up, turned to the class and said, “Look! Isn’t this wonderful. Mary Grace made a cow.” Really? It didn’t look much like a cow to me. That certainly was not my plan. But young as I was I knew not to contradict my elders, especially when they were saying good things…and especially when it was all about me. So I painted my cow and let it dry and in a few days I took it home.

I gave it to my mother, and I related the story of how the cow came to be. With a smile on her face she said to me, “That’s life. Sometime successes come by accident. The important thing is to just be; show up; and keep trying. And you will find that sometimes you are in the right place, at the right time, doing the right thing.” My mother was so wise.

Happy Mother’s Day to all of the wise and wonderful moms we know.