What pleasure I had at a breakfast this morning in Manhattan, as introductions were made around the table and I heard the familiar ring of names of all the large financial services firms recited, I could hardly wait until it was my turn!
I am in financial services marketing, I announced, and my main focus is on the high-net worth space. "Which firm are you with", the crowd demanded. "My own", I said proudly to a group of highly accomplished professionals. "MantraMarketing? Have you heard of it?" Saucers rattled as coffee cups slid from the fingers of those around the table. "In this economy?" they asked, "are you nuts?"
"Perhaps" I said, sipping my coffee. "But for me, the time has never been better".
My two sons are maturing and growing into young men, and I have a fabulous apartment overlooking the NYC skyline. These are my motivators. And that is why I am proud. I have learned some valuable lessons about what it means to be a parent, role model, and mother. How many women can tell their children about how to change their lives and make things happen and how many actually SHOW them? This has created an atmosphere of introspection where my teens are learning about who they want to be, and what is possible and I am remembering who I am and all that I have accomplished.
For this type of empowerment, one must think like a teenager, but act like the adult. Create yourself from your past successes and reinvent yourself for the future. A better version. Work with the reckless abandon that you had in your younger years to succeed in the gray areas of life. Most importantly, talk to everyone you meet and seek the advice of others. Today, I had a lengthy breakfast meeting, made phone calls, worked on my website, and answered and initiated emails. And, also today, I saw the Dalai Lama outside of Radio City. Buddhism is known for its tenets of introspection. Perhaps it was no accident that we were together on the famed Avenue of the Americas. Oh, and he was accompanied by Richard Gere....(who still looked handsome to me!)
I had a great start to my day at my breakfast meeting and have at least five interested followers who will definitely read my blog. Those are my tablemates. Now, if I could just get the Dalai Lama and Richard Gere's email addresses...