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The Temptation to Tolerate…

Here’s an interesting question. What are you tolerating in your professional and personal life?

My amazing business coach, Ali Brown, posed that question during her recent seminar, Iconic.

The theme of the seminar: How can you and your business become iconic? Or as Ali put it, how can you “let your genie out of the bottle” so you stand out in a very noisy, crowded, over-saturated playing field?

“You can’t go to your zone of genius, if you’re tolerating mediocrity,” Ali explained. “You can’t get to the real issues while tolerating the annoying stuff.”

It never occurred to me that the willingness to tolerate anything—from minor irritations to major grievances—could interfere with success.

When she suggested making a list of what we’re tolerating, I began with:

  1. Fear, keeping me from starting another book
  2. Too many appointments; too few patches of stillness
  3. Social media
  4. Launches
  5. An uncomfortable desk chair
  6. Clients that aren’t a fit

At first, my list seemed so trivial in comparison to the terrible things women have tolerated for decades.  But then, it occurred to me:

Whatever we are tolerating—no matter how slight or how sordid—is another form of victimization, of giving our power away.

So, in the spirit of empowerment, I traded the ease of inertia for the joy of jettisoning the intolerable.

The desk chair is gone, replaced by a comfy one. I’m taking a partial sabbatical, eliminating all launches. I’ve reduced my time on FB significantly. And new clients will fill out an application to make sure we’re a fit.

Already feeling liberated, I look forward to releasing even more. 

As Ali pointed out, “Magic happens when you stop tolerating.”

What are you unwilling to tolerate anymore???


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Comments & Feedback

  • Tania Denyer

    “the things I tolerate”… words that have shaken my world today… thank you Barbara 🙂

  • Ally

    Whoa Barbara. You hit this one out of the park. Thank you.

  • TD

    Great article.
    What have I been tolerating?
    -working out of my home “office” which is intolerable (on the way to the kitchen, etc)
    -living in an apartment that is TOO small for our family
    -being expected to be the one to clean the house when I don’t want to be spending my time doing that, i.e. not having a housecleaner come to our house weekly.

  • WE

    Every word of this hit home with me. I can think of a few things I will no longer tolerate but the primary one is that I will no longer tolerate subtle shaming from anyone, including my new naturopath.

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Meet Barbara Huson

When a devastating financial crisis rocked her world, Barbara Huson knew she had to get smart about money… and she did. Now, she wants to empower every women to take charge of their money and take charge of their lives! She’s doing just that with her best-selling books, life changing retreats and private financial coaching.

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