SHOCKING SAYINGS FROM MY DAD THAT HAVE ACTUAL SMALL BIZ APPLICATIONS

My Dad is a character. I’ll leave it at that. When I was in grade school, I would often watch Atlanta Braves baseball with him. It was one of our best father/daughter bonding moments.
Imagine my delighted glee when we took an actual family trip to Atlanta to watch a game live! We found our seats in the nosebleed section behind first base. We were right behind two especially inebriated men who occasionally shouted random cheers and jeers. I was at an age where everything mortified me, and I was duly mortified.
About an inning into the game, Mom asked me if I would like to trade seats with her so that I could sit by Dad. Since we always watched the games together on television, it only made sense that I would want to sit next to him for the live event. Right?
About thirty milliseconds after my butt hit the seat, my Dad jumped up and screamed, “Take that pitcher outta there! He ain’t no count!” (I had been thinking the drunk men were carrying on, but it had actually been my stone cold sober father.) During the next half inning, red faced and spitting, he roared, “That batter couldn’t hit the side of a barn with a bass fiddle! He ain’t no count!” I closed my prepubescent eyes and counted the seconds until we could leave.
In business, we often fall victim to the views and opinions of others. Throughout my career, I’ve been told, either in word or in deed, variations on the theme “You ain’t no count.” Whether it has been the opinion of the other party that I was too young to do a job or too female to do a job or that I just didn’t know my place – all things that have actually been said to me – dealing with the perceptions of others is a key to being successful in any business setting. It can become critical when self-employed or helming a small business, because there are so many natural drags  on one’s emotional fortitude.
Take 15 minutes or so to give yourself this pat on the back.
List the people who have contributed positively to you to help you get to where you are today. From the person who first gave you a job to the one who had the hard talk with you that became a turning point in your career or life, I’ll bet that in 15 minutes you will have a long list of people who have cared about you along the way, who think you count. Draw on this list the next time someone sees you unfairly. It will give you a shot in the arm that will get you through. Enjoy your weekend!