The Way You Do Anything is the Way You Do Everything: The Why of Why Your Business Isn't Making More Money

Chapter 1

The Way You Do Anything…

But I have no mind for business and considered staying awake to be enough of an accomplishment.

— David Sedaris, Me Talk Pretty One Day

My dear friend and client Pat Mussieux followed me around the world for two years. She traveled anywhere I spoke just to ask me the same question over and over again. After two years, I finally told her, “I will only continue with you as a client if you stop asking me this question.” She agreed.

Pat's question was: “So many of us want to build a successful business. How did you do it?” The answer I gave her never varied: It was about being extraordinary in everything I did.

When I think about being extraordinary—where that ability comes from and how you harness it—I think about being four years old. I was a little four-year-old, very small for my age. (Looking at the jacket cover, I know it's hard to imagine me ever being little, but back then, I was.) I also had extremely small feet. All year, I had been taking ballet lessons at Miss Anne Clark's School of Dance. I took those dance lessons very seriously. Then in spring, when weather started changing, excitement started growing. I traded my sweater for a long-sleeved T-shirt, and everything started to feel different because summer was on its way! It was time for Mother's Day, and preschool graduation, and the big dance recital. Even if you or your children haven't ever had recitals, you can probably imagine the feeling as the day draws closer.

I was pretty excited ...