Ever heard this saying, friend?

“I know I am meant to be rich because of how I spend my money.”

#relatable

I have spent (a lot of) money on (a lot of) random stuff over the past, say, 30 years:

• The fake Chanel bag I got in Times Square
• The bath robe for my dog
• The countless lash growth serums that have yet to grow my lashes

Plus all the things Instagram made me buy (hello, A1 greens, overnight oats subscription, and the Iron Fish that made me oh so sick)…

…and then there’s my Amazon cart.

Looking through my Amazon order history is basically an adventure in my life history, mental health, and obsession-du-jour. There are some…interesting choices on there.

But the wildest thing I’ve ever bought on Amazon was within the last few months when I bought – wait for it – boobs.

In case you’re new here, in 2018 I got an-out-of-nowhere breast cancer diagnosis.

It was aggressive, and required equally aggressive treatment.

Not being one for half-measures, I made a conscious decision to take the most curative route I could find, and in addition to four months of chemo, had the radical and body-altering surgery of a double mastectomy.

Going flat felt like 100% the right choice for me, knowing how risky reconstruction can be. As a single mom raising three girls under 8, I didn’t want to take any more chances by complicating or compromising my health with further surgeries that reconstruction would require, and so the decision was pretty simple:

The tata’s had to go.

I made peace with it, re-adjusted my wardrobe to match my new body, did two-lingerie brand shoots, and was on the cover of Now magazine for their annual self-love issue.

Time went by, and to my surprise, the more time went by the…sadder I got.

I loved my breasts so much – so much in fact that I first felt the lump only because I was walking around holding my breasts for no apparent reason, other than they were awesome.

So as five years went by, I started to get nostalgic about what I’d lost, and the problem was that I still felt the same: going flat was without question the right thing for me, as I still believe the alternative is too dangerous.

I am a big believer in “accept it or change it.” 

That little idiom is one of the key pillars I teach to leaders and teams when I help them get results by getting out of their own way.

You have to accept it or change it, then move the hell on.

So here I was, feeling sorry for myself because I couldn’t seem to do either well.

And then I watched an episode of RuPaul’s Drag Race with my daughters.

All of a sudden, it dawned on me that drag queens tend to be flat in their pre-drag queen self, but super well-endowed in their stage presence.

It occurred to me that there was a way to both accept it AND change it – get TEMPORARY implants.

Duh.

So, like the good elder millennial I am, I opened up the Amazon app on my phone and had fake boobs shipped to my house, 27 hours later.

Because, Prime.

My darling, My long-winded point is this:

We all have things – about our selves, our work, our health, our relationships, our life – that stress us out or cause unwanted anxiety.

That is the sh*t that holds us back, by keeping us IN our way, fretting and distracted.

What if – and stay with me here, Sunshine – we made a conscious decision to get OUT of our way by committing to change it or accept it, then move the hell on?

It’s so simple it’s almost baffling. 

This is the kind of paradigm shifting stuff I help leaders and team across the world do, by:

• speaking
• small group facilitation
• 1:1 performance coaching

You can’t get very far when you’re standing in your own way; if you aren’t getting the results you want, it’s time to step aside.

Cheers to what this sparks for you; let’s talk about how to harness the inspiration and turn it into bespoke action so you can live, lead, and succeed on your own terms.

Warmly and with thanks,

xx Leisse