Everything happens for a reason. My Mother always said this to me when I was younger. It has stuck with me over the years and continues to ring true time after time.
Recently I was offered the opportunity to facilitate some workshops and I was asked to send over my rates. I was excited about it and I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity for me to take my own advice (from a previous Monday Morning Motivation) and ask for what I was worth. When I started out as a motivational speaker, trainer and consultant, I would often do appearances for free to get my name out, show people my skills, and give back to the community. Now that I have begun to build a brand and a name for myself, and people know that I offer high quality work, I've decided that this is a great time to begin to charge at least the industry standard for the work that I do.
I created a scope of work and submitted my request for payment. There was a quick turnaround time and I had tons of other stuff going on in my life, so I didn't feel bad about asking for what I asked for. Some time passed and I got the news that they could not approve the amount I requested because their budget would not allow for it.
In the past I would have been extremely disappointed, but I took it well knowing that things that may look like a disappointment are often just a blessing in disguise.
It didn't take long for that disguised blessing to show up. Once I found out that I wasn't going to do the engagement, I spent the extra time that I'd allotted for preparation for an upcoming real estate auction that I planned to participate in with my new investing company.
To make a long story short, my partner and I ended up with four amazing investment properties, two of which were two family units, so you might as well say that we have six. We got all of these amazing houses for a total of $2850. One of my properties was a gigantic, beautiful single family home that I won for ONLY $500!
Had I taken that trip to do that speaking engagement, I never would have won so wonderfully in this real estate auction. I wouldn't have been present to give the time, energy and attention needed to acquire the properties that we won. Now, instead of that one time payment for the speaking engagement, I have properties that will continue to bring in rental income month after month for years to come.
I shared this experience to show that we must not let setbacks or disappointments take us out. They are often just blessings in disguise. The next time that something happens that you're not happy about, take a step back before you get upset and wait patiently for the blessing that is disguised by the problem.
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