If the boat ain’t rockin’, the boat ain’t movin’.

Old Rule: Good girls don’t rock the boat.
New Rule: Rock the boat.

One of the reasons being self-employed works so well for me is that I like doing things my way. This from the former 5 year old who reminded her older brother, “You’re not the boss of me!” Go figure.

When I was a kid, I was encouraged not to be so “stubborn” and “not so” a lot of other things. At home, at school, within my social environment, and via the culture that surrounded me, there were so many, many message about how a girl was expected to be. Blend in, don’t make waves, consider everyone else’s feelings first, don’t speak your mind, it’s not polite…

Any of these sound familiar?

One of my favourites was the very seriously delivered criticism, “You just want to do what you want to do.” Also known as: selfishness!

Read the comment again. Does it make you laugh out loud, too? Frankly, it made – and still makes – perfect sense to me. Of course I would, what the heck else would I want to do?!

I’m more outspoken than many, so I didn’t think I had internalized the “be nice and blend in” story. But then not too long ago I had a chat with that kid I used to be. She had a lot of spunk, that girl. Plenty of “piss and vinegar,” as my Brit friend used to say.*

I like that kid! And this year I’m going to take a lesson from her book. If rocking the boat a little has gotten me this far, I’m going to break the Don’t Rock the Boat rule a whole lot more and see where it takes me.

Liz Gaige
Market Navigators Consulting

^{*Piss and vinegar: Rowdy, boisterous, full of youthful energy. Source: The Phrase Finder}

Tags: business rules, don't rock the boat, new years resolutions

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 13th, 2010 at 4:02 pm and is filed under Liz Gaige - Marketing, Marketing, New Year, New Rules. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.