It’s December and it must be time for my car to be stolen – again. I know that Hondas are one of the most popular cars to be stolen in the United States. Until we learned that lights deter thieves, we did have a challenge with attempts.
When we sold our house, we moved into a gated and “secure” apartment complex where our cars are in an underground parking garage. Now, true, that garage is not locked, nor it appears are the gates to the complex during the day. In daylight hours, both the visitor gate into the complex and the main departure gate are open all day. Anyone can wander into the complex and obviously they do.
The first theft was in the middle of the night if I judge from when the car crossed the Bay Bridge to San Francisco. It took almost two months before I received three calls at 3:00 in the morning from the UCSF police to let me know it had been found and would I please come pick it up. I ignored the first two and answered the third. Because I would have had to tow it any way, I just let them handle it. AAMCO fixed the car for a very reasonable amount and off I went thinking I had learned the karmic lesson.
This year almost to the day, the car once again went walk-about. I made a short stop at the apartment to load the car for a business retreat and did not set the “Club” even though I did lock the car. When I returned with the final load, I was stunned that the car not in the parking place. I couldn’t believe this was happening again. Once again, the police called at zero dark thirty to let me know they found it and were towing it. All I lost this time were some personal effects.
With the first theft I was going to a workshop. I cancelled and let the incident take me off track from my dream. I could have done the same with the retreat. I could have listened to the naysayers gone into victim mode. I did not let them throw me off course this time. This retreat was a high priority in my life; it was to give me the strategies and plans for having a year of explosive growth. I set my resolve and did the steps in my contingent plan to get there and get it done.
Dealing with naysayers that throw you off course is one of the strategies I teach in my Dare2Dream workshop. What has been the cost to your dreams by letting the naysayers have their way?
Something else I have learned as a business woman is to ask for what you want. If you loved what you just read, this content is not for free. As a form of payment, I am asking you to comment or share this on Facebook or tweet about it on Twitter.
Linda Patten, MBA, BSN, RN has over 30 years of experience leading women to success in building and achieving their dreams. She turns networking marketing women from product sellers to leaders of highly functioning teams. To learn more about her innovative programs, click on Contact Us.