Why I Happily Walked Away From A Million Dollars

Uh oh, I got to burp. (singing).

Hey, it's Marie Forleo, and you are watching MarieTV, the place to be to create a business and life you love. And today, I have got a question for you. Have you ever walked away from a really good thing? Whether it was a business that was making money, a high paying job that you were pretty good at, or a relationship that was cruising along just fine? I know I have, and it wasn't easy, but here's the deal. Sometimes the only way to create what you really want means walking away from the sure thing you already have.

Now, before we dive into this, I want to share a little line from Jim Collins, the author of the classic book, Good to Great. Jim says, "Good is the enemy of great and is why so many things don't become great. We don't have really great schools because we have good schools. We don't have great companies because we have so many good ones. And when we look back over a life and see if it's a great one, we don't see many, because it's just so easy to settle for a good one."

Now, if we unpack this a bit, we'll see that there's two main factors that keep us trapped in good land.

Number one is comfort. Whether it's a certain amount of money that you're used to making, or a warm body next to you when you're watching Game of Thrones, sometimes it's hard to walk away from the sure thing you already have because you're not sure if you're going to find something out there that's better to fill the void.

Marie, don't leave good land, it's good enough here.

Number two is what I call OPE, Other People's Expectations. Tough to ignore, but fun to dance to.

(singing)

The reason OPE is so hard to break free from is because we don't want to disappoint people, we don't want to let them down, and of course, we don't want to rock the boat. But if you want to shift anything from good to great, you got to be willing to shake some shizz up. Which is exactly what I had to do when I walked away from over a million dollars in revenue. Yes, people were disappointed, and yes, people thought I was crazy pants. Little side note, if people think you're crazy pants, you are probably wearing the right pants.

That's deep.

So here's the story. Back in the day, I had two awesome programs. One was an annual conference that we held at Donna Karen's Urban Zen Center and the other was a year long mentorship and travel program called Adventure Mastermind. Both of these programs sold out each year with a waiting list. They were fun, they were life changing, and they were like nothing else on the market. And they were both really profitable. However, I was having this inner tug inside that it was time for me to clear the decks and work on new projects that would allow me to change as many lives as possible.

Now I'm not going to front, this was not easy to do. A, a million dollars is a lot of freaking money, and B, I love what I do, and it was hard for me to disappoint so many people who wanted to take those programs but then wouldn't have a chance to. So I couldn't deny what I knew to be true, which was that it was time for me to walk away. And that's what I did.

Now check this out. About a week or so after I decided to take those programs off the market, I got a call from Oprah's folks to be on Super Soul Sunday. Coincidence? Maybe. Or maybe it was meant to be. Because you can't have really amazing stuff show up in your life if you don't have room for it.

So let's wrap this up with a few things to keep in mind. First of all, we always say that if it ain't broke, don't fix it. But if it ain't broke, it doesn't mean that you should keep it. Furthermore, things don't have to be crashing and burning around you in order for you to walk away. You can leave on a high note. Things don't have to get dramatic, and they don't have to get crazy.

Second, as Jim Collins said, "Good is the enemy of great. Complacency can be a curse, so watch out for it." And the final thing to remember, and yes you can tweet this, "It takes courage to begin something, but it can take even more to end it."

So now I'd really love to hear from you. What should be cut loose in your life? Is there something that you're ready to let go of, or maybe you're afraid to let go of it, that's good, but it's keeping you from something that's great? Maybe it's a revenue stream, a relationship, or something else. Leave a comment and let me know. As always, the best discussions happen after the episode over at marieforleo.com, so go there and leave a comment now.

Did you like this video? I hope you did. And if you did, subscribe and share it with your friends. And if you want even more great resources to create a business in life that you love, plus some personal insights from me that I only talk about in email, get your buns over to marieforleo.com and sign up for email updates. Stay on your game and keep going for your dreams, because the world needs that special gift that only you have. Thank you so much for watching, and I'll catch you next time on Marie TV.

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Relationship. It could be a... It could be a relationship. Aren't they good?

You're so lucky.

You're really...

(singing) It just makes you want to do that with your hiney.