In June 2011 I decided that I had had enough of my husband saying that he always took more money than I did in our business (I manage one shop, he manages the other). I decided to challenge him and myself to take more money than him the following month.
I knew I would have to be really strict about everything; no more sloping off 15 minutes early because I wanted to, no more judging that some jobs were worth chasing and not others, ruthless invoicing of every sale no matter how small....I knew the actions I had to take. I read quite a bit of guidence and used examples from other businesses. I was ready for the 1st of July.
I knew I would have to chant a LOT more. I usually managed 20 minutes in the morning. I got up earlier, (much to his annoyance, ha!) walked the dogs then sat in front of my Gohonzon and chanted for a full hour. I wanted to prove this practice to him. I wanted to surpass his totals, I was burning with determination! As I sat there, I remembered a scene from Kevin Costners film Robin Hood Prince of Thieves, the bit with the arrow zooming towards the tree, and I used that to 'target' my daimoku. That visualisation helped me a lot...............................
'I WILL surpass his totals'
'I WILL chase every sale'
'I WILL keep going to prove this practice'
and most important..............' I WILL be cheerful and optimistic no matter what happens.'
I expect that tree bristled like a porcupine by the end. It worked. How could it be otherwise? I had poured my guts into my daimoku everyday. My total was twice what I had taken the same month the previous year and (hooray!) I had surpassed my husbands total by over £4000. I was exhausted and exhilarated.
I learned a lot from that month. I could not keep that pace all the time and the tax bill was far more than we were used to.
But from that time came wider benefits; my attitude to the customers, the business, my husband/family and especially to myself and my practice all changed for the better. I linked my prayers to being a great helpful sales person, to be more business minded, to regard myself properly as a partner who made a real contribution. The person who had under-valued my input into the business WAS ME!
Morag lives in Hythe, in Kent. It's a coastal/ rural town, historically one of the Cinque ports. Approximately 70 miles frm London. Ashford is a much bigger town, straight on the motorway to London.
