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5 things you need to undo right now

It was kind of a perfect storm. I had a super difficult client who, on top of being a terrible bully, also owed me money. A lot of it.

Promise after promise rolled in: “Yup, I sent it. It’s coming next week. Gosh, I gave that to so and so to mail – let me check with her.”

I’m not talking months. I’m talking years. All the while, they expected me to continue working for them.

Concurrently, I had someone profoundly difficult working for me. I’d ask her to do something and she’d roll her eyes and ask me why it needed being done, rarely doing anything willingly.

By the time Friday nights rolled around, I was inevitably in tears. And Mike would say, “fire them. Get rid of them. You shouldn’t let anyone treat you this way.”

He was right but I just couldn’t let go.

Then I got sick. In and out of hospital requiring surgery sick. Then shingles. Then something went wrong behind my eye and I wasn’t allowed to fly (which my clients needed me to do) until they could get it under control and I had my proper vision back again.

Fire them. Get rid of them all, Mike said again. But this time, he was not alone. My family joined him and so did my closest friends.

Then I found out that my client had put his school age kid on the payroll. And his dog. He was also taking vacations. But he didn’t have enough to pay me the money he agreed he owed me, even thought the work had been done and he had reaped the agreed upon benefit from it.

I realized I’d trained him to treat me this way.

And so I fired him. I hated the actual doing of it but I felt this enormous weight off my shoulders when it was done.

Once I’d done it, I kind of got the “undoing” bug and went on a tear, getting rid of everything and everyone that stood between me and

1. Fire bad or abusive clients. You are worth so much more, you glorious shining soul you. Never trade your soul or sense of self-worth for money (or the promise of).
2. Fire fast and hire slow. Only surround yourself with people who share your values and work ethic. Look for people who find joy in their work and bring more solutions than they do problems.
3. Look at everything you pay regularly for. Are these the best services? Do they provide the best value? Would you buy them all over again at that same rate?
4. Undo your office? Declutter, find more space, look to get things off of your desk. Learn to say no or to charge what you’re worth so that you never feel used again.
5. Declutter your todo list. It’s the rests between the notes that separate music from noise. It’s the space between bursts of productivity that will give rise to your next great thought. Doing something else will often lead your subconscience to offer up solutions your conscious brain can’t get to. But only if you give it the space and time to work.

Susan McLennan

Susan McLennan

Founder at ReImaginePR
Susan McLennan helps brands become better storytellers both through the media and through direct and digital communications. She is an award-winning communicator with a background in television production who has secured media coverage through some of the top media outlets in the world and created content that has won hearts and changed minds locally, nationally and internationally.
Susan McLennan

@SusanMcLennan