Fine is a Four Letter word

“Deep inside, you KNOW you deserve better than fine. Settling for FINE when you deserve fantastic is not ok.”

By Lori Saitz

When I started my first business, I threw my heart and soul into it. I’m a marketer. I’m good at branding. From the outside, it looked like a million-dollar company. Yet in reality, it wasn’t even reaching six figures and had $72,489 in debt.

Every day I’d beat myself up and questioned my worth. Because as I said, I’m a marketer and I couldn’t even market my own damn business. If you asked though, everything was FINE.

One day, after 11 years of – “If I just exhibit at this conference… “If I just send out this direct mail campaign” … “If I just learn how to write copy better” – my friend Christine said, “Lori, this is like watching you in an abusive relationship.”

She was right. I needed to shut it down. Around that same time, my mom was diagnosed with an acute form of leukemia and she passed away six weeks later. As I was going through the grieving process for both my mom and my business, I reflected. Do I want to live the next 20 years the same way I’ve lived the last 20? And what will I do differently?

Maybe you’ve been living your life stuck at “fine” for a while now. Maybe you don’t see a way out. Listen up, my friend. There IS a way out. It is possible to move from Fine to Fantastic. And you DESERVE to be better than fine. Here’s the path.

Be forewarned, it’s hard AF in some parts. However, it IS possible. And it IS worth it. There are three elements to moving from Fine to Fantastic. I call it the Trilogy for Success.

It starts with Gratitude.

Finding and feeling gratitude for everything in your life. Even if it doesn’t look like a blessing in the moment.

It can be difficult to find gratitude when things are falling apart. When you don’t have enough time, money, health, etc.

Stop and reflect on what you DO have. It can be as simple as “I’m grateful for this cup of coffee.” Find something! Oprah Winfrey said, “Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.”

Even if you’re not naturally grateful, you can learn and become more grateful with practice. You’ll start seeing life circumstances differently. You’ll feel more grounded and calmer. You’ll be able to make better decisions by responding instead of reacting.

The second part is Connections.

Connections are crucial to your well-being. Connections to your family, friends, and community. Humans are wired to connect interpersonally. When we can’t or don’t, it causes all kinds of physical and psychological problems. Look at the effect the past 14 months has had when we couldn’t connect the way we are really designed to do.

Most importantly, pay attention to your connection with yourself and your higher power. Whether you call it God, the Universe, or whatever, doesn’t matter. That connection is where you access your own inner truth. Where you get clarity on what it is YOU want. What it is that will make YOUR life fantastic.

No one is an island. We can’t go through this life alone. Our connections with others and our connection with ourselves, are what makes success so sweet.

The third part is Courage.

You can be in a state of gratitude all the time. You can have all the most amazing connections with others and with yourself. And you still need courage to move off “fine.” Because it’s freaking SCARY!

Don’t let anyone tell you it’s not. It is! Fine feels safe and secure. Fine feels comfortable. Like a warm blanket.

Courage is the opposite of all that. But on the other side of the fear is where your ultimate joy and fulfillment is. So, you have to take the leap. You cannot have it both ways. You HAVE to employ courage and you HAVE to jump. Sometimes you’re pushed from behind and suddenly you’re flying through the air in a freefall.

Either way, you need courage because you can’t see the ground below. You have to trust that your parachute will open, and you will land safely. You wouldn’t be reading this if you weren’t a badass. Deep inside, you KNOW you deserve better than fine. Settling for FINE when you deserve fantastic is not ok.

Do you want to live the next 20 years the same way you’ve lived the last 20? So, what will you do differently? Lori Saitz is the CEO of Zen Rabbit and host of the podcast “FINE is a 4-Letter Word.” She’s a nationally recognized expert in using gratitude and meditation for business success. Entrepreneurial professionals hire her to help them achieve their goals faster – without working harder.

Through her first business, Lori introduced the world to The Gratitude Cookie and built what looked like a million-dollar business. In reality, she ignored a key growth factor and ended up frustrated, in debt, and ashamed. She’s now evolved that experience into creating tools for moving from that place where you say everything’s fine – but it’s really not! – to fantastic.

When she’s not working, you can find Lori in the weight room at the gym, because she also loves baking and eating.

“You HAVE to employ courage and you HAVE to jump.”