This is a true story.

It’s about a phrase I heard for a long time – and worked against.

Even if you’ve never said it, you’ve experienced it.

T.T.W.W.A.D.I. That’s the way we’ve always done it.

Picture this.

A young girl, fresh out of college, arrives in LA from a small town.

She’s eager, a bit naïve, but she’s been grown up learning from strong women. That’s me. This was then.

I showed up for my first job after college, feeling lucky to work at a prestigious entertainment firm. The ‘girls’ started as secretaries.

We sat at desks, answered phones, tried to look promising and work our way up. The boys were called ‘young men’. They wore suits and began as ‘assistants.' They attended meetings, went to lunches with the boss, and trained for quick promotion. Oh – and the man I worked for was notorious for screaming. It was accepted.

T.T.W.W.A.D.I.

I worked hard, very hard, for almost two years and then left.

T.T.W.W.A.D.I. didn’t work for me. Even if I was promoted there, I wouldn’t be able to change the dynamic there.

Years went by.

I was fortunate to learn from amazing mentors. Most were women. They’d lived T.T.W.W.A.D.I. and didn’t accept it either.

Since then, I’ve applied this phrase to everything. If that’s the way we’ve always done it, how can we do better. How can I be better?

There’s been a great upheaval in the way we work…and how we live.

Challenges to the attitudes we’ve held. The people who’ve held them. Today, we’re all questioning what has been.

But some ideas are entrenched, and some people resist change.

Think about your own life – about your habits.

The conscious and even sub-conscious ways you do things.

Don’t “T.T.W.W.A.D.I.” through it.

Look at every HABIT you have. From the time you wake up until you rest your head. What isn’t working. What could be better.

The past two years gave me another opportunity for a reset.

With no work and too much time on my hands, I read HAL ELROD'S #miraclemorning and watched his inspirational story. I devoured JAMES CLEAR's book #atomichabits . I had another A-HA moment.

And then I learned about a young woman who started a business out of her garage. She’s so much younger than me. So what?!

I don’t believe that teachers must be older, wiser, and more experienced.

I still try to live my life as a student - because I’m not a TTWWADI person. Angelia Trinidad created a #PASSIONPLANNER – it’s amazing. It changed the way I look at my day, my week, my year.

She’d already figured that T.T.W.W.A.D.I. wasn’t working.

She didn’t let history or people define what she could be.

It’s #womenshistorymonth.

But history is being made, remade, rewritten by women who’ve looked at history and thought –

Well, if that’s the way we’ve always done it -- I can do better.

And that’s the truth!

#personaldevelopment#whatinspiresme#bestadvice