Work with difficult clients.
Instead: Decide how much stress, aggravation and anxiety you can take from one client. Is the emotional and physical toll this client is putting on you, worth the money you’re making? If so, suffer through your working relationship. If not, put your efforts towards finding a different client that will make you happy, not hopeless. (This applies to personal relationships too!)

Bend when you think someone is being inflexible and insensitive to your needs.
Instead: Tell the other person how you feel and either compromise or stand your ground.  Just don’t bend to the pressure. Nobody likes a wus.

Limit your dreams.
Instead: Most folks working naked are taking today off, making this the ideal day to start dreaming. Make a list of everything you want to accomplish and the steps you’ll need to take to accomplish each item. When you see your dreams on paper and take steps to reach them (trust me, it’s scary), you’ll be closer to achieving them.  I remember reading an advice column about a woman who wanted to go back to school at 40 years old.  She wrote that she wasn’t sure if it was a good idea because when she graduated in four years, she’d be 44 years old. The columnist’s response was, “In four years you’ll still be 44, so what’s the difference?” Love that line!

Hurry through life.
Instead: Plan time for yourself and your family.  Don’t just wait for free time, schedule it.  Whether you take a long weekend vacation or set aside one Saturday each month, spend that time with your family.

Interior Designer Melinda Miles and her husband inherited a pharmacy supply cabinet that had been in their family for years. The quarter-sawn oak cabinet started out in an old, turn-of-the-century drugstore and held pharmacy supplies.  Miles realized that these drawers, with the labels for the pharmaceutical products still attached, were the perfect size for DVD and supply storage within her home office.

Her interior design skills came in handy when she created plans for a hutch unit that could rest on top to house the TV, books and some accessories. Her cabinet guy built the hutch exactly to the specifications to line up with the base, and her furniture refinisher matched the old finish perfectly. Matching a finish is not an easy task.

Now they have a fully functional entertainment center/supply cabinet that preserves a piece of her husband’s history. Her husband didn’t want to remove the old pharmacy labels, but the one that read “Feminine Products” disappeared mysteriously during the redesign process.

Some parts of history don’t need to be preserved.