What’s the Best Piece of Advice You Ever Got?

“What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?”  A TV interviewer asked this of her guest recently, and that question got me thinking about how I’d respond.

My mother always used to say, “if you love what you do, you’ll never have to work a day in your life.” It took me a couple decades to figure out exactly what that advice meant for me, but since I figured it out my stress levels dropped permanently.  Today, the twin passions of helping leaders grow and creating more happiness in the world are at the core of everything I do, and the more true I am to those passions, the less what I do feels like work.

Another piece of advice that changed my life came from a woman who was my mentor for many years.  Tiona said, “you can’t change other people; you can only change how you respond to them.” This advice helped me become a much better leader during my corporate career, and has helped me tremendously in my career as a coach.

What’s the best piece of advice you ever got?