What do dresses, my parenting skills and business have in common?

You’ll never guess, so I’ll tell you – goal setting.

More to the point, collaborative goal setting and the ability to know when to take over and when to co-operate.

As I continued my crusade in traditional industry, shouting about the arrival of choice and the departure of disruption, I realised recently that I have started making different choices.

Choices I never thought I would make. You see, I love grocery shopping and I found myself cheating on the grocer with coles online…..

….Surely there is a quick, easy weight-loss, health-enabling, get-into-your-old-clothes-quickly option? Like all good people looking to meet their former self, I went out feeling $500,000 rather than $1 million and consumed an inappropriate amount of calories in various forms. It was a great night.

Like most children, once I started talking I didn’t stop and my parents didn’t know where to find the off button.

I haven’t stopped communicating since.

When it comes to business owners, particularly real estate agents I’ve met all types: Pigs, Snakes, Monkeys, Rats and Dogs. So much meaning in one little word! How awesome is language?

You’d be forgiven for having a mental image of my husband sitting at our family dining table, being subjected to a keynote and powerpoint presentation, when I tell you that each year we sit down and plan out our desires and goals for the forthcoming year. Breathe easy: there is no powerpoint.

By 7am we had four cleaners, three builders, two painters, an electrician, plus two nervous owners awaiting the removalist van at 8:30. By 9:30 we had three removalists, and if you add the plumber, a silicon trade plus the shower guy, you have a pretty good impression of what the place looked like throughout the day. Oh, and don’t forget the well-intended family members and neighbours dropping by to help.

My daughters, have begun to chastise me for such communication. Under her breath my eldest whispered to me on the bus recently, “Mum, you shouldn’t talk to that man – he’s a stranger”. And I was hit with the realisation that, with obvious intent, I’ve been teaching my kids not to speak to anyone they don’t know.