Don't Be a Doormat

Recently, Becca and I have been saying the phrase "Don't be a doormat. Be a rusty nail." a lot.

"Don't be a doormat" is a lesson that I've been learning for my entire life.  I'm much better at being a rusty nail at 31 than 21, but I know I still need to get a bit more rusty and sharp.

I think that women in particular struggle with this. So many women I know are interested in making other people happy, and will neglect their own needs, their teams' needs, or their businesses needs in order to make someone (or some entity) happy.

It's really easy for most of us to think of examples of when it's important to not be a doormat in our personal lives, but it turns out that being a rusty nail in our professional lives is critically important to the success of our businesses.

For ScriptEd, it means knowing when to say no to things that will be harmful to our staff or students, or to things that don't align with our mission. These decisions are especially difficult to make when the person or organization asking carries a great reputation, a lot of influence, or when money is being offered.

Without going into a lot of detail, I've had to do this several times in the last few months. It's really, really hard.  But every time I do it, it gets easier. I know that staying true to ScriptEd's values and mission is really the only way we can achieve our long term goals.