sponsored by BUSINESS TIP Pain and pleasure are such close cousins. In life, it’s painful not to experience pleasure. Too often though, it’s the holding on for dear life to familiar pain that keeps us from having what we say we really want. In 1988 I joined the National Speakers Association, a trade group for professional speakers. No, I wasn’t a speaker yet, but I wanted to be. I had closed down my manu- facturers’ representative company to accept a position of vice presi- dent for my principal manufacturer. Two years later, I found myself with- out a job. It was now time to fish or cut bait. Was I going to pick up another line and go to war with the manufacturer that fired me or was I going after my dream? I went after my dream. A decade later, I’m a nationally recognized keynoter on business alliances. This experience, for all of the pain and pleasure, has yielded a path, my path to emotional owner- ship. Since discovering this path, I have interviewed several business leaders and found that my path was also theirs. Whatever pleasure you seek, there is usually pain in the way of having that pleasure. I believe this path is also your path to the emotional ownership, of staying the course to having what you want in your life, both personal and professional. In your personal and professional life you continually have challeng- es. Challenges without solutions or answers generally cause extreme pain. To solve or remove this pain, you must either move into action or simply do nothing and hide out. Action means possibilities. Doing nothing is a formula for failure. Doing what you have always done and expecting different results is called experiencing insanity. Nobody intentionally wants to be insane. You will succeed at what you want through understanding and remaining on your path. What is your challenge? What would you like to do that you are Your journey to emotional ownership By Ed Rigsbee 26 TileLetter | April 2017