It was the first time I ever had to fire someone.

I was working for The Body Shop, Canada. I had good reason to believe some staff were pilfering the Peppermint Footcream and for other loser-related reasons, they needed to be sent walking.

I had a great boss, Clea. I still think of her management style often. Straight-shooting, soft-spoken, integrity to burn.

I dumped my jangled nerves on Clea’s desk. How do I tell them they’re fired? She’s got a nasty boyfriend who’s gonna run me over in the parking lot. Can they sue if I screw this up? She let me get it out of my system, and when I ran out of breath she said,

“When you ‘think’ it’s a crisis, you’ve got to ask yourself: is any of this going to matter in three years?”

My brain tilted slightly to the left. “Well, since you put it that way… no. Nope, not at all.” Blood pressure stabilized. Crisis? What crisis?

“Then there you have it,” my Boss Lady summed up. “Go do what you gotta do.”

When you wonder if today’s “problems” actually have enough gravity to be on your shoulders in three years time, you lighten up.

And you do what you gotta do. @DanielleLaPorte (Click to Tweet!)

So, what’s your favourite piece of advice that you’ve been given?

Danielle LaPorte is the outspoken creator of The Desire Map, author of The Fire Starter Sessions (Random House/Crown), and co-creator of Your Big Beautiful Book Plan. An inspirational speaker, former think tank exec and business strategist, she writes weekly at DanielleLaPorte.com, where over a million visitors have gone for her straight-up advice — a site that’s been deemed “the best place on-line for kick-ass spirituality”, and was named one of the “Top 100 Websites for Women” by Forbes.

You can also find her on Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter @daniellelaporte.

Image courtesy of Joan Nova.