Finding good help these days is becoming the impossible Holy Grail feat.

Not but 30 minutes ago I fired someone for -- get this level of stupidity -- for filing for Unemployment Benefits WHILE she was working here.  Yes, you read that correctly.  She filed for unemployment with EDD after she got the job here, trying to double-dip the system or something.

Of course, she didn't know that all employers are INSTANTLY NOTIFIED of such filings since, after all, it has to come out of my banked unemployment funds that I've paid into over the years.  So, as soon as I received the notice, I couldn't believe the freaking audacity of this bitch to do something so brazen.  And yes, it does fall into the category of embezzlement.  She's taking a paycheck from me and, at the same time, taking an unemployment paycheck that ultimately comes from me as well is considered THEFT as far as I'm concerned.

As many associates of mine have asked over the years..."Where do you find these people?"  

My short answer:  Who the f*** knows?!

So, long story short, she's gone now.  This is when I realized something quite interesting that you MUST take note of if you're going to be successful doing anything in life: one small shift in energy, even that of another person entering your life, will start to screw up everything for you. Yes, that's right.  Other people who don't contribute positively to your vision while dragging others in your posse down do to their negative attitudes will start to sink your entire ship.  And it happens pretty fast too.  You have to pay VERY CLOSE ATTENTION to these types of energy, time and money vampires in your life otherwise, before you know it, you wake up and you find yourself in bankruptcy court.

Of course, it didn't get to that point with me because I saw what I was happening and quickly nipped the problem in the bud.  But this is why fairly successful people quickly find themselves in an off-balance situation or circumstances.  We call this a "reversal of fortune" for some.  A "bad apple" comes along -- whether it's in their personal or business life -- and, like an aggressive cancer, destroys all the good around it.

Here's my advice:  DON'T LET THIS HAPPEN!!

Now, here's the hard part, folks.  The hard part sometimes is identifying this destructive individual.  Sometimes you just don't know who it is or how it's creating this havoc in your life on other levels.  The other difficult part is sometimes you have to let go of someone who seemingly is "stuck" as a permanent part of your life.  Now, if it's family, you can always distance yourself from the cancer.  Same with everyone else.  However, the difficulty comes in when you feel like you need these people (or they need you...or both) and how to untie yourself from them.  That's the ridiculously hard part to conquer.

Let me give you some examples of people I've had to disconnect from because they were throwing the balance of my personal and business life:

1)  My dad:  Every single time I've let him into my company as an employee, he's taken full advantage and began embezzling from me.  With that side, his energy levels are so "needy" that he also starts to affect the overall business with his negative belief systems.  So, each time when letting him go, I was able to "lighten" the energy and all business procedures and profits would resume back to normal, almost instantly.

2)  My brother:  Need I say more?  He's a walking disaster and I'm really glad there's a lot of physical space between us.  The good news is that he's actually realizing that he's been a deadbeat this whole time and he finally got a job.  This would be the first job for... who the hell knows how long it's been?!  It's just say that it's been longer than a decade since I last remember him working somewhere.  He starts this new job on Monday.  (I'm proud of him.  This is where HIS energy will start to change and his life will only get better from here on out.)

3)  My (former) step-son:  This 20-year-old kid moved in with me last December.  Come to think of it, within days of his arrival, everything started going to hell in a hand-basket.   is yet another dependent man (who keeps calling himself a "man" but isn't yet) and part of my lesson in this is to stop being a doormat and to stop "raising" grown men.  His lesson will be that he'll have to learn how to survive as an adult because he's getting kicked out in August of this year.

4)  The college girl from earlier this year:  I had this college chick stay with me (from Michigan) for what was supposed to be 6 weeks.  Right when she moved in (on February 29th), she told me she changed the plans and was going to stay through the summer and into the fall.  For anyone who knows me, you DON'T change MY plans...EVER!!  So, we instantly got off on the wrong foot and I (patiently) waited for her to finish her "Semester in L.A." program (for her B.A. degree) then told her to pack her sh** and get the f*** out.  Her leaving alleviated a lot of the "downer" energy that seemed to swirl around her rather uniquely demonic and weirdo personality.  (She reminded me of a witch in disguise.)

5)  And a SLEW of people who got fired in the past 12 months:  Just like this last firing, there have been many others.  People sometimes show great charm while lying through their teeth about their job qualifications.  Then they turn into a completely different person the second they start.  I simply don't have the energy to deal with it anymore.

And I won't put up with it.

You shouldn't either.

Life is getting more and more challenging.  You don't need any single individual "rocking the boat" of your life.  They can do great damage and rather quickly if you don't throw them overboard as soon as you notice that they're not good for you and that they're causing stress/strain in your life.  Out they go.  Otherwise YOU will sink with the ship you you don't give them the boot.

See you at the top!

Your mentor,

Monica Main