“There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.” ~ Nelson Mandela
I remember years ago when I was in training programs in the process of becoming a Holistic Psychotherapist. When I would come back to the meetings everyone was excited about the work they were doing with their clients but people were struggling to get a solid Practice off the ground.
They would report:
- Having to cancel a workshop that they planned because of not enough attendees
- Having to cancel a presentation they were to give because of not enough participants
- Not having enough clients so they could quit their job and work in their Passion full-time
- Were undercharging and getting frustrated because they felt drained rather than energized by the work they were doing (this is what happens when you don’t charge enough for the powerful work you do)
- Weren’t attracting enough ideal clients: Clients deeply committed to their personal growth—excited and willing to jump in with both feet in the healing process.
I would hear these reports and get VERY sad. I saw all of this beautiful healing work not getting out there in a big way—to help the 100’s of 1000’s of people on the Planet who so desperately needing this Holistic Healing NOW.
I on the other hand had a consistently full Practice and NEVER canceled a Workshop or Presentation. Recently we were talking with a person who is interested in one of our upcoming Programs and she said “What if you don’t get enough Participants for the Program—will you cancel it?” I laughed and said to her “That thought never even crosses my mind because it has never happened.”
I began to look at what I was doing that was different than my colleagues. The things that allowed me to create a thriving 6-Figure Practice in a very conservative community. I realized that there were major mistakes that they were unknowingly making that were keeping them stuck and VERY frustrated. I felt compassion because there was no one pointing out to them what these mistakes were so they could do things differently.
Here are 3 Mistakes I noticed they were making (plus the solutions to correct these mistakes):
- They didn’t focus any or enough energy on Marketing their Practice. Therefore they weren’t doing any marketing activities or they were doing activities that weren’t very productive(because they didn’t know which ones were the most productive)
Solution: Make sure to learn as much as you can about Marketing your Practice effectively. Don’t shy away from this and say “I just want to focus on seeing my clients”. If you maintain that attitude you won’t have any clients to see!
- They didn’t treat their Practice as a business but rather a hobby. They didn’t take what they were doing seriously and value it at the high level it deserved to be valued at.
Solution: Value your gifts that you use in your business at a very high level. Treat it seriously and with a great deal of care. The more you do others will too and be drawn to work with you.
- They weren’t willing to invest in working with Mentors who could teach them how to grow their Practice. They would continue to get more and more training in developing their skills at a Practitioner but would not invested in what they needed to learn the most—how to market and grow their Practice. More importantly a Mentor who has created success already can show you the fastest path to creating success
Solution: Put as much energy into learning from a Practice Building Mentor as you do in developing your skills as a Holistic Practitioner. More importantly a Mentor who has created success already can show you the fastest path to creating success so you aren’t struggling for years on your own trying to figure it out.
