As a small business owner, I am constantly bombarded by marketers who want to help me take my practice to the next level, so that I can expand and grow and maybe even earn seven figures while I sleep at night. When I first started out, these come-ons actually made me feel a little anxious, because I if I wasn’t doing what they said I should be doing, then I obviously wasn’t claiming my part of the American Dream.
Over the years, I got wiser. I figured out that yes, of course I want to grow. Life is about growth. It is important for me to continue to learn and deepen my knowledge of what I do and how I work with the people who trust me to help them make changes in their lives. But, that’s not the same as expanding because the business advisors say that businesses are supposed to expand into ever-increasing revenue. They don’t talk nearly as much about going deep and really growing what you do to the next level of expertise or connection.
In the end, I did choose to work with a few of these marketing gurus. One in particular who is all about helping alternative health-care providers move past trading money for time helped me realize over a decade ago that, indeed, I’m still quite happy trading my expertise for the opportunity to be with people hourly. I re-evaluate that stance every year about this time, and the answer again for 2022 is, yep, I want to continue to be a solo practitioner who helps people one-on-one to change the trajectory of their lives. It pleases me. I’m good. I neither need nor want to expand into a large clinic.
I continue to study, of course, because there is never really an end to learning when your topic is the brain or the subconscious or the soul. My colleagues enrich me, professional writings and podcasts inform me, online workshops and conferences fill my cup. In fact, I sometimes find myself overwhelmed because there’s so much I want to listen to or read, and I don’t have enough hours in the day to consume the information I want to absorb to become a better practitioner. For me, though, that never-ending flow is another sign that I’ve reached a pretty good point in my life.
If you’re reading this post, then I have to guess that you’re either a former or potential future client, or at least a family member to one. And, I bet you think this is an odd thing to be writing to you about. Yet, I think it’s an important thing for you to know. I want you to know that if you choose to work with me, you’re working with someone who’s been at this long enough to know what she wants her time with her beloved clients to feel and be like. She knows her life priorities, and she wants to know yours, too.
Winter, to me even more so than necessarily the start of a new year, is a beneath-the-surface time. This time of year is when seeds lie fallow in the ground, rich with the sugars that will make them burst forth in the spring to bring greenery and new life to the planet. I encourage you to consider this time of year your own time to lie fallow and go deep within to learn about yourself. Get quiet and consider: what do you really want? Does that differ from what you’re told you should want? What do you hope will sprout as your personal spring arrives? What sugars are you storing deep inside yourself to make that happen?
The things you tell yourself, the whispers from inside yourself, are so much more important than any societal message about how you could grow and be rich. Your heart knows what you want to feel and be and experience. Use the beauty of winter to get quiet, and listen, and then know.