Did you see the pond in front of our house that was a source of inspiration for many of the 90 videos I made about marketing?
The drought we’ve been in reduced it to a puddle until this week.
I hate the feeling of being absolutely incapable of doing anything to improve a bad situation… and in this case, we had to just wait until Nature provided the solution.
Fortunately, it’s not that way with your practice —
Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the challenges so many somatic practitioners have in getting the help they need. I’ve had several conversations in the last little while with people who have a lot to offer their clients… but aren’t ready to do the work it takes to get the practice they want.
In fact, just a few days ago, a very talented person with a lot of credentials and a lot to offer her clients told me that she wants to be known as “the best practitioner in town.” I got excited because that’s the kind of person I love to help!
But within 5 minutes of talking about how to get what she wants, she ruled out doing every one of the things that could help make that happen!
I hate it when people are unalterably opposed to doing anything different because I know what happens—when you keep doing the same thing over and over, you get the results you’ve been getting and nothing gets better.
Your dreams die.
Your clients go hurting.
And it doesn’t have to be that way.
If you want or need more clients, start with your heart.
One day during a Q&A/comment segment in business training, one of my cohorts stood up and said, “So, what’s up with this? I signed up for a business training, and what I’m getting is personal growth!”
We all burst into the sort of laughter you hear when a whole room full of people realizes the head-smacking truth of what they just heard… for themselves as well as the person who spoke it.
Building the business of your somatic practice is indeed an adventure in personal growth, and it starts with knowing some very important things about yourself.
Maybe you figure you’ve already taken that deep dive into yourself, but I’m willing to bet that what you know is mostly about you in relation to your practice, and not so much about you in relation to your business.
That’s why, if you need to earn a living from working with your clients, you really need to take some time to think about things most of us don’t consider. It’s a lot to figure out in one go, so we’re going to take the 3 most important questions one at a time.
It’s funny, but almost all the practitioners I work with tell me I ask “great questions” — which of course means that they haven’t thought about them yet! Time to change that — starting now! The first question is…
What do you want?
Maybe your work is based on the idea that when you know what you’re doing, you can do what you want—but how can that principle help you build a practice if you don’t know what you want your practice to look like?
I’m talking about specifics, not vague generalities…
- Who are your clients? What do you offer them? How many do you see in a week? How long do you work with them?
- How much do you need to earn to make it possible to continue practicing? What does that mean about how much you charge? What does it mean about working for less? Or about bartering?
- When do you work — what days and hours? What do you do with that time if it isn’t full of clients?
- What would life be like, if you had the practice you’re starting to envision as you think about these things and consider what you really want?
“What do you want?” … 4 short words that pack a whallop when you actually take the time to figure it all out. And without the answer, you will never be able to get what you want, no matter how much you know about what you’re doing..
Get into action!
Take the time to think about this! It’s easy enough to read the words, but you need time to find out what’s in your heart.
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I blog to help you shift how you think about your practice and what you can do to get the one you want — sign up for automatic email notification of new posts, all my tips and occasional opportunities to grow your practice — just enter your email address below — so you won’t miss any of that!!
