Whenever I need a reminder of what it takes to be successful in life, I usually get it just at the right time from one of my children. Children are such excellent teachers of clarity, purpose, and determination.
My daughter, Emily, turned 5 recently, and this is the first year she’s wanted a birthday party with friends. She wasn’t just ready for a party, she was ready for the exact, perfect party of her dreams. She had great clarity about every aspect of her party, and knew just how she wanted it to go. Given that she is a 5-year-old girl, I’m sure you probably guessed that it involved princesses. Not just any princesses, of course, but Anna and Elsa from Frozen.
For Emily, the best part of any party is the cake! (She’s like her mother that way.) Starting about 3 weeks before her party, she began to sketch out her cake, making sure that that size and shape were just right, and then deciding on the decorations. Emily probably spent about two hours planning and designing the cake (that’s an eternity in 5-year-old time).
Then, once the cake was designed, she would look at the picture she drew of it every day. She would talk about the picture. She would talk to the picture. Every day, the cake, the party, the celebration were on the forefront of her mind. She began living the party weeks before the actual event.
Then, on the day of her party, she decided to decorate it all herself. She knew exactly what she wanted, she’d been waiting for this moment for ages, and it was finally here. As I watched her determination with the icing and the decorations, I felt complete awe. This young child was a master at manifesting exactly what she wanted in her life.
Here’s what I think she could teach all of us:
- Get great clarity about exactly what you want, down to the most minute detail. Saying that you want a successful practice just isn’t going to cut it. That would be like Emily saying she just wanted a birthday party. You have to know exactly what it is that you want. The beauty of this is you don’t even have to know how you’re going to get there. You just need the clarity to start it all in motion.
- Never waiver on yourself or your dream. My daughter never doubted for a moment that her party was going to happen. She didn’t second-guess whether she deserved a birthday party. She didn’t worry whether her friends would support it or not. She just held true to her vision the whole time.
- “Live” your dream before it becomes a reality. This one can be a little tricky for us grown-ups, but it’s a natural for five-year-olds. Emily’s party came alive in her mind, in her heart, in her thoughts. I believe this is a fundamental law of creation. Something must exist in your imagination well before it can exist in reality. If you can’t live your dream in your imagination, it’s unlikely that it will come to fruition.
- When it’s time to work, work with determination and precision. I’ve heard this referred to as “inspired action” and I love that expression. Inspired action means that you’re not coming from a desperate or frantic place. You’re coming from a place of total belief. The work that you do from that place is where the magic truly happens.
I’m not sure exactly where it happens, but I think somewhere along the line most of us lost this clarity and determination. And you just can’t create the life you were meant to have without it. You just can’t serve the clients you were called to serve without it.
As adults, we have to re-learn these lessons that are innate to children. I know I did. It wasn’t until I really got them again that my success began to fall into place. And my children are a beautiful gift to help me remember each day.
If you’re practice isn’t manifesting the results you’d like to see, you may need to “re-learn” these lessons for yourself. This is why I’ve created my 2-day Practice-Building Intensive live workshop in March in Boca Raton. It’s time to get out from behind your computer, change your environment, and get truly inspired. At this event, you’ll get the mindset, strategies, and tactics you need to make your dream become a reality.
This retreat is for you if:
- You want to make a difference in the world and connect with the clients you are meant to serve.
- You’re ready for a new business model. The way you are working now isn’t moving you to your goals and you know it’s time for a change.
- You want to share experiences and connect with others. Private practice can be an isolating experience, and building a network of like-minded, successful therapists can make all the difference.
- You feel like you’re spinning your wheels, maybe even sabotaging your own success. You’re tired of working and working without seeing the results and you’ve realized it’s time for the pattern to change.
- You need help developing your plan. You want a simple, practical plan with easy to implement tools for building your practice.
Sound like what you need to take your practice to a whole new level? Then I invite you to join us.
