Building a Great Practice By Doing What You Love
By
Steve Mitten B.ApSc, CPCC, MCC
"Follow your bliss" was
the directive the late Joseph Campbell would impart
to his college students seeking life guidance.
He believed that if you find what you are passionate
about, and pursue it, you would experience a very fulfilling
and successful life.
How
does this relate to your professional career?
Simple.
When you identify what it is that you really
like about your job - the things that gives you the
most satisfaction and most fully utilizes your unique
gifts and talents - and create a way of harnessing that
energy to productive ends, incredible breakthroughs
are possible.
Not only will you get to new levels of performance,
you will also have a lot more fun.
Let's
say what you really love is meeting with clients, finding
out what is going on in their lives, and using your
expertise to help them overcome challenges and achieve
their dreams.
If this is what you love, and yet you spend most
of your time bound to your desk, drowning in paperwork
and other administrative minutia that you hate, you
are not going to be as happy or successful as you might.
Think
about it. When
you are doing what you love, you lose track of time.
You may also sense that you are exactly where
you are meant to be, and that what you are doing is
making a difference.
And chances are, when you are really doing what
you love, and you do it with genuine interest for your
client, you are going to connect, big time.
And when you connect and add genuine value to
your client's lives, you are going to generate a great
deal of business for yourself.
The most successful professionals
I coach, have all identified what it is they love to
do, how to best harness it in their business, and how
to free themselves up from other demands to focus more
of their efforts on these most productive and enjoyable
activities.
So
how do you do this?
Start by asking yourself a few questions:
-
What
is it I enjoy the most about my job?
-
What
unique gifts and talents does it bring out?
-
What
are my most productive strengths that contribute
the most to my success?
-
How
can I do more of what I love, and less of what I
don't?
-
What
beliefs, habits or circumstances are holding me
back?
-
What
has to happen for me to get to where I want?
These
may seem like simple questions, but sustaining meaningful
change in your life is never easy.
It takes a strong desire, a clear vision, a good
plan, and a steady commitment. Change
takes time. And in our busy lives, where we are often overwhelmed by urgent
demands, it is important to create a structure that
will encourage and support change.
At
times, we all resist change, particularly those we would
most benefit from making.
However as an ancient Roman once observed, "the fates lead those who will, and drag those who won't".
In this increasingly competitive industry, the
fact is that change is inevitable. So in your practice,
rather than waiting to react to change, take the initiative,
find out where your bliss is, and follow it.
**********************************
Steve Mitten CPCC, MCC, 2005 ICF President, works with
leaders, executives and independents wanting to create
extraordinary meaningful and successful lives. Steve
is devoted to raising standards in the young profession
of coaching and through his coaching programs and book,
Marketing Essentials
For Coaches, has helped hundreds of coaches find
an affordable and authentic path to commercial success.
Article is free to be reprinted as long as author's
bio remains intact.
More Useful Info
Here are some articles that you might
find useful:
|
