Balancing your intentional life and your intentional holistic business…

As practitioners, we all care deeply about our clients and running a thriving, holistic business. But are you letting your business and client needs erode your own wellbeing, leaving your fuel tank on empty? Left unchecked over time, this is the recipe that practitioner burnout is made of. But we often don’t notice the signs indicating our lack of balance or our growing need for revitalization. Our busy practice has us looking in many directions, failing to notice that our own “out of fuel  light that has been flashing for months or years.

People naturally change over time, but we don’t necessarily change our vision accordingly. If we don’t regularly check out our internal compass, we can find ourselves asking how we ended up where we are – out of gas on the side of the road, living on overdrive or just plain burned out with no SPARK in our daily lives and our holistic business suffering.

Want a Prescription that will give you fresh perspective? Listen to the dying!

Bonnie Ware is an Australian nurse who spent several years working in palliative care, caring for patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives. She recorded their dying epiphanies in a blog called Inspiration and Chai, which gathered so much attention that she put her observations into a book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying. Excerpts below.

1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

“This was the most common regret of all. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honored even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made. Health brings a freedom very few realize, until they no longer have it.”

2. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard.

“This came from EVERY male patient that I nursed. They missed their children’s youth and their partner’s companionship. Women also spoke of this regret, but as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence.”

3. I wish I’d had the courage to express my feelings.

“Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result.”

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

“Often they would not truly realize the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying.”

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

“This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realize until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called ‘comfort’ of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content, when deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again.”

We find that many practitioners are both inspired and tired. They are on purpose and yet overwhelmed. They are sometimes ashamed to find themselves too burned out to love their work or small business, even when they feel it is their life purpose.

We provide on line programs and coaching, specifically for practitioners that are about creating an intentional life balanced with an intentional private practice business. We recognize that as much as momentum and traction are important in business and life, that process is best balanced with quiet perspective, self audit, rest, extreme self-care and clarity before and while forging forward.

If you find yourself unsure about how to balance your intentional life and your intentional holistic business, or if you have lost that vital spark of vibrant purpose, heed the wisdom of the dying. It’s never too late to self prescribe a life or business “revamp”. It´s never too late to, find your balance and bliss, and create a life and business with renewed vitality!

For a FRESH perspective and some hands on help, just ask us for a free 30 minute consultation by emailinginfo@globalalignmentcoaching.com .