I am happy and proud of what I’ve accomplished so far, but that doesn’t mean I’m sitting back, lounging on my couch, eating bonbons. Quite the opposite — I’ve decided this business I’m in is not a sprinting race, it’s an endurance event. I need to pace myself to reach the finish line without burning myself out.
Why is it not ok for me to not want more right now? I thought to myself.
I took part in a business coaching program all of last year. I followed along with the curriculum online and learned a lot. However, I wasn’t really ready to go full steam ahead with most of the assignments because, like clothes I’d grown out of, nothing I thought of really seemed to “fit” just right. At the organizer’s urgings, I was focusing on target clients who I presumed would be able to pay big money. At their urging, I was focusing on types of programs and services I could deliver quickly and without much input or planning ahead of time. The idea was to sell the program first and then build it. But don’t you have to have a really good idea of what you want to do, I asked. If other people had done it, I could do it too, was the reply.
Whenever I came up with an idea that was more in alignment with all that I believe in and am about, I got the sense from the group that I wasn’t dreaming big enough. The truth, I realize now, is that they didn’t understand me. They didn’t “get” my ideas.
My little idea — of helping holistic nutrition professionals understand their market, connect with fellow practitioners, learn from established colleagues, learn more about nutrition, supplements, etc., and to provide a forum for mentorship and collaboration among members — was deemed not to have enough potential for the “massive growth” they envisioned for me. They wanted to fit me neatly into a box of their idea of what I was about.
I constantly felt I didn’t fit in and that I was letting them down. But I did not want to work hard at something that ultimately did not reflect me.
I went through the curriculum. I learned the steps and knew I was capable of taking them. I knew I could do it. But I did not want to do it for just anything.
It wasn’t fear. It wasn’t my mindset. It wasn’t anything else. I knew myself better. I have courage when it matters to me. I have a great mindset — I just had to decide what direction to go in and then go for it. I knew myself — if something didn’t feel like it fit just right, at this stage in my life, I was absolutely NOT going to spend the money, the effort, the energy, and the blood, sweat and tears on it.
If it wasn’t ME, it wasn’t to BE.
I guess I’m stubborn like that.
But they wanted me to “succeed” and I wasn’t progressing. I realized that this wasn’t about me anymore, because I was at peace with this. It was now about them. They did not want to have “failed” me was really about them not wanting to have failed.
I do want more, but I don’t necessarily expect it right now, or tomorrow. To me, this is not a short-distance race — it’s more like a marathon. And I’m in it for the long haul. I’m going to pace myself.
by Andrea Sevsek, Director of NutritionPro Mentor.
I’ve decided to do the work I love, with people I like, when I want, and at my own pace.
I quietly started on my little-big mentoring program idea. I bounced it off a few people. People liked it. I bounced it off of Lorene Sauro. She loved it. I asked her to be involved. She said yes. We moved forward with it and launched the program in March of 2017. We have our heads in the game, so to speak, doing the work that is required to give our members what they need and to enrich our little-big mentorship program-that-could. (Update: Lorene Sauro is now only acting as Chair of the Mentorship Board.)
Now all the accountability I need comes from the members of NutritionPro Mentor. I want to provide all the content I am capable of providing, all the interaction, guidance, and direction I know how. I don’t need any other accountability system. I believe that no one needs this outside accountability system if they are truly doing what they love, and if they have a clear direction to go in.
Knowing yourself and what you stand for is the first step in knowing what direction to go in with your business. Keeping an open mind for the possibilities, and a positive mindset that it can happen, is the next step. If you have a passion for something, you just need to reflect on it and investigate how to make it happen. Like Marie Forleo says, “Everything is figure-out-able.”
I have developed NutritionPro Mentor to provide something that’s been missing for our profession — a place to go for learning from those who have walked the path before us, for collaborating with each other, and to truly be yourself and ask any questions about the profession, about nutrition in general or anything else related to being a holistic nutrition professional.
We foster a sense of comradery and collaboration, as we are all in this together to help others eat better, feel better and be healthier overall. We have a common goal. We all went into this profession to learn how to help ourselves, our families and our friends make informed choices about what we eat. To provide hope that we DO have some control over our health. That we’re NOT doomed by our genes, our age, or our upbringing. We can learn. We can change. We can choose!
Choose to be a part of the little-big mentorship program-that-could. Join NutritionPro Mentor.