I Was Arrogant, Desperate, Hopeful, and Delusional Part Four

Motivated by the need to pay my family’s bills (and the sting of being let go), I was ready to get back to work.

The humility kept coming when I arrived ten minutes late for my meeting with a new client. The doctor was gracious, but visibly annoyed.

Armed with his optician by his side, they were ready to size me up.I thanked them for their patience, assured them that tardiness wasn’t my norm, and jumped into getting to know them.

After a brief tour of his beautiful practice, and an even briefer overview of his goals, the doctor asked my favorite question. He asked, “How could you help me?”I had learned not to respond as arrogantly as I had my previous doctor.

This time, when asked that question, I walked through my system of determining what needs to be addressed and how I would implement the changes that the diagnostics determine. This answer works for any practice or business because it speaks to understanding their needs at a deeper level before making any changes. The doctor liked my approach, and we would wind up working together for more than five years.

The practice made amazing leaps. Profits were up, staff morale improved, and the doctor moved closer and closer to his bigger goal of making a profitable exit. All good, right? Well, this is where desperation entered the story.

My brain broke.

I began suffering seizures. I was open about them to the doctor, but there were problems. I would suffer silent seizures during the workday, and there were moments when I literally could not think. I would stand mute in a room attempting to move or say anything coherent.

I lived in daily fear that I was going to be let go, and I wouldn’t have blamed him. And then another obstacle popped up. Not only was my brain broken, I was about to move four hours away, and I had once again committed the cardinal sin: I wasn’t marketing, and the pipeline was empty.

I was about to have the complete loss of my health and income.

But that’s a story for part 5.