Lessons learned in my first five weeks of practice

??????I recently began my Utah practice for my performance psychology consulting services.?It has been exciting to put myself and my knowledge out as a product and to develop the feelings of personal value ventures like this produce.?I have made a lot of new connections and am developing a lot of friendships as well.?I expected it to be transformative and as with times in the past where I have made transformative choices, there has been a multitude of pleasant surprises already.

???????????Why am I starting now? We moved here right before the 2018-19 school year.?We had been living in Northern California for 20 years and had a well-established life there.?We wanted a change though and with the opportunity Tina found, we took the leap to create a new life in my sixth state of residence.?That first year was largely spent winding down my practice in California and helping my daughter with her transition to a new state and a new school.?I additionally had a lot of tasks to complete with our house.?Then once it felt like things were starting to stabilize at home, the pandemic hit and essentially threw all plans I had out.?Although it has been a while since I have moved to Utah, this start has been a long time in the waiting.?

???????????My first lesson, draw on that patience I had when I moved out here.?Wanting success is not abnormal or inherently problematic, however, having reasonable expectations for success is important.?I had no idea what was reasonable when I first started.?I feel like most start-up entrepreneurs experience this and although the decade of existence seems to be one of the common time frames discussed by venture and angel funders for when success truly comes, there is the desire to compress that timeframe and the need to still see significant successes between now and then.?In order to support my patience and to keep myself from entering into worry, I had to find out what could be considered short-term successes.?With the help of many people, I came to realize that in the first month the only success metric I could hope for would be to make real life connections.?I set a target of two meetings a week.?It could be individual lunches, coffees, or meaningful conversations at networking events.?Set the goal at a difficult but achievable level is what I learned in school, so it was a bit of a natural path for me to begin walking down my own goal setting intervention.?The key to maintaining my patience has been setting reasonable targets for myself that can allow me to engage with my long-term plans and desires in a way that will not lead to anxiety or trepidation.?Before I found this specific short-term goal, it required a bit of effort to prevent worry.

???????????My second lesson was that deciding to create a team approach and collaborate was the best choice.?I am a solo service provider.?Most of my work is done by me with a client in an individual session somewhere with enough privacy for the discussion to stay open and honest.?Most of the work to allow this however is far larger and outside of my strengths.?Additionally, I was a ghost writer for some of the writing in No one gets there alone.?Success does not occur in a vacuum and is no fun to experience alone.?Partnering with Jessica and joining her practice has given me the tactical, technical, and personal support that allows me to devote all more of my mental resources and energy to my clients.?Having colleagues allows me to continuously expand my knowledge base and creates a connection I have not felt since stepping away from full time employment to raise my daughter.?One of the considerations when people struggle with achieving goals or building something new is do you have the right team??More often than not, bringing in one key person can make a tremendous difference.??As I began to network into the Utah business community, I began to see how much of a team approach exists within this state.?Founders are all highly collaborative and everywhere I’ve been, there are no walls put up to isolate.?Business is truly a team sport in this state and it is likely the biggest contributing factor to the growth and success we experience in Utah.?

???????????The third lesson I knew, but it has been reinforced by my recent experiences.?Listen intently with deep curiosity and share openly.?People creating new business or leaders who have put the time in to become successful pillars of corporations have knowledge that is interesting and valuable.?These lessons can only be learned through listening.?The other trait I noticed quickly, one that is similar to the elites I’ve worked with in the past, is their ability to listen deeply as well.?In my experience and in those I read from other psychologists is that people who start the path from expert to elite become like sponges.?They absorb what people will tell them, maybe seek more clarity if desired, and will consider everything they heard before making a decision on the value of the advice or insights.?It stems from an inner confidence, allowing them to learn and grow versus defending and justifying who they are now.?Fully embracing this and letting this be my normal approach I feel is what will allow for my future successes.

???????????Now as I am in my second month, I am continuing to implement everything I have learned or been advised by people who have generously lent their time to help me.?I am continuing to seek knowledge and to create more connections locally.?If you read this far, I would like you to become one of those connections.?Please reach out and let me take you to lunch!