This morning I woke up thinking about all the of firsts I have experienced in growing this business.The first time that I sat in my office fully furnished and ready to see clients.
The first computer I bought. The first time I was successfully credentialed with an insurance company and the first time I actually got a check.
The first time I said “The Stone Foundation” to someone when they asked what I do for a living. The first time there was a client in the waiting room while another was being seen. The first time I hired a clinician.
The first time I was afraid and still moved forward. The first time that I moved into a bigger office space. The first time that I hired an administrative person. The first time I reprimanded and fired an administrative person.
The first time I worried whether there would be enough money. The first time I left the office while other people were still there… being seen and working with clients.
The first time I launched a new website. The first time I got a credit card processing machine. The first time that we submitted an online form for registering new clients. The first time we posted on our social media pages. The first time we wrote a blog.
The first time I signed up to learn something new in a business education course. The first time that I felt betrayed by staff. The first time that I had to make the difficult decision to move on from a contract. The first time I got a contract.
The first time that we received accolades from a client. The first time we were featured in a newspaper. The first time we received a call letting us know that we’d been selected to be honored.
There have been a thousand firsts already in building this practice….and there will be a thousand more. Though sometimes those first are uncomfortable, painful, difficult and uncertain other times those first can be so exhilarating, exciting and bursting with an undeniable clarity that I am moving in the right direction.
Either way, I have learned to become thirsty for firsts. I have learned that that really is where the work of growing a business gets done.
I know all to well…how scary doing something new can be. But I also know all to well how necessary it is to feel the fear and do it anyway. Keep it up long enough and you will come to develop an appetite for firsts.