Milestone Reflection: My 1-Year Anniversary Since Starting My Own Practice

And best believe, I have NEVER once felt a need to look back. Thank God.

Crazy, it’s been exactly a year to this date when I decided to take a leap of faith, left my old job at a traditional PT clinic, and started my own.

It’s been such a wild journey to say the least, and I fully recognize that I am still SO early on in this entire experience. But something that I wish I had done earlier on in my journey was actually slow down, take a moment to truly bask in each moment of the process getting to this arbitrary point of what my ego considers “sucess;” when honestly, I feel like when I take a step back, I feel like my soul’s already made it.

From all the growth that had been happening in my outer world, I felt like I was jumping leaps and bounds internally, constantly confronting all my inner demons of unhelpful thought patterns, self-limiting beliefs, and habits that were now not only affecting me, but now affecting the patients I work with and my business.

Through all this, every day has looked so wildly different, from learning how to do bookkeeping, to running an entire session from setting up my intake forms, to setting up a welcome email to make sure patients knew how to find me, to creating a website and trying to encapsulate my entire life and work’s philosophy in just a few paragraphs; to continuously refining the actual SESSION at hand and realizing, this world is not only ensuring I deliver clinically, but also deliver as a human who is personable and empathetic, and not just saying that but TRULY feels.

I’ve had to learn hats of marketing and networking, which have been revolutionary for me and my personal growth. Honestly, exactly a year ago I recall telling my boyfriend that I actually considered myself an introvert, and the mere thought of putting myself out there in front of strangers to share what I do felt so daunting, almost like telling someone who’s afraid of heights to jump out of a flying airplane.

Same difference, right? In my mind and my nervous system, yes.

But, I knew that in order to make it in the business sense of all that I was doing, I had no choice.

So every week, I learned how to research nearly every possible relevant Facebook group, Meetup, virtual and in-person networking group, learned how to message people cold on social media, and to this day, I am still having to wake up at 5 in the morning to recalibrate my system enough to be able to get over my fears and just fucking do the damn thing.

I learned how to pitch myself and actually sit down and ask, what is it that I want people to know about me, what I do?

And the number of iterations, and speaking in front of strangers saying what I do, all has been continuously helping me develop and grow into this boss woman; she, who I’ve had only ever seen in my dreams.

And I know that there’s levels to this, but the ability for me to look in the mirror, and really feel that the pressure is all on me to make this business happen, to take care of as many people as I can, and be as present as possible for my personal relationships, I am learning more and more that it’s actually the energy that I thrive on.

Out of everything I’ve really learned, it’s that I am realizing my strength, is not knowing when to stop until I become great at something, and because of that, I know I will not falter.

Surely, there are times I fuck up ever so often simply because it can be a lot someimtes, so my brain completely forgets to fold the towels or something, but I am learning grace, compassion, ease, and efficiency develops with time and fuck ups.

Oh man, being okay with fucking up, SO long as you learn from them, is something that I am still learning to live with as well.

Because through every entrepreneurial book, podcast, Youtube video, etc I’ve listened to — those who make it, are the ones who develop calluses to failure. They aren’t afraid of failing. They aren’t afraid of being seen trying, and failing, trying, and failing.

And that is ultimately something that in my late 20s I am learning to develop more than ever.

Listen, growing up, I was like what you probably imagine, the straight A student athlete who tried to do everything to the 9s as best as possible and probably cried when I got a B… This was all self-induced, not my parents btw. I’ve just always naturally put so much pressure on myself to achieve, and push, and achieve, and truthfully I’m not certain where that drive comes from. I mean I guess I have some theories but that’s for another time.

I guess I’m learning that in the wake of all of this, this is a lifelong journey now, with no true finite end. So ultimately, even though I’m only one year out since making this big jump, I’m also learning this very important part of this journey, and it is to not forget to celebrate yourself in the process.

Listen, I’ve realized how humility is SUCH an important part of all of this because no one likes a know-it-all who sucks, but I am also realizing just how many strides, leaps, bounds, challenges, moments where I thought I wasn’t going to be able to make it through,

But here I am, sitting on my balcony, finally coming back to myself and realizing, that all I truly had ever wanted, was to have the balance and flow of my creative expression with being able to also pursue my soul’s greatest purpose of helping others not only see, but believe that they can realize their highest potential.

And to be able to do this, it all comes from tuning back into myself, allowing myself to be, and not constantly feeling the need to perform in front of people.

I am simply here, a neurodivergent mind and creative spirit, who gets to use my physical vessel as a channel of Divine Grace to serve. I feel like in this place, in the here and now, I can ultimately rest. And trust that everything will unfold.

I suppose this is the beauty of what I’ve always heard people talk about what it means to live in your soul’s aligned mission and purpose.

And for so long, for as young as I could consciously remember, I had always asked myself that impending questions.

And to be here, no matter how challenging it gets, to be able to feel like I am living in that, has provided me this feeling of deep purpose and fulfillment like I never thought was possible.

The beauty of it too is that I recognize, even in just a year, the way this all looks and feels naturally evolves, as I evolve. And I can’t force my own evolution, it’s all in its right timing, with repetition, and ultimately, trust in Divine Timing.

Here’s to year one (and some change) down, and a whole lifetime to go.