Articles by Vickie

April 15th is just around the corner and for many nurses tax season serves as a rude awakening. This time every year we’re forced to run the numbers and take a long, hard look at our true financial picture. Unfortunately for many of us, the end result is always the same: we pony up to Uncle Sam and then push everything our tax forms revealed to us to the back of our minds… until next year. Maybe it’s time to ask these four questions instead:

Do you have the W-2 Blues?

Your W-2 can be a painful reminder that once again your income hasn’t measured up to your dreams. I’ve been there. My W-2 was a painful reminder that I was in a dead-end job and was going to have to work overtime at the hospital for the rest of my life just to pay my mortgage. If you feel stuck, you don’t have to be. My W-2 motivated me to step out and start my own legal nurse consulting business in 1982. Buck-up and take responsibility for changing your W-2. That’s the first step. I promise you’re more in control of your W-2 than you realize.

Where did your money go?

Tax season is a great reminder that unless you’re the government, you have to stop spending more than you earn. I encourage stretching way out to achieve a goal, but I never encourage living beyond your income. Living beneath my income is what helped me to be able to step out and start my legal nurse consulting business. It has also helped me to grow the business and survive the recession.

If you’re not quite ready to give up your Starbucks addiction, maybe you can pack your lunch or do without that new pair of jeans (or that cool purse). Living beneath your income cuts your stress levels dramatically and frees you to move toward your dreams as you gain more control over your finances.

Have you been underpricing yourself?

Here’s the tough part. You can love your job and the people you work with. You can even love your boss (I know I do – but wait, that’s me!). But if your W-2 says you’re getting the short end of the stick, do something about it! Don’t just accept what’s handed to you. When I got my masters degree, I didn’t get a nickel raise. So I went to work for a hospital that recognized the value of what I had accomplished. But more importantly, that situation sparked my drive to be more in control my earnings and helped to accelerate my plan to start my own business.

Do you deserve a refund?

We all love a tax refund. It’s like getting an unexpected bonus – even if it is your own money. But if you’re not getting one this year, there are many ways to refund yourself all year long. Wake up 30 minutes early just for you, not your spouse, not your kids, not your computer. Take plenty of walks. They are free and clear the mental clutter. Read a book to improve your mind.

Don’t tell me you don’t have time to take care of yourself. Disconnect from those time-sucking distractions that follow you everywhere like Facebook, Twitter, texting and Angry Birds. Make yourself the priority – not everybody else. A woman I mentored told me she waited 50 years to start taking care of herself. If you’re like her, it’s never too late to make a change. Refunding myself every day, both mentally and physically, is a big reason I love my legal nurse consulting business as much today as I did 30 years ago.

If you just can’t stand the thought of another year or more of the same – living paycheck to paycheck, stuck in a job you don’t like, stressed to the max – let this tax season be the impetus for bucking up and making the changes in your life that will bring you closer to your dreams. You can shake the W-2 blues. Get up and get started today.

Success Is Inside!

I’m deep into the Spring/Summer CLNC^® Certification Seminar season and working with students in person is always one of my favorite things to do as owner of Vickie Milazzo Institute. It’s so much fun to observe how students come in excited but nervous, especially about the CLNC^® Examination, then walk out on Day 6 proud of their accomplishments.

The CLNC^® Certification Program is intense, especially for the students who attend live. We cover an extraordinary amount of content, but successful CLNC^® consultants know the time they spend with me is just the beginning. You must commit to being a success student for life. That’s one of the primary reasons the Institute provides mentoring to all Certified Legal Nurse Consultants and offers a variety of advanced-practice building products.

It’s also why we at the Institute work tirelessly to bring you the NACLNC^® Conferences. I hope to see you March 2-9, 2013. In my New Orleans style I’m turning education into a 7-Day Weekend on the “Oasis of the Seas.” Who said education has to be boring?

Success Is Inside (and at Sea)!

P.S. Click here to learn more about the 2013 NACLNC^® Conference Cruise.

Certified Legal Nurse Consultants don’t just work with attorneys. They also apply their CLNC^® experience to corporations. Catherine Glenz, RN, BSN, CHISP, CLNC shares how her employer, Microsoft^®, recognizes the value of her CLNC^® Certification in her role as a subject matter specialist and nurse executive. Watch and listen to the variety of ways Cathy puts her CLNC^® Certification to work at Microsoft.

Congratulations, Cathy and thanks for sharing yet another way Certified Legal Nurse Consultants are making a difference in a variety of industries.

Success Is Inside!

“The impossible: what nobody can do until somebody does it.” Anonymous

Success Is Inside!

30 years ago, one of my favorite attorney-clients labeled me a communication specialist. Little did I know when I started my legal nurse consulting business how much and how fast communications options and methods would change.

First, there’s the voicemail on our cells, landlines and work phones. Then there’s email and text messages on our phones, email on our computers, direct messages on Twitter and all sorts of posts and messages on Facebook and other social media sites. It’s enough to overwhelm you, if you take the time to be overwhelmed.

Depending on who’s communicating with me, I have my preferred hierarchy of communication. I like to receive texts from some people, email from others and there’s a few I just like to talk to. I’m sure you have your own personal preferences.

Just as attorneys come in all shapes and sizes regarding work product preferences, they also have preferred methods of communication and their preferences may not match yours.

Pay attention. Does your attorney-client email you or text you? Does the attorney respond faster to a voicemail, an email or a text message?

Better yet, rather than try to figure it out by trial and error, ask your attorney-clients what their preferred method of communication is and always default to that preference. This will ensure that you continue to be the communications specialist you are meant to be.

Success Is Inside!

The desire to succeed in anything – whether it’s losing 10 lbs or growing a CLNC^® business – is important to success. After all, every success story begins with a dream, desire or vision. But even more important than the dream is the will to prepare to succeed.

After 30 years of owning my own business, I sometimes think back to how easy visualizing legal nurse consulting was in contrast to executing on my idea, day after day.

The vision truly is the easy part for most of us. That’s often where the fun is – dreaming the dream and fleshing out the vision in your mind. Then come the late nights, early mornings and working weekends, getting your hands dirty with the details. That’s when the casually engaged fall slack while the tenaciously persistent grab the prize and run.

The will to prepare is what commits you to go for legal nurse consulting all the way and to engage the myriad actions necessary to succeed – especially on those days you’re just not that into it.

If you’re reading this blog, I already know that you have a strong desire to succeed in your CLNC^® business even more than you already have.

The question I have for you is what did you do today to prepare for your next level of CLNC^® success? I’m just asking…

Success Is Inside!

Most of us like to believe that our day is driven by our to-do lists. We all have one and I’ll admit I have several, some much more ambitious than others (world domination, check!). But if we look closely, we often have to confront the fact that what keeps us from achieving those items on our to-do lists isn’t the complexity of the projects; it’s that we spend more time on what should be on our “to-don’t” list or our “not-to-do” list. I call that majoring in minor things.

Today, make yourself a “to-don’t” list and put on that list everything that distracts you from your big things and anything that can wait. Then, check in with yourself throughout the day to see which list you’re on.

Used properly, “to-don’t” lists can be even more powerful than a “to-do” list.

Success Is Inside!

P.S. Comment and share what’s on your “to don’t” list.

While visiting temples on my biking trip in Japan, I learned about the Japanese concept of “ikigai.” A loose translation is “your reason for being.” I like to think of it as the reason you get out of bed in the morning, your passion and purpose in life.

The Japanese believe that everyone has an ikigai, although not everyone discovers hers. I’ve mentored some nurses who tell me they knew their ikigai when they were just children, while others tell me they still haven’t discovered it. For some, finding your ikigai can require a deep search of your inner self – a journey of sorts. For others, finding your ikigai comes naturally. For example, my idea of play as a little girl was teaching an imaginary class after coming in from playing football with my brother, Vince. Not only did I need to recover from the battering I received, teaching was my true passion. It’s no accident that my mission today “Revolutionizing nursing careers, one RN at a time” includes teaching.

Knowing your ikigai also has health benefits. Studies have shown that people who know their ikigai are less susceptible to cardiac disease and live longer than those who do not know their purpose.

When you ask yourself “What’s my ikigai?” – don’t give the easy answer “I’m an ICU nurse,” or “I’m Italian,” or “I’m a mother of two,” or “I’m the CEO of a legal nurse consulting company.” Instead think of what gets you out of bed and whether your reaction when you do is “Woo-Hoo!” or “Ho-hum.”

Consider the words of two of the greatest thinkers of their generation (at least as captured by A.A. Milne): “When you wake up in the morning, Pooh,” said Piglet at last, “what’s the first thing you say to yourself?” “What’s for breakfast?” said Pooh. “What do you say, Piglet?” “I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?” said Piglet. Pooh nodded thoughtfully. “It’s the same thing,” he said.

Today, take the time to ask yourself why you get out of bed. The answer may surprise you and I hope that much as I love Pooh, it’s something you personally find more exciting and nurturing than breakfast.

Success Is Inside!

P.S. Comment and share your ikigai and how you discovered it.

It’s hard to believe, but my suitcases – open for packing for Las Vegas – confirm that the season has arrived for the CLNC^® 6-Day Certification Seminars and NACLNC^® 2-Day Apprenticeships. Like me, many of you will be traveling and attending this year so thought I’d give you some quick tips to help you make the most out of your experience.

First, even if you live in the city where you’ll be attending, consider getting out of the house and staying in the seminar hotel. This is a demanding week and if you can isolate yourself from your daily distractions, such as email, family crises and needy spouses, you’ll be better able to focus on the task at hand – obtaining your CLNC^® Certification! Plus, you and your family can use the break. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.

Second, make sure you bring lots of business cards for networking. You’ll be spending your time with some very motivated nurses, all of whom have a wealth and variety of experience. You will want to capture as many names and as much contact information as possible. You won’t get this chance to meet so many CLNC^® subcontractors and peers until the 2013 NACLNC^® Conference Cruise, so take advantage of it.

Start thinking about names for your Certified Legal Nurse Consulting business and bring those names with you – my staff and I will be happy to critique them. (Remember, you can’t use the CLNC^® Certification mark in the name of your business or your domain name.)

Next you’ll want to bring at least three highlighter pens. They’ll help you highlight and focus on the important material.

Bring a couple of extra pens and a tablet for taking notes outside of your Core Curriculum for Legal Nurse Consulting^® textbook and for when you practice the CLNC^® post tests. That way you won’t be writing and re-writing the answers in your Core and you’ll be taking a “fresh” post test each time.

Some nurses like to use 3×5 index cards as study aids or to quiz each other at mealtimes or study sessions. If that system works for you by all means embrace it and bring those too.

You should bring a light jacket or sweater in case the room gets too cool for you. I can promise it won’t snow in the room, but we don’t always have total control over the meeting facility’s air conditioning systems so it’s better to be prepared than to be cold.

Remember to bring your camera to capture the memories of the fun you’ll be having as well as to take photos of your new CLNC^® friends. I love taking photos with you during the breaks.

Finally, make sure you introduce yourself to me. You help to make my week richer when I get to meet you personally, especially after interacting with so many of you on Facebook and Twitter. Unless I’m beating a fast track to the restroom, don’t be shy, stop on by.

Success Is Inside!

P.S. Comment and share seminar tips for your fellow CLNC^® peers.

Any experienced skydiver will tell you that if you’ve got a malfunctioning main canopy you’ll have to “cut the cord,” releasing that chute to go to your reserve chute. Skydiving is life or death and you’ve got seconds to make your choice.

In our Certified Legal Nurse Consulting businesses we’ll sometimes encounter a “cut the cord” moment. It might be a subcontractor who’s draining our energy and not working out or an attorney-client who wants the Ferrari on a Prius budget (LOL). When that happens, you owe it to yourself, and yes even to the other party, to sever the relationship. It’s usually not entirely one-sided – the other party should also be perceptive enough to know things aren’t working out. The more you prolong it the more difficult it becomes and the more time you invest. Arghh! By making the decision you’re actually doing everybody involved a favor and allowing everyone to move on.

Take a moment today and ask yourself, is there a particular cord that needs to be cut? If so, what are you waiting for? It might not be a life-or-death decision, but everybody’s life will rapidly improve once you finally cut the cord.

Success Is Inside!

P.S. Comment and share what cords you need to cut today.