Success

In Lewis Carroll’s book Through the Looking Glass (more commonly known as Alice in Wonderland) the White Queen and Alice have an exchange that goes:

“I can’t believe that!” said Alice.

“Can’t you?” the Queen said in a pitying tone. “Try again: draw a long breath, and shut your eyes.“

Alice laughed. “There’s no use trying,” she said: “one can’t believe impossible things.”

“I daresay you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.”

I’m a great believer in the impossible. That doesn’t always make me popular in my office but that’s not my issue. I believe that if you can think it – you can do it. What about you? Do you believe impossible things or do you keep yourself firmly grounded in the realm of what you already know is possible?

There’s never been an invention, creation or advancement of society that wasn’t an “impossible belief” before creation. Organ transplants, computers, iPhones^® and the Internet you’re using to read this blog were all impossible – until some “impossible believer” made them so.

The next time you catch yourself saying “I can’t do that” or “That won’t work,” remember maybe you can’t just now – but you won’t be stopped forever and it certainly won’t stop someone else from doing it. Remember how impossible it seemed the first time you coded a patient? Now you can do it in your sleep, but to a non-RN it’s an impossible thing.

Believe in “impossible success” for your career as a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant and you’re on the way to achieving it.

Success Is Inside!

P.S. Comment and share what impossible beliefs you’ve proven possible.

Ownership is a funny thing. We all like to own things: a house, a car, an iPad2^®, a legal nurse consulting business or simply a garden. Then we learn that there’s some responsibility that comes with that ownership. Stand up and look out the window. You probably don’t have to look far down your street to notice that some people are better homeowners than others.

There are some things we’ll probably never own (like that private jet I want) but one thing we all own equally is time. That’s right, we all get the same 24 hours every day and the only difference between us is how we regard our time and what we do with it. Time is one of our greatest possessions.

And just as I care about my home, I care about my time and, more importantly, care for my time. How about you? Maybe it’s time to step back and objectively observe yourself for a day or even a week. Are you a good steward of your time or do you squander it away?

For the record, I love to play as much as I love to work. I started a business to have a life, not to give up my life, and fortunately my New Orleans upbringing helps me to remember to do just that – to play on a regular basis.

Whether it’s work or play, it’s your time and what you do with it is your choice. I’m just sayin’…

Success Is Inside!

P.S. Comment and share the good and bad things you do with your time.

Today’s professional athletes cross-train to reach their next level of success. For example, a professional football player doesn’t just do football drills – he lifts weights and might even practice yoga or ballet, all with the intention of performing better on the football field.

Cross-training can create synergistic benefits, and this just might be a strategy for taking your CLNC^® business to its next level. Choose a category, preferably one you are weak in or typically avoid altogether, and ask yourself how your CLNC^® business could benefit from expanding that category. It might be technology (if you find yourself struggling to do more than read your email), public speaking (if you’d rather be in the coffin than give the eulogy) or self-development (if you find yourself constantly obsessing over everything that is wrong with your life).

Now spend the next three months cross-training in that category and watch your CLNC^® business soar!

Success Is Inside!

P.S. Comment and share where you need to cross-train and when you’ll start.
 

People tell me that what is even more impressive than the fact that I went from a hospital nurse to owner of a successful business is that I’ve sustained and grown that business for 29 years. Especially since we’ve gone through not just boom times, but also the ugliest recession since the Great Depression.

Managing my business and 23 employees is challenging and potentially exhausting. There’s one of me and 23 of them. When they have problems, they naturally think they’re worse than anyone else’s, but as the boss, their problems are magnified 23 times – plus I’ve got my own problems. I’ll readily admit there are days I might prefer to zap them with an Epi-Kit, defibrillate them back to life, or just holler “Off with their heads!” from the throne in my office.

“Off with their heads” is not a viable option, so I need to have my act together to show up the right way day after day after day. This is no easy task. How do I do it when I do? What’s the secret to my success? It’s actually very simple and every one of you can start doing it for yourselves too.

First, I wake up very early in the morning. No computer, radio or TV. I always love waking up because I do so just for me. Once I’m up, I make the first part of my day all about my development, emotional and physical. Emotional and physical renewal gives me the endurance and the stamina to do the running-a-business-thing day after day after day. I start the first part of my day with two cups of healthy green tea. Over the first cup of tea, I make time for my spiritual development. Over the second cup, I take time to read a book or just sit and connect with me and my passions.

Once the tea is gone and the mind is ready, it’s time to take care of the body so I’m off to the gym or out into our “hood” for a brisk walk. I exercise first thing in the morning because at the end of the day too many things (including me and my lack of motivation) get in the way. Early in my business, I pre-paid for a lot of evening Pilates^® classes that I never made. It took me a year to look reality squarely in the eye and admit I was more likely to exercise if I did it before my office opened.

I’m not saying that every Certified Legal Nurse Consultant has to get up early in the morning. You know yourself and what works best for you – maybe the end of the day is a better time.

The bottom line is that to be our best selves, we need time for ourselves. The key to making your CLNC^® success long-standing is to make sure you make time for your time. This is one of the keys to avoid being a one-hit wonder.

Success Is Inside!

This weekend I am privileged to be presenting the Women Embracing Leadership events with Stedman Graham. I confess that when I was a young nurse, “leadership” was a word that didn’t get my juices going. It was too traditional and boring for this renegade nurse who didn’t fit in an institutional hospital environment.

Since then, I have learned that leadership is one of the most provocative and exciting words in the dictionary because it applies to how we show up in every situation every second of the day. For some of us, leadership does involve managing others and being in charge of a situation, but leadership first and foremost is about leading ourselves.

Success or failure is the result of thousands of decisions, actions and reactions. Almost every time I mentor a student who is struggling, that student has failed to be a leader in one or more of those decisions, actions and reactions.

Our leadership is tested and challenged not only when things go our way, but also when they don’t. Commit to lead yourself in the most consistent and congruent way each and every day. When you do, you open yourself up to opportunities beyond your imagination.

Lead yourself and CLNC^® success will be yours.

Success Is Inside!

I recently brought an idea into a quarterly all-day executive meeting fully expecting us to spend substantial time discussing it. We did, but not in the way I expected. That one idea stimulated a discussion that took the entire meeting and led us into a completely different direction. By the end of the day, we landed on a new and improved idea, one that was much better than my original.

The kind of springboarding that happened that day rarely happens when we are communicating via email, which we certainly do a lot of here in my office. Call me old fashioned, but in my opinion only the dialog that happens when people sit around the table together and springboard ideas off one another stimulates this level of idea generation.

The same applies to you and your attorney-clients. Email works for the majority of your routine communications, but when was the last time you sat around the table with your attorney-clients and had a deep discussion about a case? Try it on your next significant case after your attorney-client has had the opportunity to review your report. I promise you will challenge, stimulate and surprise each other. Not to mention that you’ll take that case analysis to a much higher level. If you’re not springboarding with your attorney-clients regularly, it’s time to start now.

Success Is Inside!

We all know the person whose life would be totally different and of course much better if only “Y” had happened instead of “X.” The mantra never changes. “If Y had happened, then I could have done X” or “If only W had done Z, then my life would be different” or “If Q was different, I’d be different” and, my personal favorite, “If only Y had happened, I’d be happy or successful or married,” or whatever.

What successful people, especially successful Certified Legal Nurse Consultants, do is live in the world of “what next”, not in the world of “what if”. If an attorney-prospect says “I’m interested, let’s stay in touch”, the CLNC^® consultant knows what’s next and does just that. The CLNC^® consultant doesn’t go into the space of “If the attorney had just given me the case today, I’d be on my way to quitting my job at the hospital.”

The first attorney-prospect I connected with asked me to call him two weeks later because he was preparing for trial. I waited two weeks and called, but he never returned my call. I called again; he still didn’t return my call. I called a fourth time and on that day he took the call. The rest is my legal nurse consulting history. It wasn’t easy during those waiting periods, but I stayed out of the “what if” space and just continued to move in the “what’s next” space. I didn’t allow “If he didn’t have that trial then…” or “If he’d just returned my phone call then…”; if I had, I predict I never would have made the fourth call and I wouldn’t be where I am today.

The only “what ifs” in your life and your legal nurse consulting business should be the “what if” questions you ask yourself about what you should be doing at this very moment.

• What if I make five sales calls right now?
• What if I practice my interview questions before I meet with that attorney-prospect?
• What if I call that attorney-client back right now?
• What if I turn off that TV and turn on my commitment to taking action on my legal nurse consulting business?

Now it’s my turn to ask you a “what if” question. What if you did all these things you know you’re supposed to do? Answer: Hmmm.

Success Is Inside!

On a trip to Dallas, Tom and I decided to splurge and take a rare dive into the breakfast buffet. We had a long day ahead of us and figured we’d at least have a good meal to start us off. I’m not normally a fan of buffets, but it was included in our room package so I figured what-the-hey – I can eat as little or as much as I want.

The chef was making omelets to order and I went to town. A little garlic and herbs, some chopped bell pepper, cilantro, onions, jalapenos, mushrooms, maybe a little more garlic, and once the masterpiece was complete, I had the chef finish it off with cheddar cheese inside and sprinkled on top after it was “folded.”  I’ll let you in on my secret to perfect omelets: I have the chef sauté the ingredients for a few minutes before he folds them into the eggs – you get a much richer taste that way. I can easily pass on all the waffles and sweet stuff that people enjoy on breakfast buffets, but I do love my omelets.

That morning, Tom and I were getting ours made at the same time.  I told the chef that I wanted a smaller omelet than Tom’s. When I came back to pick it up, ours were exactly the same size! Tasty, but much more than I wanted.

As a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, are you serving your attorney-clients the same size omelets? Sure the ingredients will be different from case to case, but attorneys come in all shapes and sizes. Don’t be a robo-chef. You might be mixing together different ingredients into your legal nurse consulting work product and think you’re giving each attorney-client something unique, but if you’re using that chef’s one-size-fits-all philosophy and treating all your clients as if they want the same size omelet, you are the one who is missing out.

Make sure that as a CLNC^® consultant you’re really giving each attorney-client the dish they’ve ordered, not just the one you want to prepare. That’s how you’ll keep them happy.

Success Is Inside!

Terry Van Olst, RN, BS, CLNC explains that one of the most rewarding parts of her CLNC^® business is having attorneys thank her and praise her work-product as “exactly what I needed.”

Take a moment to watch Terry’s video and hear how being praised for her work gets her so revved up about being a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant that she feels like a Ferrari^®!

Congratulations Terry!

Success Is Inside!

Margaret Gallagher, RN, BSN, MSN, CLNC shares how carefully going through the medical record and the autopsy report with the attention that only a Certified Legal Nurse Consultant can bring to it has made a huge difference for the defendant nurses in a case.

View Margaret’s video and learn how her CLNC^® services helped result in a favorable defense verdict and many, many more cases from an insurance defense firm.

Congratulations Margaret!

Success Is Inside!