My twin brother, Vince, loves animals – I think on some days even more than he loves people. He’s always trying to get me to buy a horse or a dog and whenever he does, Tom chimes in “this is the woman who kills houseplants.”
I’m gone a lot, between business travel, personal travel and just being out with friends in Houston. Historically, every plant I would bring into our home was usually dead or dying by the time I returned from one of my trips. It was so bad that I started expecting them to be dead and I worried about how they were doing and what I’d find when I got home. After my last cactus died, I almost gave up for good. And for sure, this negative mindset wasn’t helping. Was I possibly killing my plants with my thoughts?
Then I discovered orchids and they’ve become my favorite houseplants. They’re the perfect plant for someone like me because they thrive so well on their own and even love being neglected. I love their delicate beauty, their range of colors and their various shapes. Like many first-time orchid owners I had no idea how to treat them.
At first I fed them too much plant food. They survived being overfed but I could sense a rebellion was about to take place. Next I over-watered them, practically drowning them. Next I neglected them, allowing them to tell me when they needed attention – usually by starting to wilt or wither. Finally, I learned to strike the perfect balance between care and neglect. I now water them lightly every 7-10 days, feed them only occasionally and always treat them gently and with kindness.
Today when I return home, my orchids are there for me and are just as beautiful as when I left them. I imagine that they’ve been looking forward to my coming home, breaking up the silence and monotony of an empty house and add some life to their existence.
When I think about my orchids, I sometimes think about your legal nurse consulting business and your attorney-clients. Are you treating your CLNC® business or attorney-clients like orchids? Are you helping them to prosper and grow?
When you have too many distractions or cluttered thinking in your life, that’s like over-watering your orchids. You’ve got too much going on, too much coming in, to achieve the perfect balance of attention or attentiveness that you must pay to your CLNC® business and your attorney-clients. You end up flooded with input and your output dwindles. Turn off the TV, step away from the Internet – make some time for stillness and to gather your thoughts. Don’t over-water yourself.
You can also over-water your attorney-clients. Too many phone calls, too much contact and you over-water them. It’s a delicate balance. You must retie the connection but you don’t want to become an annoyance. Constantly commenting on their Facebook page, tweeting them or emailing them for no good reason may be too much. Put yourself in their “pot” and ask yourself how much “water” you would need.
Likewise, if you’re not paying enough attention to your legal nurse consulting business and to your attorney-clients, it’s like you’re neglecting your orchids. You’re allowing your CLNC® business to wither or die. Your past attorney-clients no longer hear from you because you’re not retying the connection. You’re not prospecting for new CLNC® business and then you start wondering why your legal nurse consulting business is not growing. Don’t neglect your CLNC® business or your attorney-clients. They both need constant care (and a few nice words now and again).
Finally, if you spend too much time preparing to launch your CLNC® business and not getting out to market or find new attorney-prospects, it’s like you’re over-feeding your orchids. You can pour so much time and effort into getting ready to be in business, creating the perfect business card, marketing package, home office, sample reports, etc. that you never get out and get into the business. One Certified Legal Nurse Consultant, Larry Frace calls this professional bradycardia. He literally had to force himself to stop preparing and start working as a CLNC® consultant.
You can over-feed your attorney-clients too. I remember my second attorney-client, I gave him the same level of information that I was giving to my first attorney-client (his philosophy – tell me everything you know). I figured if the first attorney-client liked it, so would the second. It turned out I was over-feeding the second attorney-client. He thought I was flooding him with information he didn’t need. Right or wrong, I learned through this experience, that attorney-clients come in all shapes and sizes and I learned which attorney-clients to overfeed and which attorneys thrived on small doses of information.
Your CLNC® business and attorney-clients are as precious as orchids. Treat them like these stunning flowers and your professional relationships will blossom and grow.
Success Is Inside!
P.S. Comment and share how much feeding and attention your attorney-clients need.
