Happy Thanksgiving! I hope your holiday is filled with love, joy, and of course… delicious food!
This time of year is a perfect time to be thankful for all the good things in our lives and to reflect on lessons learned.
These past few weeks have been hard for me with sick kids, catching their sickness (ugg!), lots of work deadlines, training a new Dietitian for my Eat With Knowledge private practice, and getting ready to host Thanksgiving. But… really?? Is that hard?
When it comes down to it, I’m grateful for these “problems”. I’m thankful for the added stress because sometimes that’s what life is all about. I’m also thankful to be able to grow my business with the flexibility needed so that when life happens… as it will… I can be present.
This year I am especially thankful for the opportunity to grow both of my businesses, Eat With Knowledge and Pursuing Private Practice. I continue to help so many clients recover from eating disorders AND also support dietitians with business training and coaching in my Pursuing Private Practice for Intuitive Eating Program and in individual supervision sessions. I have learned so many lessons this year, both personal AND professional.
I’m feeling extra thankful for these 5 lessons and want to highlight them in honor of Thanksgiving!
- I am grateful for the opportunity to learn and grow, and to keep learning new things all the time. Whether it’s a new concept for clients, updated research, OR a new technology tool, I love to challenge myself to keep improving my nutrition knowledge, counseling skills, and productivity at work. This helps me grow as a person and evolve into the type of professional I want to be.
- I am thankful for learning skills in flexibility. Running a business NEVER goes as expected!! The ability to change plans when needed is key when you’re an entrepreneur. This lesson has definitely carried over into my personal life as a parent of two children – another area where things never go as expected and flexibility is needed!
- I can handle disappointments with grace. This one SUCKS doesn’t it? We all have things we are disappointed with and as a business owner, you have a critical eye on yourself at all times. But with disappointment comes learning and the opportunity to say you might not have done something right the first time. It’s also important to learn that not everything will go your way (just like in life!). Life and business aren’t always “fair” but you keep going anyway.
- I must look at the big picture. This one may be a personal preference but by having a business in my life I am able to see the “big ticket items” and not sweat the small details that can drive someone crazy. It’s so easy to get caught up in the fear of doing everything “perfect” and that’s just not possible when you have to look at the big picture. I love how this one carries over into my personal life as well. There have been plenty of decisions this year to focus on the big stuff in my personal life and let go of the stuff that doesn’t fit anymore.
- I need to have a vision of where I want my business to go. This idea also allows me to reflect on my personal life and what I want to do in this lifetime. Just like I have “bucket list” items for my private practice and online business, I have “bucket list” items in my life as well.
Do you have any lessons you are thankful for? Email me and let me know, I’d love to hear about your lessons too!
Happy Thanksgiving and cheers to all the good food we are going to eat (and Feel Fabulous about eating this Food! ) on Thursday. 😊
Jennifer McGurk, RDN, CDN, CDE, CEDRD is a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist whose mission is to help dietitians Be the Dietitian you were Meant to Be. She is an expert in the field of eating disorders and also supervises other Registered Dietitians as an iaedp approved supervisor. She is the owner of Eat With Knowledge in Nyack, NY and leads a team of dietitians who support the philosophy, “Feel fabulous about food!”
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