It's Moving Day!

Hello fellow Spirit,

I've got a new website, and it will be the home (from here on in) of this blog.

Come on by to www.privatepracticeseo.com for more, and you'll find the blog (archives now, new posts coming - here).

Namaste, Peter

End of Year Things To Do...

Hi folks,

The calendar (and solar) year is ending. Ahhh. It's been a challenging year in my enjoyment of the year, though my little boy is healthy and my businesses continue to be abundant.

I find that the end of the year provides some chances to take care of some "maintenance" in our businesses, that can open up space and energy for the new year that is about to begin. When the space is open, it's a LOT easier to attract and accept new business.

So, to keep this short, here's the things I'll be doing to end the year on a good note:

* finishing all paperwork filing and insurance billing for 2011. Completion is SUCH an energy builder!

* getting my office deep-cleaned. While the maintenance staff of my building does an OK job, I'm hiring someone to come in and polish it up like it hasn't been in a while. This year, I've invested more in continuing to improve the look & feel of my office - I spend a lot of time there!

* tracking results from 2011 & comparing it to goals I set at the beginning of the year. Goals, combined with intentions, are such a huge tool in achieving big things.

* noting both what I did achieve, as well as what I didn't. Adding that to the list of "bad" (from my human standpoint) things that happened. This is all for gratitude and release work. I am a strong proponent of burns at the end of years. I'll be doing one for myself.

Finally, I'll be beginning my 2012 process - intentions and goals - but that is for another post.

I hope you are enjoying the approach of whatever holiday you enjoy!

Namaste, Your Grateful Guy

What to do once you've gotten what you always wanted

Hi, it's been a while. I've been pretty busy. Two thriving businesses, my first new house, a two-year-old baby boy, well it's a lot. And it's all things that I worked for a long time to manifest. So what's the rub?

Well, what the books might not tell you, is that once you reach what you initially defined as success, you may have a new definition. In other words, you might change your mind about what it is you want.

For the longest time I was focused on business. Business, business, business. I was ambitious and kept wanting to figure out how to grow. This continued through the first months of my new son's life, for more than a few reasons. First of all I was the only breadwinner now, and I wanted my wife to be able to stay home and take care of our child. If you are a parent, you also know that for the first months, the baby is not all that interactive. And finally, we were renting the home we were living in then, getting ready to buy our first house, which is something I've wanted for so long.

But ambition has changed. Or rather, what my ambitions are have changed.

A healthy body. A happy marriage. Enjoying that all-too-fast growth of my son. Some time for learning and friends and relaxation. These are things that felt left behind on the road to business success.

I can write this now, because it all came clear to me at the end of 2010 - that I needed to refocus on a new vision – one that integrated business success, but not at the expense of the rest of my life. And that is where this post finds me tonight, taking step after step toward that balance.

Part of finding that balance, and creating or manifesting a new success, means using the tools I used to get here in the first place. But using them towards a different vision.

So I'm starting with the vision. I'm starting with the intention. I'm starting with spirit in mind, remembering that all things are possible, and remembering all the lessons I've learned thus far.

You know, it got easy to stop doing all of my spiritual practices when I achieved the “successes” that I aimed for initially. Not to say I ever lost my connection to God, but the daily affirmations & use of the tools at hand waned as I grew busier and busier in my businesses. "I don't have time," I would rationalize. I'm too busy working.

I look forward to seeing what I will build on top of the foundation that I've created already. It will be different than the old vision, and that's okay. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said "a foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds." Way to go, Ralph.

I encourage you to always allow yourself to change your mind. The journey itself may change you, and what you want.

I hope this post finds you well, and please know I wish you and your loved ones all the very best. Namaste, Peter

I'm Presenting in October!

Hi folks,

While it is more on the webby side than the spiritual tools side, I did want to announce I'll be presenting at the 2009 Practice Building Virtual Conference running October 13-17.

It's put on by Casey Truffo's Therapist Leadership Institute. I am a fan of Casey's consciousness about abundance in our profession. But I'll let you check it out and see what you think.

All the best, Peter

Warning: Tooting of My Own Horn

Hey folks,

This is a self-toot! I am going to be presenting at the Therapist Leadership Institute Virtual Conference this Monday. It's not on the Spiritual Tools part, but it is on growing your business with web marketing.

This is a Casey Truffo thing, and I really respect Casey. She's greatly positive and optimistic and I like working with people like that. 

For me, I am envisioning NEXT year doing a web marketing section AND a Spiritual Tools for Private Practice section! I think that's an exciting vision!

Come in you can - no worries if you don't.

My best to you, Your Ever-Grateful Guy

PS - Am re-energizing my own energies with the help of Spiritual Liberation: Fulfilling Your Soul's Potential - a Michael Beckwith DVD, and in my car with the CDs of the book The Four Spiritual Laws of Prosperity: A Simple Guide to Unlimited Abundance by Edwene Gaines. The CDs are great. She's a got a Southern accent and is a hoot!

Consider a Media Blackout

Ahhhhh, it's quiet here in my brain. Peaceful. Why? Because I am late in Day 3 of a media blackout.

What's a media blackout? It's a practice of fasting from news. For me, it means not watching the TV news, not reading the newspaper or news-magazines, and especially not reading news websites and blogs.

Having worked a presidential campaign in 2004, I am a bit of a political news junkie. And with the economy doing its tricks, it's been hard to turn my head away from the news. But when you look at it closely, you start to see a few things about "news":

1) It's mostly bad

2) It's mostly things out of my control

3) It's mostly things that don't help me to know

4) It mostly makes me anxious, sad, or depressed

So I am off it. Not sure how long I will do it. But I can tell you my head already feels like a much quieter, more peaceful place to be. And I've suddenly got more time on my hands (added benefit) to do things that I can control, that are good and creative, that make me happy.

I am off to go do them now. All the best, Your Grateful Guy

Two Things Remembered on the Raquetball Court

A quickie for you today, two lessons I remembered on the raquetball court today.

One - as my buddy/playing-partner asked "did you lose weight?" I automatically replied "I can't lose weight." I caught it quickly. I can't? Really? Great self-talk there. Thought and belief definitely manifesting into existence around my midline. 

The truth is I have not been losing weight. I haven't. I didn't. And you know what, maybe I won't. Maybe I haven't really tried very hard. But can't????? That's baloney.

If you are self-talking about your private practice this way, STOP! If you say "I can't have 20 clients a week by the end of April" - STOP! It's NOT TRUE!

I mean, maybe you won't have 20 clients then. Perhaps you don't want 20 clients. Heck, maybe you shouldn't have 20 clients then, but I will not sit with you and believe you can't. It's baloney. 

Two - I made some great plays today. I stretched for things I wasn't sure I could get. It reminded me of a lesson I learned playing tennis in college (for the Pace University Setters - yes, Pace Setters, ha ha ha). I learned to train my mind to keep my body moving for a ball, even when I thought it was out of my reach.

By doing this, it was amazing how many shots I got to, and how much more success I had. I definitely got to balls I never would have predicted I could get to. It was also very energizing and esteem-building when I reached them. 

The lesson is you likely underestimate what you are capable of. You can probably go farther than you think. And for most things, even if you don't make it, it won't be fatal (exception including open-ocean swimming, and hiking through snow - though usually not counseling). So keep reaching, keep reaching, keep going.

All the best, Your Grateful Guy