A fellow homeopath reached out to me on Instagram last week to inquire about coaching. She kindly told me that my success is very inspiring.
This made me pause. I wasn’t sure how she measured my success.
“Awww. Well, Instagram makes us all look successful. Depends on how you measure success I say,” I replied.
Our interaction got me reflecting on how I’m successful (or not) and on the impact of this online world we “live” in. Like in my Instagram post last week, I wondered if I’m showing up online the way I want to show up online; that is, authentically. While I can’t control how people see me—we all tend to compare our insides to other people’s outsides and project our own stuff onto others—I do want my outsides to reflect my truth.
So here are some truths about my “success” as a self-employed homeopath & coach.
How You Measure Success
If you measure success by a financial endpoint, I’m not there yet. It would be tough to support myself on my current income. I couldn’t support a family. I have the privilege of a partner whose job allowed me to start a business and grow a business.
I’ve been a homeopath full time since the last quarter of 2021, and my business continues to grow, which I consider a degree of success. But it’s happening S-L-O-W-L-Y, and I suppose, organically, since my “marketing strategy” is just me out here sharing me and my work. And, also, I’m aware that growth is correlated with my capacity to hold it. Building capacity in my nervous system is part of my healing work (more on healing below).
If you measure success by “cured cases,” I’m more successful. But this doesn’t feel like a valid measure yet, having only been in practice a couple of years.
The adults who come to me have often been unwell for decades, and if you’re talking complete cure (IF that’s the goal), it can take time. I have more cured kids in my practice; they typically have less suppression and stronger vitality, hence more rapid change. The client’s chief complaint is relevant as well. Whether a client got pregnant or not is objective; “cure” is easy to assess (I’ve had one client who came for fertility, and she got pregnant surprisingly quickly). Folks who want to see a change in chronic skin conditions often have to hang around longer, because skin symptoms are typically the last to shift (healing happens from the inside out).
It’s also important to note: I’m only a part of the cure equation. Homeopathy or coaching is only part of it. The client is the most important part. They have to show up for follow-ups, take the remedies, do the change work practices, etc. I can’t take credit for anyone’s success.
If you measure success by client satisfaction, I’m mostly successful. Because satisfaction arises from so much more than cure.
When I’m the client, I feel most satisfied with practitioners who are authentic and thoughtful; they’re aware of their limitations; they care deeply and listen whole heartedly; and they’re powerful catalysts…while I appreciate their knowledge, I’m more moved by their ability to ignite my innate healing capacity. This is what I strive to offer folks, too.
When we’re in this kind of partnership, so much healing happens well before cure ever does. And that is satisfying.
Other Measures of Success
Of course there are other measures of success. Fulfillment and enjoyment are important ones, too. For the most part, these are a given for me. I feel wildly successful when I compare my job now with other jobs I’ve had in my life. It’s not without its challenges, but every job has them. I’m doing work I love.
But doing it as a business owner never fails to bring forth dissonance. My business is an extension of me, and it can be hard to not get overly attached to outcomes. It reminds me of parenting and how the issues I thought I’d worked through earlier in life get activated again and again. It’s like I’m always being called to deepen my healing…in parenting and in business.
Healing Success
Speaking of healing, please don’t measure the success of yours by what you see online. Also, be aware of how you measure your healing success.
One of my biggest measures of success is the quality of my relationship to the symptoms I experience. Do I fear them? Do I resist them? Do I respect them? Do I listen deeply to them? I have symptoms come up all the time, especially now that I’m in peri-menopause. To me success is more about how I handle the ebbs and flows of being in a human body than it is having a “perfectly healthy” body…there is no such thing.
There is no attainable steady state of perfect health that anyone has reached, including me.
OK, this is long enough. I’m not going to agonize over bringing it all together into a nice, tidy ending. I gotta go make breakfast.
A special thanks to the homeopath who reached out to me. YOU inspired ME.
