What if I told you there is only one thing getting in the way of you becoming a successful acupuncturist? Yes, only one! And what if I told you the majority of you have no idea this is happening, but you're doing it over and over and over again.
Reprogram Your Mindset
The scarcity mindset is squashing your acupuncture practice. The what?! Don't worry, I didn't know what it was either before someone taught me. It all began back when you were a child and you unconsciously listened to how the adults around you spoke about money.
Although you most likely had no idea what they were talking about, it was subtly programming you all along. What messages about money do you recall hearing when you were growing up? Were funds always tight? Could your parents never get ahead? Did they often say money was hard to come by? Most of us grow up listening to messages like these.
As adults the programming continues as we are saturated with news about businesses going bankrupt, the need to save your pennies, and markets crashing in the blink of an eye. All these messages cause us to unintentionally adopt a mindset of scarcity, which runs through our brain on autopilot, causing us to struggle financially.
My scarcity mindset debilitated me in my first year-and-a-half in business. I was working hard but barely scraping by. It didn't matter how much marketing I did, what referrals I received, or how many networking events I attended. My practice was sinking and I was frustrated, broke, and hopeless. I was nearing rock bottom. It was then that I was introduced to the power of an abundant mindset, and everything changed.
Denounce the Negativity
I quickly realized after asking myself the questions mentioned above that I was unknowingly telling myself a very specific story that I would never have a lot of money because I grew up knowing my parents never had a lot of money. And let me tell you, the universe heard me loud and clear! It gave me exactly that for years — never a lot of money.
So I began to retrain my thoughts. I filled up every last brain cell with positivity, motivation and inspiration through books, workshops, conversations, meditation and podcasts. I changed my language of lack to a language of gratitude. I stopped hanging on to every last dollar so tightly and gave more freely.
Guess what happened? My income doubled in one month and continued to grow every month since then until I had grown my practice to six figures in one year's time. I adopted a mindset of abundance, trust, and an unwavering certainty in myself. And let me tell you – the universe heard me loud and clear on that one too!
Practices to Instill
Here are two practices that turned my income around in no time. It went from $3500/month in December of 2012 to $7000/month in January of 2013, and only continued to grow from there. Sayonara scarcity! Hello abundance!
One of the most effective abundant mindset exercises I learned was the concept of clarity. When I opened my practice in April of 2011 it didn't occur to me to consider the specifics of what I wanted to build. I simply rented a room, bought some needles, and opened up a practice.
I hadn't put any thought into how many days I wanted to work, how much money I wanted to earn, or how many patients I wanted to treat. Again, the universe was listening. I put zero thought into it and the universe put zero thought into me.
Visualize Your Success
To build an abundant practice and break though any scarcity crutches, the key is to be crystal clear on what you want first. What does financial freedom look like to you? This will make a huge difference in your level of success.
Do not blow this off. It has been proven over and over again that one of the most important parts to succeeding in any field is clearly visualizing your success. Think of it as your success practice. The same way you'd practice if you learned how to play an instrument or if you were practicing for a sport. The top one percent of our society believes in the power of visualization from professional athletes to the success guru, Tony Robbins.
To gain clarity, here are some necessary questions to consider: How many clients per day do you want to treat? How much money would you like to see deposited into your account every day? What days and hours do you want to be working? How often do you want to go on vacation? I wrote down my vision. Made it as detailed as I could. Read it and visualized it every single day. The key is consistency.
Positive Energy 101
The second critical mindset exercise to squash that scarcity is to consistently fill your mind up with positive, motivating, inspirational messages. Typically the loudest people around are generally the ones complaining, and it's no different when it comes to acupuncturists. So many practitioners are out there spreading the negative vibes on how hard it is to build a successful practice.
Don't even think about commiserating with them. No negativity! What you must do instead is continuously work to keep your mind in a positive state. And note I said continuously, this is not just a one-pop-stop! Every single day your mindset muscle needs a workout.
Here's a list of ways that helped me tone up my thoughts. Figure out what works for you and then make that habit a regular ritual:
- Books — Abundance comes in more ways then just money, be sure to cover all your bases. Two books that rebooted my thoughts for two totally different reasons were "Secrets Of The Millionaire Mind" by T. Harv Eker and "A Return To Love" by Marianne Williamson.
- Workshops — Outside my comfort zone, incredibly uncomfortable, but unbelievably powerful, self-development leadership training opened my eyes to the destructive patterns of my thoughts and taught me how to program things more positively. Landmark and Mastery In Transformational Training were in my neighborhood, find the ones local to you.
- Conversations — No need to stick with only acupuncturists, speak to anyone who has created success and abundance in their life. I found successful individuals in networking groups, Chamber Of Commerce meetings, and co-working spaces.
- Podcasts — These are a gold mine of abundant thinking. Turn them on in the car, at the gym, in the shower, anytime! Lewis Howes' School Of Greatness has always been my go-to.
- Meditation — Ultimately it all comes back to you. As little as five minutes of meditation a day can keep the scarcity at bay. Meditation continues to be the most powerful tool to my success and the foundation to mindset mastery.
Your success is not determined by your marketing, your website, your finances, your business cards, how many other acupuncturists are in your local area, or any other reason you may be thinking might be stopping you. The most influential part to your success is your mindset — period. Eliminate your scarcity and cultivate your abundance. Retrain your brain and watch your practice soar!
Alyssa Dazet created her own six-figure practice and is on a mission to mainstream Eastern medicine. She continues to help hundreds of acupuncturists worldwide with their practice success, visit her website: www.6figureacupuncturist.com.