07/01/2003

What’s Holding You Back?

By Peter Economy

Have you ever dreamed of starting your own private practice? Perhaps you’ve worked for someone else for a number of years, and you’re ready to stretch your own wings to see if you can fly on your own. Or maybe you would like to start your own practice on the side, to supplement your current income. Whatever your reason, if you’ve ever dreamed of starting your own business and being your own boss, you’re not alone. According to government statistics, about 7 million American adults each year decide to start their own businesses.

For some, starting their own business (or in this case, a private practice) means becoming the boss and not having to answer to anyone else. For others, starting a private practice means gaining control over all of the financial benefits of the work they do, and not watching most of the fruits of their labor go to someone else. And for yet others, starting a private practice means having the opportunity to work from home—setting their own schedules and gaining the opportunity to spend more time with friends and loved ones.

But, if you’ve been dreaming of starting your own private practice, but haven’t yet done it, why not? What’s holding you back?

There are many different obstacles in the way of starting a private practice. These may include:


Ask anyone who has started a private practice and he or she is sure to tell you that it’s one of the best decisions they ever made. While starting your own private practice may seem daunting, once you make the firm decision to go forward, you have actually gotten past the greatest obstacle of all. You can learn how to start and run your own business, you can learn how get your private practice off the ground with a bare minimum of cash, you can learn how to overcome self-doubt, hang-ups, procrastination, and the other obstacles that stand between us and our dreams of independence.

Refuse to let anything or anyone stand in the way of your dreams, and one day your dreams will become reality.


Peter Economy is associate editor of Leader to Leader magazine and co-author with Paul and Sarah Edwards of the book Why Aren’t You Your Own Boss? (Prima, 2003). Contact Peter through his website:
http://www.petereconomy.com.

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