Money, Moments, and Meaning
Evaluation of Your Priorities
Most BVFLS practitioners happen to have fallen into this line of work by accident or chance. How can we prioritize and also find meaning and purpose in our profession. Rod Burkert shares his views on this subject.
Henry David Thoreau said, “The price of anything is the amount of life you exchange for it.” This made me think, “How much of our lives are we exchanging for the price of our practices?”
Most of us wake up in the morning with a combination of these business-related thoughts:
- How do I get the work I have done?
- How do I get more work in the door?
- Is my practice providing the money, moments, and meaning I need to do the things that matter most to me?
Answer to Question 1
You get the work you have done by:
- Being technically competent.
- Making sure you have the hours and budget to exercise that competence.
- Not taking on projects that are outside of your wheelhouse.
All of which contribute to your ability to solve complex problems and demonstrate that you can do what you say you can do.
Answer to Question 2
You get more work in the door by having:
- A differentiation statement that separates you from your competition.
- A physical and online presence that attracts attention and starts conversations.
- A written action plan that details where you will show up and what you will do to create awareness about who you are and what you do.
All of which will contribute to your ability to generate leads and convert prospects into paying clients on a consistent, predictable basis.
What About That Third Question?
You might not think about it specifically, but if you ever felt limited by what you can do personally, either because of the demands or deficiencies of your practice or position, the question is lurking in the background.
The BVFLS world is a wonderful, honorable profession … it’s been very good to all of us.
And we certainly get to help people … but not on the order of saving lives (brain surgery) magnitude or putting people on Mars (rocket science) consequence.
Face it, most of us somehow fell into this work … and so the pursuit of what we do is not likely to be an end in and of itself.
That is why the primary goals of our practices should be a vehicle for generating the money, moments, and meaning we need to create the experiences that matter most in our lives … outside of our practices.
For me, that was traveling with my wife and dogs in our RV for 12 years. All while running a financially lucrative practice. My personal experience and my professional work are not mutually exclusive.
How Do You Get Time, Money, and Freedom?
I have redesigned my practice a couple of times since I started my solo practice in July 2000. Here’s what I’ve learned.
The money comes from finding and serving better clients. Clients that value your time as well as your perspective and solution. This does not mean or require more clients, but rather more for clients.
The moments come from permission. The permission you give yourself not to work all the time. The permission you give yourself not to compare your life to other people you know. The permission you give yourself to pursue what experiences matter most to you.
The meaning comes from impact, of which there are two kinds. The impact you have on family and friends because you’re not always working. And also, the impact you have on clients for helping them make more informed decisions and get better results
So What?
You do not need to live full-time in an RV like I did. But what is your “RV-equivalent” experience? I imagine you must have something in mind.
In Real Life
If you strip away the hoopla—finding the work, pricing the work, doing the work—we all want our practices to provide money, moments, and meaning. If you had the chance for a do-over, the ability to redesign your practice or position today, what would it look like?
Everyone has a different idea of what a successful practice is. The practice you want is personal because it is based on what “successful” means to you. I help practitioners focus on the strategies, tactics, tools, and tech to build/grow/scale their versions of successful practices. If you want some help with that, e-mail me at rod@rodburkert.com.
