How to Mine for Gold - Pace Yourself

 

I had an amazing day yesterday.  I stuck to my plan and conducted “business” until noon. Then I talked to my brother who is recovering from a recent health crisis. I had a nap. I finished my necklace. I went grocery shopping. I made a beautiful dinner for myself. I talked to friends. I watched some TV. I ate TWO pomegranate and dark chocolate Hagen Daas ice cream bars. I danced in the rain; gorgeous, overdue, welcome, cooling, fragrant drops of water!

 

How was your day?



Courtesy Flickr.com Charlie Day

Yesterday I felt I had found a gold mine.  I am so excited about finding a professional certification program, but feel I found it so quickly I need to think a bit about it…temper my excitement.  My mother always said, “If you still want it after two or more weeks, then it is worth putting more energy into it.” I think that is the real reason I love window shopping.

 

 



Courtesy Flickr.com Tormod Ulsberg

In my new focus on career and building my own business, I feel a need to really know myself. What my strengths, skills, weaknesses, and road-blocks are.  That thinking alone is a big step for me; it requires a pacing that is slower and more controlled than my usual “go for it” behavior. I’m really planning; even my horoscope said that today is the day for a plan!

 



Alliance of Professional Health Advocates

So, instead of diving into the school, I decided to look at the organization that revealed it to me.  The Alliance of Professional Health Advocates helps people in different stages of advocacy. They provide advocates with business support to start and grow their practices. They have 4 levels of membership based on the status/size of your practice.

The Pace membership describes me to a “T”:  “

 

"Maybe you have assisted a friend or loved one, but do not have paid advocacy experience.  You’re looking for a way to boost your advocacy resumé or gain more inside information about this type of career. Or perhaps you’ve been helping others for many years and now you want to figure out how to get paid for the help you provide in the future."

 

The total cost of the first year is $49.00. That is less than my GwynnieBee subscription!

 

Courtesy Flickr.com Ognian Mladenov

For now, I’ll research other organizations and sign up for the APHA non-member newsletter. After all, if I want to be a professional, I need to be my own patient. I would always advise my clients to thoroughly investigate before making a commitment to anyone who is involved in the well-being of their loves and lives.

 

ANSWER THIS:

In the meantime, I need to think about whether I should have a separate blog for advocacy at this point, or should I wait until I have a more professional focus? Do you think it would hurt my long term goal to have others watch me grow into my business?
I feel like it is a more honest approach that will gain interest, loyalty, and readership.