5 books to transform your wellness biz and your life

I received a Kindle for Christmas. It comes empty and ready for you to add books (my favorite thing in the world!).

The ability to instantly download a book is incredibly alluring for this voracious reader.

I’m curious to see how reading from this little computer will be, as I do love everything about the printed page.

So, if you’re like me; and wondering what to add to your new Kindle (or simply what to order from the bookstore or your library) then consider these five transformational books that are good for your practice and your personal life.

It’s Hard to Make a Difference When You Can’t Find Your Keys by Marylyn Paul

I never used to be organized until I started my private practice. I realized that if I didn’t get my paper clutter under control, I was never going to get to the business of helping others for a living. Ten years later, I still use what I learned from working with a professional organizer. I couldn’t help but to pick this book up with such a compelling title. This book is designed to help you heal what is at the root of those piles of papers on your desk, your disorganized car, or even if you just find yourself wasting time trying to find your wallet or your keys each day. It’s beautifully written in a loving, gentle tone and has great questions that helped me, someone who thinks they’re pretty organized, truly see every single environment as a reflection of my deepest values. I believe that being organized “enough” (you get to decide what that is!) is one of the essential skill sets for being successful in private practice.

Click here to get this book.

Making Ideas Happen: Overcoming Obstacles Between Vision and Reality by Scott Belsky

I’ve come to realize that every single person has great ideas. However, I am no longer impressed with people’s ideas. What’s really impressive to me is someone who is able to get those ideas out into the world and into the hands of their tribe. This book about getting things done is specifically written for creative professionals (like wellness pros!). It’s the first book of this genre that I’ve seen treat projects holistically, and with respect for how the creative person thinks, feels, and engages their work. Brilliant!

Click here to get this book.

The Practitioner’s Journey: The Path to Success for Alternative, Holistic and Integrative Health Professionals by Dan Clements and Tara Gignac, ND

My colleague, Dan Clements and his wife Tara Gignac, not only understand the business of wellness, they also run a successful naturopathic clinic in Canada. This book explains how to become profitable in private practice through an interesting story line that is designed to make all the business stuff palatable to the wellness pro new to marketing, strategizing, and making time to grow your practice. I highly recommend that you read this book if you want to “get” the importance of leading your practice without feeling like you’re reading a dry business book. The authors also feature a few of my clients so that’s kinda cool too. (Dan also wrote another exceptional book on how to take regular sabbaticals from your work without killing your business.)

Click here to get this book.

Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? by Seth Godin

Seth Godin is hands-down my favorite guru of marketing wisdom. There hasn’t been one single book or blog post that he’s written where I haven’t totally agreed with him and wished I had thought of it first. This was my favorite book of 2010. Just get it. Especially look for the part about dealing with your inner resistance. But mostly for the timely advice on what it takes to succeed in today’s economy, whether you’re in private practice or working for the man.

Click here to get this book.

The One-Life Solution: Reclaim Your Personal Life While Achieving Greater Professional Success by Dr. Henry Cloud

I used to be a workaholic, and proud of it. I thought since I was doing meaningful work, it was okay. Then I decided to make other people in my life a priority. What a shocker it was to realize you can’t work at all hours of the day and night and still have good quality of life with your friends and family. Five years later, I’m proud to say I’m over that B.S. story that I bought into. This book, while written for the corporate type, is about learning to set up healthy boundaries in and out of the office. This is incredibly relevant because 99.9% of wellness pros are of the “love to give” and “need to help others” sort. That means you give and give and give, often at the cost of your financial and personal well-being. If you want to prevent the typical cycle of burn out, resulting in client resentment, and succeed in the wellness field for years to come, you must develop the ability to set empowering boundaries that are good for you, good for your business, and good for your clients. This book will show you how.

Click here to get this book.

To your success in the new year,

Karin

About the Author and WellProNet.com: Karin Witzig Rozell has been showing health and wellness professionals how to grow their businesses since 2003. She started as a nutrition counselor who knew a lot about nutrition, but not a whole lot about business and marketing. After learning some tough lessons she cracked the code and now her passion is transforming practitioners into profitable business owners using the power of good marketing.

In 2009, she expanded her private practice and launched The Wellness Professional Network http://wellpronet.com as the go-to place for practitioners to learn about all the real-world business stuff they never learned in wellness school like: messaging, marketing, making a great living. Karin lives in Upstate New York with her family - a son, two cats and a dog and works from home with her husband, Drew Rozell.