When I was training (which was not today or yesterday!) my tutor who was very eccentric I thought at the time, told us that the most credible practitioner was the one who practiced what he or she was teaching to other people.
While that sounded pretty okay at the time, doing that can be quite challenging. He was correct of course, now that I have almost thirty years of experience behind me, I most certainly see what he is talking about.
As I pondered through my ‘why’ I do this work and ‘what’ is my USP my unique selling point, being authentic is important for me. I practice or have practiced every tip I ever give to clients in their aftercare support. I do this because my ‘why’ is I want to help people to change their thinking and let go of old patterns of behaviour that do not serve them anymore.
I cannot do that unless I have experienced what it is that I am advising, otherwise I am a fraud, and that is how I see it. In my opinion, Holistic work needs to be honest, truthful, and sincere. Most of all effective! Clients need to get a result!
As I have continued to work as a practitioner and a tutor I find more and more that the practices are just not being experienced by the person telling the other person what to do! I have always been drawn to practitioners who come across to me in a way that would make me want to be like them. In other words, they are calm peaceful, and grounded.
How are they like that? They practice what they are advising me to do and it is obvious. That is the essence of a credible practitioner. That they ‘do as they do’ not ‘do as they say’!
It is very easy to give advice from a textbook that looks good, but the type of support and advice that I give has been tried tested, and proven, by me! I really commend myself for that and so do my clients and students alike.
So if you are a practitioner and you are reading this, what is your USP? What do you bring to your clients that others may not? I love to hear this information especially when I teach workshops. Graduates have so much knowledge to share at workshops, it is just fantastic to hear their contributions and everyone gets the benefit of trying new things and improving their skills. Everyone has their own individual ideas about what being credible is all about.
My word for this year is sincere. So not only do I apply that to myself, I am applying it to everything I do this year. What is the result so far and it is only February? Well, I am delighted to say, that the people I am attracting have the same intention!
Are you a credible practitioner? What can you do that makes your work authentic?
I would love to hear all about it.