Six years ago when I started Yourheartismine, I had NO idea what this blog would (or could) evolve into. In the beginning, I simply just enjoyed sharing my voice about the profession that was near and dear to my heart. There were so many things that I was NOT okay with as a Nurse, and I truly felt that there just needed to be more voices and conversations around these topics, so I decided to write about it. I had no clue how to blog or how to even create one, but I plugged myself into a WordPress meetup by a random google search. I learned how to write my first blog and then I started to write. I wrote, and wrote, and wrote. To think something that simply started as a passionate hobby on the side would turn into a full-time business and brand is still absolutely mind blowing. Never EVER did I ever think of myself as being an “entrepreneur.” Looking back, I’ve always had a spirit that complimented the spirit that many entrepreneurs have today, but I didn’t even THINK I would ever grow or own a business. It just never crossed my mind.
Many of you reading this may be just like me. You started as a Nurse. You’ve been inspired by others growing and pursuing their own endeavors. You want to know more about growing your own business (or maybe you’re currently growing one), but you truly just don’t know where or how to start. Well here’s the deal. There are SO many nurses growing businesses right now. It’s honestly a beautiful thing. It’s transforming healthcare. It’s changing the culture. You’ve got Brittney Wilson at “The Nerdy Nurse” who is sharing things like nurse product reviews and recommendations for nursing education. You’ve got Kati Kleber at “FreshRN” creating courses and content for brand new grads transitioning onto the floor. You can also check out Kati and Brittney’s amazing book, “A Nurses Guide To Blogging” here. Then you’ve got a HANDFUL of nurses growing on Instagram which to be completely honest is somewhat of a mini blog itself. All of these nurses are at different stages in their business journeys. Some are making a couple hundred extra a month and some are making 6 figures a year. They all have one thing in common that I want to you understand. 1.) They started. and 2.) They continue to learn.
If you are a Nurse wanting to grow as a an entrepreneur, you’ve got to not only develop the SKILLS to be an entrepreneur, but you’ve got to develop the mindset! That can truly take some time, but you 100% grow with every step you take towards pursuing your passions. One of my favorite quotes that was shared so beautifully by Dave Hollis in his epic RISE podcast (so GOOD), “Everyday in life, you’re either growing or you’re dying.” I love coaching Nurses who are wanting to take a more holistic route in their careers as a nurse and tap into Health Coaching. I also just love helping provide options in the more alternative realm of Nursing that many are unaware of. If you are interesting in starting up a Wellness Business as a nurse and wanting more guidance, you can set up a coaching call with me and I’d be happy to guide you in exploring your options! Maybe you were like me where you KNEW what you wanted to do, you just needed more skills, knowledge, and actionable steps to take moving forward. My biggest piece of advice I can give to someone wanting to truly succeed in a certain area as an entrepreneur is to invest a little money and a LOT of time learning. Whether that be taking a course or getting a coach, you will constantly be growing when you are constantly learning.
While getting a coach and taking a course are extremely helpful, READING DAILY has by far been the most helpful habit that I created in 2018 to help further grow my skills and mindset as a Nurse Entrepreneur. Today I want to share with you the 5 Books that have changed my life as a Person & Nurse Entrepreneur! They’re REALLY good. Not just like “GOOD”…..like “Nsync just came back for a reunion tour and they launched in your town, you scored front row tickets, and Justin Timberlake winked at you with a “it should have been you, not Jessica” look during God Must have Spent A Little More Time On YOU“, kinda GOOD!!!! YES GIRL! YOUKNOWWHATIMSAYIN!!! (Sorry Jess….just a joke. Don’t kill me with your muscles, please). These books are THAT GOOD! Okay, so I know you’re dying to know, so here go!
I actually found Mel Robbins and the 5 Second Rule randomly in the beginning of her journey releasing this book. This was the first of the 5 books that I’m sharing with you in this blog. She basically talks about how quickly our brain talks us out of doing the stuff that we really should/need to do. She brings a lot of research into explaining how our brains are subconsciously trying to take the path of least resistance all day long (aka the easy way out). She explains how the first 5 seconds that we think to do something, we have to get up and go do it because within those 5 second we will naturally talk ourselves out of it for reasons that basically make us feel more comfortable. I SO enjoyed this book because there are so many things that we want/need to be done on a daily basis, but we procrastinate the CRAP out of our life and eventually don’t get anything done. It piles up and we get burdened.
This book is the power of 5-4-3-2-1 DO IT! It’s also not just about getting things done, but it’s about changing our thought processes in our minds. We basically are full of negative thinking patterns until we LEARN to break the cycle. This book is a hidden gem. It has examples and testimonies throughout the book and I just absolutely love Mel as a human being. She’s humble, wise, down to earth, and a genuine person who wants to see people succeed in every area of their life! As an entrepreneur, this book helped me get stuff done and stop procrastinating. As a human being, it helped me dodge the stuff I hated doing (laundry, working out, sending out packages for giveaways, etc) and just DO IT. I’ve created a ton of healthy habits because of this book and loved the sister journal associated with it!
I see a pattern with Nurses pursuing business all of the time. It’s one I struggled with greatly in the beginning. I’ve learned a lot and still am learning today! Whether it be launching a direct SALES biz, starting a health coaching business, or creating a product to sell, many nurses lack the ability to SELL. Here’s the deal. You can be the most KNOWLEDGEABLE health coach in the world. You can have the BEST product or service in the industry. You can have ALL of the passion and experience in the world. If you are selling a product or service, those things don’t matter if you have no clue how to SELL & MARKET it. Even the most amazing product/services in the world (I-phone, Android, Cross-Fit) market to people all day long. You probably don’t even know half the time they do, they are so good at it. They’re sending emails. They’re creating commercials. They’re working with add services. They are advertising all over creation. They’re collaborating with other industries. They are SELLING THEIR PRODUCT EVERY DAY.
Most nurses who turn into entrepreneurs fit into this category: they have a lot of passion and experience/knowledge in their field, but have NO sales or business experience. This is why so many business start ups fail in general. People launch without the right tools, skills, and knowledge to SELL their product or service. What I love about “Influence – The Psychology of Persuasion” is that it hits 6 very KEY areas of Influence that are vital to success in sales. Dr. Cialdini uses real life situations and studies to help entrepreneurs understand what makes people buy. “Sales” has a HUGE psychology component. You’ve got to understand what makes people buy and why. It’s a lot of trial and error. There may not be a single thing wrong with your product or service, it’s HOW to get people to understand its value and make them buy. This book is a freaking GOLD MINE of strategy and tips to understand how to successfully sell. My favorite chapter was the one on small commitments: making people buy into small commitments before investing in a larger commitment or “more.” As a matter of fact, as I was writing this blog, I was sent an email from Marie Forleo. Go figure she highlighted this EXACT example and referenced this book in her TV show today! What are the chances? It’s a SIGN, sister! Highly recommend picking this one up. It’s a harder read than your typical mindset “feel go” books, but lots of good nuggets & strategy!
Okay. Not gunna lie. “Girl, Wash Your Face” gave me all the feels for so many reasons. This isn’t just an Entrepreneur book. This is a “every single women on the earth needs to read this” book. Rachel Hollis is my soul sister. I see a lot of myself in her. Her passion. Her caring spirit. Her transparency. Her vulnerability. Her dreamer spirit. She’s the big sister/coach/cheerleader/friend that every girl needs! I went through this book in like a week. It’s honestly just hitting the core of every female entrepreneur’s (that you didn’t realize were so common) struggles. This book is the breath of fresh air that you’re needing in life. I truly believe that this book is beneficial whether you’re surviving or thriving right now. It’s the perfect combination of girl power & female empowerment without making it political or over the top. I really loved that. It was just like “Girl, you got this! You can DO THIS! You are amazing and you ARE going to succeed!” I really really really recommend this book as a morning read for ANY nurse, entrepreneur or not. Grab your coffee, note pad (you’ll want to take notes, promise), and get your read on with this book! And if you HAVE read GWYF, you can pre-order Rach’s new book, “Girl, Stop Apologizing!”
Okay. This book was SUPER cool to go through. Ignorance is bliss, except in self-awareness. What you don’t know about yourself can hurt you and your relationships, including those you are in or building business with. The Enneagram is an ancient personality type system with an uncanny accuracy in describing how human beings are wired, both positively and negatively. I LOVED diving into “The Road Back To You” because it goes through the different personality types of people and how we can use our strengths and better our weaknesses with each type. It is a faith based read and I love that because I 100% believe that God created the unique passions and desires within me! I learned that I’m a “Type 7 – Enthusiast!” (No surprise there)! Here’s some of the Key Points they made about type 7’s and how they can grow:
I know that there is an official Ennegram test you can take, but I just read this book and it was easy to pin down which one I was by the descriptions! It was super eye-opening and allowed me to better understand myself and how to improve certain tendencies that could easily impact my decisions in business and in life. I HIGHLY recommend for someone wanting to be more self aware so that you can act and make decisions where your gifts & personality traits can be used for good.
Alright, girl. There is a reason I’m ending with this book. Out of ALL of the books that I read in 2018, “Atomic Habits” BY FAR had the most impact on me as a person and business owner! I bought this book as a Christmas gift for my husband last minute when I was walking out of Barnes and Noble. It was shiny and pretty (such a chick move). The tagline looked cool. I googled amazon reviews and it had like 4 point something stars. So, I grabbed it and then brought it home. I gave it to my husband and then picked it up a few mornings later and couldn’t put it down! I totally stole his present! This book goes in depth about habit formation and how to create habits that will improve your health, your business, and your life! The 3 main principles of habit formation throughout this book are.
Basically the whole book is building on these 4 ideas and how to create healthy habits in every area of your life by reconstructing the things we don’t love to do and turning them into easy, obvious, attractive, and satisfying habits! GIRL! I could read this book over again and again and I probably will! Hands down, one of the BEST books I’ve ever read! I HIGHLY recommend signing up for the author, James Clear’s newsletter. It’s weekly scientifically supported self-improvement tips. I can’t get enough!
As I wrap this blog up, I want to encourage you that no matter WHERE you are at in your business journey, you ALWAYS have room to grow and improve. Reading is one of the EASIEST, most inexpensive, and accessible ways to grow your skills. If you’re bored in your business and life right now, pick up one of these books (okay, all of them) and dive in! Stop watching so much TV. Stop scrolling. Stop comparing. STOP consuming non-sense and START READING, LEARNING, and GROWING every day! Your business will 100% be a journey of trial and error, evaluating, observing, and choosing to get better! Always be growing and learning. It’s not a matter of you succeeding or not. You will succeed so long that you put in the work every day to grow, learn, and get there physically and mentally. And once you’re “there”, wherever “there” is, continue to grow.
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Yourheartismine,
Kelsey Rowell, RN CHC
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I teach Nurses how to have less stress, more money, and better health by creating healthy boundaries in their career, landing their dream job, and learning to how to negotiate like a BOSS!
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