I gave up my Dream job for Pain and Suffering
I’ve been thinking for a while that I need to come clean. It makes me feel a little queasy in the tummy. I don’t know if you’ve ever felt this? Maybe it’s just me?
I have this feeling… where I need to do something and it makes me feel uncomfortable, so I do what any normal human would do… avoid. I just avoid doing uncomfortable things…
Well, now the discomfort of NOT doing the uncomfortable thing has become more painful that actually just doing it! I need to ask for help. I’m admitting I felt ashamed to ask, I felt silly and scared and really thought people mightn’t love me if I just asked for help.

200 days ago (so just over six months) I became a solopreneur. I opened the doors to my own chiropractic practice — Evolve Chiropractic. I became Dr Nicola, solely responsible for every, single detail that happened within those four walls. I don’t think I’ve vomited more in my life! I literally puked my way through that first month.
I was terrified! Have you ever had that feeling that you’re in the middle of a Jenga game? That at any moment, the next move you make could topple the entire tower you built? That the whole thing could collapse and I would be a complete failure.

I was so scared to fail that I didn’t want to tell anyone what I was doing and I didn’t want to try very hard. Because if you don’t care too much, it doesn’t matter when then whole thing collapses…right?
BUT, here’s the catch. I care. I care a lot.
I really care what you think. I want you to like me. I care that what I do works. I care that it helps people. I care that it makes sense. I care that I succeed. I care that I don’t look stupid. I care that people care about me. I care that I’m doing the right thing…And I kept telling myself I must do it all alone.
I love teaching and kids — so teaching science to kids was really a dream job! It was always fun to talk about all the excitement and hilarious things kids say and do…and then I swapped from fun to delving into pain and suffering.
I was really scared to admit that what I do is probably different to what you might expect. I don’t crack backs or make anything go pop. I work so gently that some people barely feel it. In my little chiropractic office, I work on the premise that pain and symptoms are a way of your body telling you that something isn’t quite right. I believe that the body can heal itself. The purpose of pain and disease is to interrupt the way one is living life and to encourage change.
Clients come in with a wide range of different symptoms they need help with. Here’s some examples:
· back pain, neck pain, headaches, elbow pain, foot pain, knee pain, wrist pain, shoulder pain, hip pain
· bed wetting, frequent colds
· pregnancy related discomfort
· grief, anxiety, depression that’s unresolved
· period pain
· trouble breathing
· difficulty relaxing or sleeping
· arthritis, lupus, autoimmune diseases
I do not treat these symptoms. The work I do focuses on the ability of the body to heal itself. I’m not allowed to imply that I treat most of the things listed (and so I’m definitely NOT saying that I do), it’s purely a list of concerns clients have when they first see me. I can’t tell you what happens with these people or the results they get or don’t get because the Australian Government prohibits me from talking about case examples and sharing people’s testimonials and endorsements about chiropractic.
So, what if you read all of that and you think I’m totally nuts!? This was my biggest fear: That I would say “this is what I do” and my friends wouldn’t like me anymore. I didn’t want to seem excited about my new business because what if you didn’t agree with it!? What if you didn’t like what I thought?
Honestly, I asked myself “what’s the worst that could happen?” Everyone could hate me, my little business could fail, I’d fail, I’d get dumped, I’d be all alone for the rest of my life, none of you would ever see me again or send a single person my way. I’d have given up my dream job teaching science to kids for dealing with other people’s pain and suffering. Puke. I wanted to stay in a little hole and do it all alone, but holding all that back was making me sad and exhausted and no use to anyone!
I finally realised that it’s my nature to get super pumped about the stuff that excites me! I jump around and sing and chat about what I love. Holding that back was like torture!

So, now we get to the crux of it. This email is to ask for your help.
Do you know of someone in your life who is in pain? Perhaps it’s you? A co-worker? A partner? …maybe even a person who is a pain in your neck!?
Perhaps they’ve tried other health care modalities and they haven’t worked? Maybe they think they have to live with what they have? Maybe they’re tired and stressed or anxious and they know they’re off track in their lives but they just don’t know how to get back on track?
Maybe you don’t know anyone like that…
Perhaps you do you know someone who is loving life? They’re always wanting to optimise their life and get the most out of every moment, so they continue to perform at their ultimate best?
I would love to hear from them and help them. I will make you look like a superstar for referring them to me and will always give my best.
If you don’t know anyone, maybe you need a hug. I’m good for that too. Pop in, see my practice, like my Facebook page, come to my talk , come grab a hug.
I thought I would be a failure if I asked for help and relied on friends and family to be my advocates… I guess time will tell!