Being content with your life is a great place to be. It usually means you have achieved a level of success in your personal, professional, and financial life that makes you happy. The issue though, is that many nurse practitioners are forced to be content with their current situation due to practice authority restrictions, saturated markets, stagnant salaries, and lack of autonomy in their professional life. You may want more, but you cannot obtain it within the standard healthcare model. Outside of this fact, many just become content out of habit and lack of motivation and/or drive.
So many people are “content” with their life, but in reality, they are not happy with where they are at.
Contentment is a scary word. Being mediocre is even scarier in my opinion
If you are content with mediocrity, then this article is not for you.
On the other hand, if you are not content, you understand what I mean by it being scary. You want to achieve a higher level of success. You are always wanting more in terms of freedom and financial health. You want out of the rat race. You are not content, and you can’t stand it.
Maybe thinking of the future scares you because of the forced contentment placed on you due to restrictive practice.
You pick up extra shifts for $60 an hour in hopes that the extra income will bring you closer to financial independence only to be slapped in the face when 40% of it goes to Uncle Sam. You bust your ass working extra yet you never really get ahead.
You work extra, put your blood and sweat into your work, save, invest in your 401k, do everything “right” and how you were told to do it, yet, you are still not content with where you are. Going this route does not make me content now that I understand just how much power I yield as a nurse practitioner.
Maybe you want to have 2 vacation homes and take 3-4 months off a year to travel.
Maybe you want to spend more time with your children and build multiple passive income streams to make that happen.
Maybe you want to drink wine and read books while making $80,000 a year on the side.
Maybe you want to own a small practice and work 20 hours a week while flipping homes.
Maybe you want to work part time and focus on hobbies that light that fire in your heart.
Or maybe, you want to build a personal empire of multiple businesses and retire at 50 as a millionaire (that’s what I want to do).
Whatever your goal is, you are not there and therefore, not content.
Contentment plateaus your life. When someone is content, they stop trying to go the extra mile that achieves a higher level of success. That is great if it works for you, but it does not work for everyone.
Many nurse practitioners try to find that sense of accomplishment and achievement by getting their DNP, obtaining additional certifications, picking up extra shifts, completing lengthy CME activities, teaching part time, etc. If these activities bring you a sense of accomplishment, then great. But does it bring you long term contentment and financial independence? If those are your goals, I doubt it.
The best way a success driven nurse practitioner can obtain true contentment is by building their own business, in my opinion. This is one of the reasons I started The Elite Nurse Practitioner. To help guide those like-minded individuals in achieving that higher level.
Think very hard on where you are at in life. Are you content? If so, GREAT! I envy you.
If you are not, then how do you get there?
We live in a real world that requires money to survive. Therefore, improving your financial health should be your top priority.
Do you want more free time? You need more money.
Do you want to travel the world? You need more money.
Do you want to volunteer yet maintain a good quality of life? You need more money.
In my strong opinion, to achieve a high-level of contentment first starts by building wealth. You can do this slowly as a standard employed nurse practitioner, but it is SLOW. Saving money in your 401k and IRA are not smart ways to build your wealth and retirement savings as we have been told. Those are great to use from a tax perspective, but they should not be your only source to achieve financial independence.
DON’T BE CONTENT WITH THAT. You need to think outside the “normal” box here. Financial independence comes from owning businesses and obtaining appreciating assets such as real estate. These are the 2 best ways to break free. Your business builds wealth quickly, your real estate holdings protect your money and increase in value for the long term.
Focus on starting a business (preferably multiple businesses, remember, you want as many income streams as possible to protect yourself) and investing your money in real estate (I just bought a duplex, it required $15,000 down, and now will pay for itself while bringing in $400 a month in profit. In 20 years, I can sell it and make $100,000+ from a $15,000 investment. See if the stock market can beat that).
Don’t be content with mediocrity. That is very scary. Utilize the information in financial books, online, this blog and The Elite Nurse Practitioner Model. Just reading this information will not help you. You must implement it into your life.
I just heard back from a nurse practitioner client I consulted with 3 months ago who just launched her first telemedicine practice! She took action, and now will reap the benefits that will help her start down the path of breaking free from the shackles placed on nurse practitioners. She was not content, and is now making a change! You can do this, get off your ass and get started. Don’t be content!
